Td5 blue ish smoke

Hi guys it's been a while since I've been on here

My brothers 15p disco td5 has started smoking, not loads but enough to be able to see it, does it when hot and for instance stopping at traffic lights then when taking off a little cloud of blue ish grey smoke comes out then clears until the next time it goes to idle for a bit... It's not drinking any noticeable oil but dies smell of burning oil... Just seen the flexi joint on the decat pipe is leaking but Dought it's to do with that? The engine starts first turn hot or cold no matter the weather... Any suggestions to what this could be guys or has anyone had a similar thing happen?

Cheers

I would say that the oil is getting in later in the burning cycle rather than through a seal on the inlet side of the turbo, but it's not impossible I suppose. It could be getting into the hot exhaust side of the system directly through the turbo, an oil seal breaking down and burning actually in the exhaust system rather than the engine itself.
Oil being burnt and producing blue-ish smoke or haze and the smell of burning oil in the exhaust is also likely to be getting past either a piston ring, a valve stem seal or the head gasket. But I am prepared for someone to shoot me down in flames!

brain wont shoot you down in flames this time I agree ..... but if you don't mind I may add other things

cylinder bore glaze
piston ring sticking but not worn
wrong grade of engine oil
diesel in the oil
crank case pressure to high

Thanks for the input guys crank case pressure is minimal and it starts instantly from cold so not thinking compression is the culprit... Apparently only started doing it after changing the oil to castrol edge 5w40 recently... Changed the oil tonight for and it didn't come out smelling of diesel... It's not a smoke screen but something isn't right... only does it after idling for a bit so do you think it's not likely to be the turbo?

If you know it's old simply replace the depression control valve(LLN100140L), it's not very expensive and even if it doesnt help it won't hurt, a plastic bit exposed to hot oily gasses should be treated as medium term service item and if it doesnt close well as the revs are growing it will let excessive oily gasses into the intake

sierrafery said:

If you know it's old simply replace the depression control valve(LLN100140L), it's not very expensive and even if it doesnt help it won't hurt, a plastic bit exposed to hot oily gasses should be treated as medium term service item and if it doesnt close well as the revs are growing it will let excessive oily gasses into the intake

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Thanks it is fairly new I renewed last year could the intercooler being dirty inside cause smoke? It's only done 80.000 miles

Clogged intercooler would cause eventually black smoke and lack of power not blue, causes of blue smoke are above my knowledge cos it's way too mechanical for me

Discodevon said:

Thanks for the input guys crank case pressure is minimal and it starts instantly from cold so not thinking compression is the culprit... Apparently only started doing it after changing the oil to castrol edge 5w40 recently... Changed the oil tonight for and it didn't come out smelling of diesel... It's not a smoke screen but something isn't right... only does it after idling for a bit so do you think it's not likely to be the turbo?

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try disconnecting the breather pipe and decompression valve and run it direct to atmosphere then test drive or remove oil filler cap just to over rule high crank case pressure

if there is a blockage or any restriction in the crank case pressure ....turbo can not drain oil quick enough specially over a period of time.....can also run this same test just by removing oil filler cap and test drive
do you have any sort of oil catch can added to the breathing system ? that may create more a restriction?

other tests can be performed like removing the intake pipe from the turbo and boost pipe from the turbo and let it idle for some time (this only rules the cold side of the turbo though )
also check end float to much excessive play on the turbo bearing means there will be play on the oil piston oil rings inside the turbo .... also while idling hold a white cloth near the turbo outlet before the intercooler is the turbo bleeding any oil

ps what engine weight in engine oil was used before hand ?
and brand was it a fully or semi in the same weight values
also what's the mileage of the engine?

ozzyboydeano said:

try disconnecting the breather pipe and decompression valve and run it direct to atmosphere then test drive or remove oil filler cap just to over rule high crank case pressure

if there is a blockage or any restriction in the crank case pressure ....turbo can not drain oil quick enough specially over a period of time.....can also run this same test just by removing oil filler cap and test drive
do you have any sort of oil catch can added to the breathing system ? that may create more a restriction?

other tests can be performed like removing the intake pipe from the turbo and boost pipe from the turbo and let it idle for some time (this only rules the cold side of the turbo though )
also check end float to much excessive play on the turbo bearing means there will be play on the oil piston oil rings inside the turbo .... also while idling hold a white cloth near the turbo outlet before the intercooler is the turbo bleeding any oil

ps what engine weight in engine oil was used before hand ?
and brand was it a fully or semi in the same weight values
also what's the mileage of the engine?

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Ozzy we are in the very south of England and most td5s around here are run on 10w40 semi or fully but normally semi, my brother put in castrol edge fully 5w30 this is a low ash oil and as I understand is for cars fitted with Dpf... I have changed to shell helix hx7 10w40 the other day which has improved things but not completely... About 200 miles ago... So going to wait another 800 miles or so and drain again... I have noticed the smoke is quite white with a blue tindge to it hardly anything but I'm fussy and can see it and it smells too... The front down pipe is leaking at the flexi could this be anything to do with it?

Discodevon said:

Ozzy we are in the very south of England and most td5s around here are run on 10w40 semi or fully but normally semi, my brother put in castrol edge fully 5w30 this is a low ash oil and as I understand is for cars fitted with Dpf... I have changed to shell helix hx7 10w40 the other day which has improved things but not completely... About 200 miles ago... So going to wait another 800 miles or so and drain again... I have noticed the smoke is quite white with a blue tindge to it hardly anything but I'm fussy and can see it and it smells too... The front down pipe is leaking at the flexi could this be anything to do with it?

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white smoke is normally raw fuel or air in the system could be many things like injection timing compression dodgy injectors hopefully know one has added injector cleaner into the fuel tank
the tint of blue could be valve stem guides and seals depending on the condition and wear ..this may also lead back to white smoke as your valves may not be sealing very good Valve seat wear
compression of the engine may sound ok but unless you do a compression test this gives a better idea

so depending on the wear on the engine it may sit happy with a higher grade weight of oil ... for example mine has well over 300,0000 kilometres on the clock these are hard kilometres if I may add ..I run 15 /40 for the past 3 years with no ill side affects ..I do not have an engine oil pressure gauge installed yet but I'm sure with my engine if I run any lower grade of oil I will notice a decrease in pressure due the wear on the engine

in the mean time you need to monitor engine oil level and how much its using over a period of time... also run some tests like I mentioned above specially when crank case pressure can vary between engine temps

ps does your engine cooling system get to operating temps you may need a 2ndary gauge to confirm or a scan tool not the gauge on the dash ..the reason I ask I have had many engines in the past thermostats to fail open ..... resulting an over cooled engine ..breathing oil heavily due to the pistons block or liners wasn't reaching its optimal temp .... piston changing shape to round as pistons designs need room for expansion ......this is why I like to use catch cans in the breathing systems it allows you to monitor curtain things only
if you don't have a catch can you can easily make one from a bottle and monitor it over a period of time for test purposes only just to rule it out ..

split in the flexi pipe this will give some issues to engines that run oxygen sensors

I'm convinced it isn't compression as it starts as quick as you can turn the key... I've seen td5s with low compression and they don't start nicely let's put it that way... There is minimal blow by... But when I went to inspect the turbo there is a bit of play... I can pull the fan thing down and spin it and it hits the side?

Discodevon said:

I'm convinced it isn't compression as it starts as quick as you can turn the key... I've seen td5s with low compression and they don't start nicely let's put it that way... There is minimal blow by... But when I went to inspect the turbo there is a bit of play... I can pull the fan thing down and spin it and it hits the side?

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mine also starts first click of the key and breaths heavy ..even though i live in australia in the winter temps can drop to 3 degrees to be honest i never use my glow plugs ever since owning
i have just looked at my turbo i have slight movement but not enough to touch the sides ////the fan thing is called an impellor or a turbine ....both exhaust turbine and intake turbines run at a very high tolerance so does the bearing and seals

ozzyboydeano said:

mine also starts first click of the key and breaths heavy ..even though i live in australia in the winter temps can drop to 3 degrees to be honest i never use my glow plugs ever since owning
i have just looked at my turbo i have slight movement but not enough to touch the sides ////the fan thing is called an impellor or a turbine ....both exhaust turbine and intake turbines run at a very high tolerance so does the bearing and seals

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Aussie lad I changed the fuel filter yesterday and it seems to have cleared the smoke for now, it had only been on there for 5k miles... Have you ever started your landy below 0 degrees or does it never go below that there?

Discodevon said:

Aussie lad I changed the fuel filter yesterday and it seems to have cleared the smoke for now, it had only been on there for 5k miles... Have you ever started your landy below 0 degrees or does it never go below that there?

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i have a few times when its hailed with ice still on the road
to be honest i think the injection system on the td5 is really good given the fact most TD5s start with the flick of the key ..not like some of my other diesel engines i drive i have to glow them one or twice even on a 10 degree day with all glow plugs working

glad you have cleared the white smoke .i would suggest to remove the fuel pump and inspect ....in the tank and clean both tank and fuel pick up there could be algea in there
if you have any issues with combustion washers on the injectors.... the fuel system maybe also contaminated with carbon

ps do you still have the old fuel filter ..if so cut this open and inspect for damage to the filter media or any dirt that may create a restriction a fuel filter should last more than 5 weeks