Smoky (white-ish) 2006 Td4 auto

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TheDuh

New Member
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4
Hello everyone, have a 2006 Td4 automatic, 85,000kms, which is smoking a bit (It's white-ish), and I like to canvass some opinions.

I've read the postings here and in other forums regarding white smoke, and many relate to the EGR and crankcase breather, which I've cleaned (more on that below).

Sorry if this is a bit long-winded, but I thought to volunteer as much information as possible which might lead to an accurate diagnosis.

Two months ago the old girl started vibrating (above normal levels) during start up and driving. Engine mountings are new (two months old too), so I ruled this out. Fuel filter was changed two months ago too.

Car runs fine, no problems starting, accelerating, no discernible drop in fuel efficiency, runs great on the motorway, etc.

I brought her into the LR franchise holder for a hook-up, with the fuelling compensation numbers as follows:

Injector 1: +0.8 mm3
Injector 2: -0.7 mm3
Injector 3: -2.3 mm3
Injector 4: +1.7 mm3

Other info from the hook-up:

Airflow: 464 mg
High pressure rail 28,659 kPa
Low pressure 373 kPa, idling at 780 rpm
Coolant temperature: 78 degrees Celcius

Service advisor recommended a "low-tech" fix first, which he said have helped some customers. I bought three cans of Blue-Chem injector cleanors, and poured into three consecutive tanks (generally the tank was two-thirds full each time). He also mentioned if situation persists, to have the injectors serviced, however this option costs a fortune (around 700 quid I was told for a set of four).

It was only during the third can of Blue-Chem that the Td4 started smoking, and this happens on start up, idling, and obviously, when pulling away leaving a cloud of smoke.

It was at this point I read up the forums and cleaned the EGR (was coated quite badly) and cleaned the crankcase breather filter and the rubber diaphragm beside it. I wasn't confident or mechanically inclined enough to do the leak off test (I know, wussy).

After this cleaning job the amount of smoke reduced significantly, however if you stare long enough you can still make out the smoke. And it can clearly be seen at night when you stop at the lights and someone behind is shining his headlights into the direction of the exhaust.

By the way I live in a tropical country where the temps are between 20 to 30 degrees Celcius.

The smoke smells, for want of a better word, more "acrid" than the typical diesel exhaust I'm used to coming from the car.

Any advice at this point? Should I just:

A) Do nothing. Is this the effect of the Blue-Chem injector cleaner? The car is now on the fourth tankful (and the first "clean" tank after the three cans treatment). Will the smoke reduce over time? It's worrying me.

B) Panic and beat a path to the franchise holder, which is not accepting any more service bookings until mid of March anyway...

Thanks very much in advance,
Darren
 
Last edited:
Crankcase filter should be replace as you can't clean it ( unless it's the BMW plastic part ) ?
 
Hello DTO,

I cleaned the filter because I read of a few people doing it. Here is a photo of the filter after cleaning, would you think it was a good job or should it just be replaced?

I live overseas but I think I'll just order one off eBay from one of the UK-based suppliers and try that out.
 

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  • Crankcase breather filter.jpg
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The plastic case can be cleaned/washed but the furry filter should be replaced every 12,000 miles , There is also a bmw plastic vortex filter that replaces that part and this won't need replacing again .

BMW part number 11127799367 oil separator ;)
 
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