19J smoking like a basset hound

Hi all,

Got a rolling project 1990 Defender 90 with the 19J 2.5TD engine.

She drives nicely, accelerating well (as good as can be expected anyway), but have a couple of things I was hoping to get a steer on...

When going up hills c. 3 to 4% gradient and above, the max speed is 50. I've had an indicated 70 out of her on flat or a slight downward slope. Is this normal?

Secondly, she can be quite smokey. The usual two or three puffs of white smoke on start up. At a constant throttle there is no smoke, but as soon as I do anything other than gentle acceleration I get some smoke, the smoke is progressive.. The more aggressive the throttle press, the more smoke. I would say it is like a grey smoke. Not black but not white. Any ideas what this could be?

Couple of things to note:
1. It's got 113k miles on. Original engine.
2. It isn't consistent. Some journeys it will smoke and then other journeys, when the engine is warm, there is very little.
3. I have carried out a full service oil/fuel/Air filters and fresh oil. This has improved performance but the smoke is the same.
4. I've used a bottle of Wynns advanced diesel treatment. Didn't make much difference, but I only used a single bottle.

Thanks!

When you remove the rocker box [ oil fill ] cap with the engine running, how much puffing/smoke comes out ?
One problem with the 19j is the breather pipe going from the rocker box to the air filter unit.
It enters as standard on the input side of the air filter, as a result an engine that has started to breath a bit on the heavy side sends a mist of oil into the filter soon clogging even a new filter. A basic mod is just to remove the pipe at the filter end and let the end point freely down at the chassis.
Others have modded so pipe enters on the exit side of filter unit .

All of these symptoms seem normal if my past experience of a 19j engine are anything to go on. There's a hill just outside a little village where I live and in the days of my 19j tratter I had to drop to third if I wanted to accelerate up it and any following vehicle would get 'smoked' After a 300tdi transplant I could keep my speed going up there in 5th

tottot said:

When you remove the rocker box [ oil fill ] cap with the engine running, how much puffing/smoke comes out ?
One problem with the 19j is the breather pipe going from the rocker box to the air filter unit.
It enters as standard on the input side of the air filter, as a result an engine that has started to breath a bit on the heavy side sends a mist of oil into the filter soon clogging even a new filter. A basic mod is just to remove the pipe at the filter end and let the end point freely down at the chassis.
Others have modded so pipe enters on the exit side of filter unit .

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Good suggestion. I'll look at this tonight. Probably more likely to go down the route of the air box output. Don't like the idea of putting any oil downwards (I'm also a motorcyclist so like to prevent leaking more oil and I do already!!)

Marmaduke said:

All of these symptoms seem normal if my past experience of a 19j engine are anything to go on. There's a hill just outside a little village where I live and in the days of my 19j tratter I had to drop to third if I wanted to accelerate up it and any following vehicle would get 'smoked' After a 300tdi transplant I could keep my speed going up there in 5th

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I see. I thought the hill thing would be normal, so more the smoking that's a concern.

I do think as soon as I finish my house renovation in the new year there will be a 200 or 300 tdi inbound. Just want to keep the 19j going good until then.

Did you use synthetic oil?

nobber said:

Did you use synthetic oil?

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Semi synth

This is an old engine - I think it will help to add a bit of 20/50 mineral oil - maybe 50/50 at the next oil change. It certainly made my NA run better. IIRC, white smoke is unburnt fuel..

zeaphod said:

This is an old engine - I think it will help to add a bit of 20/50 mineral oil - maybe 50/50 at the next oil change. It certainly made my NA run better. IIRC, white smoke is unburnt fuel..

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Thanks. I'll pick some up over the next few days.

Question... Will the oil feeding into the air filter (as mentioned above) mean the engine can't bring in as much air as it wants and therefore ruin the fuel air mix... Would this lead to the unburnt diesel?

If the air filter is being clogged by oil from the breather, then it can make the air/fuel mix too rich = unburnt fuel. If it's that bad, it suggests worn rings and I would definitely stop feeding the breather into the air box, and think about a TDi sooner. It could also be that a previous owner has fiddled with the fuel mixture settings.

The amount of oil making its way into the filter is only small and would not effect the running but will clog the air filter quite quickly.

Put 20/40 or 15/40 mineral oil, 15/40 would be better, it has oil jets under the pistons, you want them working properly, White smoke is un burnt like a miss fire or cold start, black is too much fuel, this could be anything so start with the basics.

I'm reluctant to put too much time or money into it chasing after smoke (lol), I'll have a look around. Could it be timing? I've read a lot about it being timing off.

It wont be timing, its compression or fueling, could be turbo seals letting past but I doubt it, could be worn rings/bores, worn pump, it could be a lot of things, they are very simple engines and easy to diagnose if its in front of you and you know what you are doing, but over the internet? Basically its either burning oil or not burning/getting too much fuel under load.

I'm glad you identified the potential risk to motorcyclists having oil spraying out of the underside! I've had a few offs due to oil and diesel over the years and it ain't pleasant. I would suggest piping the breather into a catch tank (2 l plastic milk bottle), changing the oil for 20W50 and the air filter and leaving it at that. If your longer term plans are an engine transplant, I would save your pennies and time for that. BTW, I am an ex 19J engine owner and mine ran perfectly, but I haven't looked back since I changed it for a 200 TDI.

Britcyclerider said:

I'm glad you identified the potential risk to motorcyclists having oil spraying out of the underside! I've had a few offs due to oil and diesel over the years and it ain't pleasant. I would suggest piping the breather into a catch tank (2 l plastic milk bottle), changing the oil for 20W50 and the air filter and leaving it at that. If your longer term plans are an engine transplant, I would save your pennies and time for that. BTW, I am an ex 19J engine owner and mine ran perfectly, but I haven't looked back since I changed it for a 200 TDI.

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Ah a fellow 2 wheeler. I rarely find people that like both cars and motorbikes.

Don't get me wrong, it runs very well indeed. I just feel guilty pouring smoke out.

Interesting. What year is yours and did you source a defender tdi or disco? Would I be able to pick your brains on it?

Yes of course, ask anything you like. If you send me a PM I will pass on my number if you want to talk it through. Do check out glencoyne engineering though as he has a very good description of what's involved. This site also has some good write ups.

Mine is a 1989 90 and I fitted a Disco 200tdi.

I have a 1990 90 and fitted a 200tdi from a Defender. This is a bit simpler as the standard TD exhaust fit's straight on.

tottot said:

I have a 1990 90 and fitted a 200tdi from a Defender. This is a bit simpler as the standard TD exhaust fit's straight on.

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Is the only extra mod the downpipe? They seem like they're only about 80 quid on ebay so not the worst.

My issue is there aren't any decent priced 200tdis kicking about. They're all 800 quid. Lots of 300s though....

You can buy a bolt on 300tdi engine mount conversion kit, it's just that the 200tdi conversion is so easy - it will bolt straight onto your gearbox with a couple of mods. In your place, I would be ringing around local scrapyards looking for early discoveries. There is a 200TDi on ebay for 450, and one for 650 with a new head gasket and timing belt.