Freelander 1 P1110 Td4 white smoke on startup - Solved

Thanks. If the injector is letting fuel through when engine off would this show it up? Just changing one duff glow plug so maybe that will improve things!!

andyfreelandy said:

Thanks. If the injector is letting fuel through when engine off would this show it up? J

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You do the test with the engine idling. The spilled fuel is compared between cylinders, giving an induction of the which one or more are spilling back.

All leakage for all 4 injectors was between 7 and 8ml. Changed on glow plug and whilst it still smoked on first start after change it seems to be improving each time.

That is in 1minute of idle.

Changed one injector and tested the others all good. Changed the catalyst as well. And the turbo!
Spent a few hundreds to get rid of the smoke. Which I did but... there is a little bit on startup just for like 5 seconds. It's either I live with this or remove the head to change valve seals. Easy choice for me!

Did the change of glow plugs went silky smooth? Any advice for me as I am planning the change these myself next week. For no reason

Glow plugs changed OK. Warm engine, 6 sided deep 10mm socket. I use quarter inch drive so that I can feel the tightness. Spray with wd40. Have a coffee. Give gentle unscrew. Spray again. Gentle tighten and remove. Once they are unscrewing they may appear tight due to carbon build upon the tip as it passes through the threaded hole. Don't apply large grunt factor as they can snap off. Torque wrench set to tightening torque might be a good idea if you are not used to feeling what is OK by hand.

20 NM is the book value for glows.

Yep I have two torque wrenches as I use them almost every time. Will follow your guide. And get some proper ones delphi or Bosch there is a nice YouTube video showing the difference

Tried a cold start today. Much improved but misfire and white smoke for about 1 min then all clears up. Are injectors this sensitive to warm up or am I back to a fresh set of glows even though they all work? The glow circuit energises for a few mins after start up even in this weather.

Well cheap ones take more time to glow. Some really cheap ones like britpart are very slow... very. Guy in video waited for 1 min and still not glowing while the delphi ones in 6 to 12 sec they were in business

14.40 should show

Interesting, thanks for link. I think I will disconnect each injector in turn whilst engine is in the misfire phase and see which makes no difference. Then double check glow on this cylinder and if OK change that injector for known good one. Just got to dis and reconnect all 4 in under a minute! Will free the plug latches first.

I found the injector diagnostics on car can be very tricky with hit and miss.
The best results are pull out and send them to test or clean I know home testing should be ok but it's too much effort and mess to be honest

andyfreelandy said:

Tried a cold start today. Much improved but misfire and white smoke for about 1 min then all clears up

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I reckon it's an injector bleeding down after shutdown.

andyfreelandy said:

Are injectors this sensitive to warm up

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They could be, but if an injector has bled down onto the piston chamber, then the fuel is going to produce white smoke as it burns off. The misfire is most likely to be the bled down injector refilling with fuel, spraying randomly.

andyfreelandy said:

The glow circuit energises for a few mins after start up even in this weather.

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That's correct. The plugs run for a while after starting, even if they weren't used to pre-heat the chamber.

Thanks for info. Am I correct in thinking that the glow plugs wouldn't cause a misfire for a minute if they were not working? Not sure how much they affect the initial running or whether it is largely about improved efficiency and combustion.

andyfreelandy said:

Thanks for info. Am I correct in thinking that the glow plugs wouldn't cause a misfire for a minute if they were not working? Not sure how much they affect the initial running or whether it is largely about improved efficiency and combustion.

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The glow plugs are powered after starting to improve engine running, basically making it more petrol like. It shouldn't misfire though, which is why I think it's an injector. Mine splutters a little bit after starting, but not much. A quick blip of the throttle and it's running perfectly.

So today I tried the remove each injector electrics plug in turn. Interesting... No one injector showed any different change to the others but when running on any 3 the smoke stopped. All tested on cold start. Replace all 4 and it smokes for a minute. So removed all injectors and cleaned tips in solvent. Very black solvent resulted. Put car back together. Runs OK. Will test in morning when cold. Anyone seen the firing on any 3 making it not smoke??

andyfreelandy said:

Anyone seen the firing on any 3 making it not smoke??

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The EDC will compensate when an injector goes down, by increasing the fuel throughput to the other injectors. My guess is, the increase in fuel is enough to make the injectors spray pattern better.

Cleaning and some Comma through system might do the trick then.

Been using Comma. Perhaps some improvement but it really is for the first minute of a cold start.
Interesting observations:
If you drive off from cold with no throttle for a minute then accelerate _ No smoke.
If you disconnect fuel pressure sensor_Worse than before.
If you unplug electrics on any injector_No smoke.
Whilst I could sub all injectors for a known OK set, I am thinking pressure sensor and overfueling for a minute??
Have posted Regional forum for possible use of a Hawkeye for injector balance check.... Nr North Devon preferred!!!
Anyone??