Smokin' Freelander

My 1.8 petrol Freelander is smoking. Smoking like its got a 300 a day Woodbines habit. Smoking like you see tanks doing on a battlefield...

It's bad. OK?

Grey smoke - thinking oil getting burnt.

Thinking it might be a broken ring I've done a compression test and the reading are as follows, 1 to 4: 200psi, 200psi, 160psi, 200psi.

Whilst number 3 is significantly down I wouldn't have thought that would indicate a broken ring as there's still a lot of pressure there.

It has had a reconditioned cylinder head and MLS head gasket recently but this had been pressure tested and skimmed so I don't think its that.

Anyone got any thoughts, other than take it down to the quay and roll it into the sea?

if its grey - it sounds like water - i reckon yo MLS is bust and is leaking water into no3 pot.

possibly? Those pressures arent bad

What was the plug like in cyl 3 ? Glazed - oil, white chalky - coolant

suspect inlet manifold gasket would also chuck water into the cylinder.

Valve stem oil seals, when shot will cause oil burning.

Have you had a emissions check for hydrocarbons

Thanks both.

Ironically for a Freelander, it doesn't seem to be losing any water so I'd largely discounted that. It really is producing a lot of smoke.

Plug 3 looked black and sooty, but also wet, if that makes any sense.

Too much smoke to try driving it anywhere for a test.

have yu tried changing the plug and/or ht lead?

I know its simple - but sometimes things are

could it be a faulty injector? overfueling?

Mayby someone set it on fire an its just slow burnin,,,,

could be a faulty plug or lead as stated by MHM. plug would look wet because fuel is not being burnt in that cyl. could try swapping plug with another cyl, then maybe change the lead. but as NI says, white/grey smoke usually means water contamination

Thanks folks. New plugs and leads, plus dizzy cap. No difference.

I was going to try pulling the lead off the number 3 injector and see if it still smoked but its a bu99er to get at the clip.

Guess I'll have to pull the inlet manifold for starters.

On second thoughts, if you're not losing coolant then you can rule that out.

Coolant will have to be drained before manifold comes off.

There are a series of 13mm M8 nuts holding the manifold on, get some good socket extensions. Chuck the old flanged nuts away and replace with standard M8 nuts. Cause you're working blind at the back of the engine its awkward, use a bit of insulating tape to stick the nut to the socket, it will save you a bit of time, nothing worse than dropping a nut and starting over.

That leaves the injector, hydrocarbons emissions will tell you if its over-fuelling, they are not easy to undo.............not sure where you could source a cheap injector to try it, any rovers near you?

If you're taking the head off, I wouldn't until you've checked the injector, then you would be best to change the valve stem oil seals and check valve stems for wear/service limits.

Collates and springs have been known to launch themselves skywards and never come down again, use the proper G-clamp style spring compressor.

Lastly, fingers crossed its not the piston rings (x3)

If it's grey/white i'd still say it was water. Oil would give a definate blue smoke and has a very distinct smell. If your not losing water is it possible you could have water in your tank? A dodgy turbo could also give you white smoke i believe (don't know if the 1.8 has one!).

How did you get on? have you fixed it?

Ambriel, did you get the engine sorted?