Club 80-90 Forums

Hi folks,

Am hoping that you kind people may be able to help.
Apologies if such has be asked before - i'm new!

In short, my T25 1.6 TD will not run properly.
It will start but is running terrible. It will not rev and is pumping out a fair bit of white smoke.
It's like it's being flooded!
Fuel is fresh.
No sign of head gasket probs - oil is free of contamination as is coolant.
The van was running fine and when i tried to start a few days later the problem occurred.

Please, any advice most gratefully received.

Regards,

Chris

Hi Chris, Im not a Diesel expect so hopefully someone who is may come and offer some more advice, but from my limited knowledge and a quick read elswehere this is what I found...


White smoke occurs when raw diesel comes through the exhaust completely intact and unburned. Some causes of this include

Faulty or damaged injectors
Incorrect injection timing (could be a worn timing gear or damaged crankshaft keyway).
Low cylinder compression (eg caused by leaking or broken valves, piston ring sticking, cylinder and/or ring wear, or cylinder glaze)
When white smoke occurs at cold start, and then disappears as the engine warms up, the most common causes are fouling deposits around piston rings and/or cylinder glazing. Use of our Flushing Oil Concentrate and FTC Decarbonizer address these respective problems.

Water entering combustion spaces will also create white smoke. Faulty head gaskets and cracked cylinder heads or blocks are a common cause of water entry, and are often to blame. Unfortunately, expensive mechanical repair is the only proper solution here.



If you do sort it then please take the time to come back and post what the problem and solution was, it really will help others later on.

Good luck !

Martin.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure if it's relevant but the cold start lever which used to be a pain to pull out unless the engine was running comes out really easy now - coincidence?

unfortunately I dont know anything about your engine.. the one in my MK6 Golf doesnt have a cold start lever if you dont get any further help on here try over on the brickyard http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; sometimes there are more diesel oriented people around, or any VW forum as its all the same engine.

Good luck !

One thing that might be worth checking is the fuel line - my ( non turbo) diesel had a tiny split just before the fuel pump and would not rev, as it was sucking in air - lots of white smoke when I tried to rev.

Thanks Rick,
I'll have a look at that tomorrow

Earlofdon wrote:Thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure if it's relevant but the cold start lever which used to be a pain to pull out unless the engine was running comes out really easy now - coincidence?

Hi,

In no way a diesel expert, but this got me thinking. If your cold start lever was stiff, but is now free and easy, is it possible that the cable is now broken? This will leave your van running (potentially) on the cold start setting which could (i'm guessing here) leave the fuelling all wrong....

Easy to check to, get a willing helper to operate the lever whislt you watch THE buisiness end in the engine bay....

Good luck!

Alex

Cold start advances the pump timing up to 2000 revs or so after that has no effect.

Grrr! That's it I've thrown the towel in!
Anybody in Coventry that can fix this dam thing? If so please message me.
If not, the van goes.

Cheers

i know how you are feeling.... im sure we have all been there at somepoint .But, it will be fixable and will need to be fixed to realise the full value if you do sell.

You dont need a T25 specialist just a VW one or even a half decent general mechanic that knows about diesels.. old diesels.

Right that's it!
Still can't sort problem so van goes.
No mot. Tax Oct 13
Free to good home! !!!

what have you tried?
have you cracked the injectors?.............start it and crack them in turn, paper towel or cloth under to catch the fuel.

damn just noticed it going for free

mark

Checked the glow plugs fuse? glow plug relay? cold start lever as before? What steps have you taken - we are floundering in the dark without the info.

Thanks guys
Glow plugs and cold start all ok.
Air filter ok.
Tried fresh diesel - placed fuel line into can of fresh.
That's all I can do.
its parked on the road and there's nowhere to store it, not that it starts and so can't move anyway.
cheers anyway

All 4 glow plugs working? - how did you check them?