White Smoke and power loss.

Hi,

Yesterday l took my 200tdi out for a run and it ran fine until l reached 60 mph. As soon a l hit 60 the engine started coughing white smoke, which has never happen before.

This morning when l started it, it’s bowing white smoke and when you put your foot downthe engine dies.

last week it ran well, but this weekend since the cold weather this has happened.

I don’t think it’s the head gasket as it was changed about 5 months ago and there is no water in the oil.

I would appreciate some pointers.

Generally if you get clouds of white smoke the head gasket has blown.
Is there oil in the water?
If you take the cap off the rad does it pressure up and bl;ow out smelling of fuel?
Does the white smoke smell of paraffin?
If it does it could be your timing belt that has lost a tooth.?

The expansion tank slightly pressures up, but always has, no oil in water.
I can’t tell you if the smoke smells of paraffin, as lm full of cold and have no sense of smell.

I’ve just taken it out for another run, the engines now up to temperature and it runs a lot better, but when you put your foot to the floor it loose power and coughs out white smoke.

I'd also check, as I say quite often, the whole of the air intake system for de-laminated hoses, the air intake for a wet/clogged air filter and the turbo for damage to the vanes or excess movement in the spindle. Don't just look at one thing and say that's OK, the air intake is a complete system and needs, really, to be looked at as a whole. White smoke can indicate a broken turbo .. I had one blow spectacularly with clouds of white smoke ... it had no vanes left! (On a Nissan ZXR, not landy)

Also check the fuel delivery, filter, pump and leak-off pipes, white smoke can also indicate a lack of fuel ..

Water or fuel burning off. Sorry, but it might be the head or gasket

Usually the head gasket but check turbo air hoses to and from intercooler for splits. Also air filter.

The expansion tank is supposed to pressurise slightly in normal operation but the hoses should remain ‘squashable’

Maybe headgasket - just because it was done 5 months ago doesn’t make it immune from breaking again!

Hi, Ive been shopping with my wife and haven’t had chance to look at this again.
I wonder if it’s the lift pump, this morning l took off the fuel filter and it was only three quarters full. This evening l have tried to manually prime the filter by moving the lever on the side of the lift pump but l don’t get diesel coming out of the bleed screw on the filter housing. If l completely remove the bleed screw and turn the engine over, l still don’t get any diesel bleeding out.

200 tdi;s will run without the lift pump but will not give normal power or be so easy to start.Given you have no fuel coming through then lift may well be fubar or there is a blockage at the tank.

someone correct me if I'm wrong but white smoke from fuel is normally because of excessive fuel being burnt!

the lack of fuel in your filter points to water which then points to the cylinder head.

I know it's not what you want to hear but it's worth getting it checked (even if it isn't the CH) before it gets any worse!

I left mine for weeks and then had to get a new engine!

I would guess the lift pump as well, as a cheap and easy thing to check. When mine failed I got a lot a white smoke out the back, no power and struggled to get high revs. One thing you can easily do to check is use a jerry can of fuel sat on the wing to fill the filter and see if it then runs properly (just remove the end of the fuel pipe from the lift pump and put it in the jerry can). This negates the need for a pump as the system is then gravity fed.
Although if you are worried about the head gasket as others have suggested running the engine for this test might not be the best idea and would n

Sounds like plenty fuel an no air to me. Check all inlet pipes for de lamination and collapsing. Try starting with no pipes to turbo if possible for a short time only. If it runs clean its rubber pipes. If you still get smoke its probably the turbo nacked as you have lack of power. Check turbo for play or lack of. These things rely on good clean oil to spin ?

mojo247 said:

someone correct me if I'm wrong but white smoke from fuel is normally because of excessive fuel being burnt!

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I thought excessive fuel made black smoke .. turn the pump up too much to 'roll coal' ... but I could be wrong ...

Does this white gas linger or dissipate quickly?
Had an Astra with a hg issue and it ended up popping the rad taking the repair bill up another £80.

Paul D said:

I thought excessive fuel made black smoke .. turn the pump up too much to 'roll coal' ... but I could be wrong ...

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i know i said white smoke is "...normally because of excessive fuel..." but thinking about it, I probably should have said it might be because of excessive fuel, probably from the injectors

might be worth checking the coolant level in the header tank but might also be worth checking the injectors or injector pump timing?

Just an update, l have changed the lift pump and it’s fixed the problem.
The Land Rover is now running well with no white smoke and there is definitely no water in the oil, so hopefully l can now rule out a failed head gasket.

Thanks for all your advice

good news!

andy vash said:

Just an update, l have changed the lift pump and it’s fixed the problem.
The Land Rover is now running well with no white smoke and there is definitely no water in the oil, so hopefully l can now rule out a failed head gasket.

Thanks for all your advice

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Good that you got it sorted although I would consider buying another lift pump to keep on the shelf. Myself and others have had problems with the life expectancy of modern lift pumps, even the proper brands like delphi. I am lucky to get 20k out of one and usually need to replace it every 12-18 months. But they are cheap enough and quick and easy enough to fit I now carry one along with an alternator belt in vehicle with me.

I had the same issue with my 300tdi once. Sudden failure of lift pump and clouds of white smoke. Replaced lift pump, smoke was gone.

Good it is sorted.