White smoke

mechanical novice here. Well i am with diesel engines. I've got a defender 90 which is a complete hybrid of vehicles with a 300TDi engine in it. It has just started blowing white smoke when i start it. I have been told various things from blown head gasket to a knackered turbo. Could someone give me the benfit of an experienced reason for the white smoke please? Ta Nick

Welcome!

Right - first things first - a quick list of the most common smoke types and reasons.

Blue smoke is OIL - usually due to turbo, worn rings etc...
Black smoke is unburn fuel - usually due to injections issues air problems.
White smoke is vaporised diesel or water.

Does it only happen when the engine is cold or on starting? Has it suddenly started or have you just started noticing it? How much white smoke? Does the engine sound lumpy and or does the vehicle rock a bit until it clears?

White on start up here is probably diesel is being compressed into a vapour but not enough to ignite.

Diesel vapour is not that great for you, but next time, start it up and go and sniff it, if it smells like an oily sweet smell then it's most likely diesel vapour. This could be because your glow plugs have failed or there is low compression, timing is out.

Are you loosing water? Is your performance poor? Then it could be water getting into the cylinders and when you start it it's steaming out, but that would usually show at all times.

Anyway - answer the questions above and we can go from there.

Cheers Very helpful.
i am guessing its the vapour bit. I've just had the cambelt and kit replaced. On collection the garage informed me that the pump was "one tooth out" so they corrected it whilst they were at it. But it lost power so i asked them to put it back where it was. This might sound daft, but this landy is such a hybrid of vehicles it wouldn't supprise me if the engine is not a standard 300TDi. As i said in my initial thread diesel engines and me are not the best combination.

Anyway, yes its only just started and yes its generally when its cold, or if i've driven it for 20mins then stopped for a short period (say 10 mins) and got back in it, it does it then but it's pretty random. the worst i've seen it was under engine breaking going down a hill (on the road) and i thought the lord almighty had popped a cloud behind me!

Hope that helps you diagnose abit further.

cheers Nick

ps haven't smelt the smoke yet but i am positive it isn't steam.

If this smoke-screen happens when your engine is on the "over-run" meaning during engine braking going down long hills, then it is CERTAIN that some form of oily material other than fuel MUST be getting into the cylinders, and being vaporised.

This does not rule out the possibility of WATER getting into cylinders from a blown head gasket or cracked head, etc.

The options are very few, and ENGINE OIL entering the inlet tract one way or another is almost a dead cert.

FIRST - attack the engine BREATHER SYSTEM. Make sure it is all clean and working properly. It should be capable of separating OIL from FUMES. The oil should stay in the engine, but the fumes should go to the inlet somewhere, probably just before the Turbo inlet. Yours may be passing ENGINE OIL into the inlet tract.

SECOND - get the pump set properly so that you can be SURE the tickover is set correctly and is NOT being controlled by the throttle linkage.

THIRD - get the timing sorted for sure.

Lastly, know what to do if the engine starts to FREE RUN on it's engine oil.
The ONLY thing to do is BRAKES TO A DEAD STOP, WITHOUT DIPPING THE CLUTCH UNTIL THE CAR AND THE ENGINE HAVE BOTH STOPPED.

If you dip the clutch before the engine stops the engine will free run to amazing revs (10,000 rpm plus!) and probably blow up big time.

CharlesY

smoke under engine breaking is rare and random. Generally it appears after ive driven it for a bit stopped for a few minutes then started it up a agian, at that point it blow out the smoke but then it clears once you're driving along.

royofthelandrovers said:

smoke under engine breaking is rare and random. Generally it appears after ive driven it for a bit stopped for a few minutes then started it up a agian, at that point it blow out the smoke but then it clears once you're driving along.

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OK .... then all the signs are pointing to worn oil seals in the turbo compressor stage (the air end), BUT I would still first make quite sure that the crankcase breather system is clear and clean and working. You might get lucky ....

CharlesY

whats your water level are you using a lot of coolant/water

cheers to Charlesy and discomania (i have a feeling your the same person, but not sure) there can't be two people inlanarkshire interested in my problems?) Anyway cheers very helpful i'll look into the problem. N

royofthelandrovers said:

cheers to Charlesy and discomania (i have a feeling your the same person, but not sure) there can't be two people inlanarkshire interested in my problems?) Anyway cheers very helpful i'll look into the problem. N

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He's my ex apprentice ... he had to go ... getting too damned smart he was.

CharlesY

Ah you see he is in countryside Lanarkshire (the fun bit) and I am the city bit- not so fun for landrover owners!

slight smoke from xedi x reg in engine when driving after a short while

ive just had exactly the same problem in my 300tdi, all that was wrong was two of the glow plugs werent working properly, replaced all four and now its back to normal