Smoke on cold start up TD4

Started getting large puff of smoke on startup. Paniced and got a new breather from BMW .... with the modded votex separator. Only just put it in.....still smoking on cold start. Once warm no smoke and good performance.

One thing since having the car (aaprox 6weeks) have given it a good dose of millers fuel treatment....about 4 tanks worth. At 105k ..... engine now goes better but sounds more clattery.....like it is being decarboned.....and I think the blue smoke is far worse since millers treatment.....

My next mod will be the EGR removal.......will the smoker roos calm down????

hi just to say,the smoke you are getting on cold start is it blue or white in colour? if its blue then its oil.if its white and smells of diesel then its unburnt fuel. i have the white smoke on start up, tried all sorts of treatments including millers also injector cleaners,still smokes though,just put it down to well worn injectors,td4 has done 140k though,hope this helps.tim.

all diesel engines puff out a bit of smoke on cold starts, just the engine overfueling to start the engine.

but like the last post, check the colour, most likely will be white, or unburnt diesel.

as you say when it warms up, it runs fine with no smoke. im sure its fine

mine does it on the first start of the day

Hi worryingly it is blue ........ thats why I immediately changed the breather..........
I am really worried. Other wise it goes great...and is smooth and reasonably powerful
giving 33mpg knocking around.....

just to add to my first reply,my wifes td4 with 50k,no smoke at all from cold start,hence my comment on worn injectors. tim.

if you are sure its blue smoke then it sounds like worn valve stem oil seals.if so not to much to worry about,unless your topping up with oil weekly.tim

Hi just thought I report in.....cold start this morning .... much reduced smoke!!! I think breather has helped..........I know my air filter is very dirty will be changing this today........next major mod will be the egr blanking mod....soon!

It could also be one glow plug not working, the engine will start but that one piston will take longer before it fires and builds up fuel. . . . .worth checking

You not been beamed up yet Ming? lol

Hi all thanks for the replys.....Ming I will check glow plugs.....is there an easy way to do this??? As an asside I finished my full service today.......took out the air filter it was completely choked I recon it has not been changed for around 40k!!! (I bought the car S/H recently) now new filter is in Freebe is very frisky and has about 20 more bhp ..... and seems to be smoking far less......time will tell. Could the severe filter restriction induce more oil injestion...............

Hi chaps ime new on here and a mate of mine has a problem he has a 53 plate freelander td4 and have changed all filters the glow plugs and renewed all 4 injectors the problem is that from cold it misfires slightly and kicks out lots of blue smoke get it warm and the smoke goes with just a slight misfire but drives good we have done the egr conversion as well can anyone please help us hope to learn alot from you all and are intrested in trying greenlaning if anyone can help cheers for now

Now you've changed the pcv to the later BMW mod the smoke on start-up and in general will reduce over the next week or so to the extent that it should become almost undetectable.

How to get even less smoke -

I see you are going to do the EGR by-pass soon - but disable the EGR right away if you haven't already done that by taking off the little vacuum pipe. It needs blocking - see thread on duck noises - yes duck noises.

Don't buy supermarket diesel. On Tesco diesel I got a lot of smoke on overtaking - looking in the mirror at it I was shocked sometimes.

Use 200ml of base/mineral 2-stroke oil per full tankful and you'll lubricate and clean up everything and it'll stay clean. No need for expensive branded additives.

My TD4 has 94K and no smoke at all.

mine is the same phil... first start of the day is worst, will start fine after only a couple of cranks but initial firing is very lumpy for a few seconds with loads of blue smoke which clears after a couple of seconds then ok. i've done all filters and glowplugs, egr blanking mod and new intercooler hoses and been running with millers sport additive for over 5k miles ago and still the same hence i'm watching this thread with interest.....oh and been running with 2 stroke for 1/2 a tank lol

Hi Marky .... my Hippo is still the same ..... on cold start up a big puff of blue smoke then fine. I am at 120k, the engine appears to go like stink .... all usaual mods egr,synergy etc. Oil consumption appears to be about 1/2 ltr for around 5k. However, I have noticed that oil appears to condense out of air into ducting (since i changed colour of duct from intercooler to grey) you can clearly see it if you take off the intercooler hoses. I think either there is allot of oily vapour blow by ... (which I don't think is the case - as the engine goes well and if you take oil filler cap off when running there is no smoke or nasty fumes) .... I suspect on the inlet side of the turbo - the bearing seal is weak..... the engine then pulls in a small quantity of oil which vaporises in the hot air stream - and then condenses out after or in the intercooler. I am not sure of the longevity of these turbo's .... but I know for a fact the servicing on mine between 60k and 105k is suspect. Time will tell what is your mileage - does your engine go well - what is your oil consumption - any thoughts????

Hi engine done 85k checked again today start up blue smoke out of exhaust all the time take it a run and when warm nothing it runs great turn off engine for 5 mins restart then smoke again continuos then get it hot and then nothing it runs great and no smoke we are at wits end have checked everything we have even put egr valve back on but still same can anyone help.

Smoky folks follow this link:

United Diesel UK – Diesel Engine Smoke Explained

Good luck.

hmmm... i'm on 81k with full service history, engine is fine and pulls well once initial splutter has cleared ...my intial thoughts were 'valve stem seals' reminds me of the good old ford cvh engine, just found this on another forum...

"After several weeks of testing the td4 is running very well with more power/economy,starts instantly with no misfire/blue smoking. local L r agent even tried replacing ecu,hi pressure pump etc ,etc ,etc they were just guessing after the diagnostic machine failed to pinpoint the problem, when removing the vehicle from their custody i mentioned that i was going to remove the cylinder head & check the condition of the valves etc, they asked why would i want to do that, what could it possibly prove! . Anyway i did and found all 8 inlet ports bunged up with that black tar substance,the inlet valves were absolutely covered in it,on further inspection the air box/inlet manifold was full of it.I steam cleaned the manifold & inlet ports, lightly ground in the valves &rebuilt with new gaskets & valve stem seals.I also blanked off the exhaust gas transfer tube to the egr valve to stop it happening again.It is also worth noting that getting the camshaft timing absolutely bang on is essential to get the best allround performance."

heres a link to the thread...reads pretty much the same as this one lol

Freelander TD4 sport 2003 facelift starting problem

Hi Phil0114 .... wow I do sympathise .... changing all 4 injectors is a serious investment..... I went down to my local Landranger Services explained my symptoms .... (which are very similar to yours) they were convinced it was a leaking injector. The theory goes that you get one weeping and it fills one piston with a good old dribble of fuel. But, it does not leak enough to stop starting. Then when you start - you get a bloody great cloud of smoke and rough running....for a few seconds until the cylinder clears. Now there is possibly something in this as my car only chucks out smoke after about 4 hours at stop. Now the only way to check ..... is to leave your car for 24 hours....remove all the glow plugs and get an 7MM SEE SNAKE TUBE USB INSPECTION VIDEO CAMERA ENDOSCOPE PLUMBER PIPE CAM SCOPE | eBay usb endescope - poke it down the plug hole and see which cylinder is getting diesel .... then once cylinder is identified - replace one faulty injector...... I will probably try this after christmas in the hols. So, maybe you still have a faulty injector???? Give it a try... and let us know.

Just another thought - asside from the injector possibility.....it could be that oil buildup through condensed oil fumes could ..... could collect behind inlet valves..... so that on startup a gob of oil is injested just at the critical starting phase. Breather could be a problem or still possibly turbo bearing seals......I will look into this

change your deisel filter also if you havnt yet, i had the same issue on my old berlingo it was a combination of the filters the plugs and the battery and altinator all needing doing.