Club 80-90 Forums

I have a very smokey 1.7 diesel engine. It smokes like hell when cold then seems to be ok. Does anyone think this is BAD news?

firstly, this should be in the tech forum,

and, what colour is the smoke on start up?

Thanks, I'll put it there. 1st time user, just figured out how to leave a message.

Pretty sure the smokes not blue, that would be obvious right? Pretty sure it's grey.

i'll move ths thread there,
if the smoke is white / grey, i'd look at your glow plugs, sounds like one or more isnt glowing.......

Thanks, I just bought the van and she's a delight.. I'm a bit paranoid about the engine - it didn't smoke at all when I took her out on a couple of tests.
Looking over the old service reports one has a comment 'very low on oil'. If the smokes not blue do you think perhaps whatever's wrong is not terminal?

that and make sure to pull the "choke" thing when starting up.

(best pull it before you switch off ...because it's usually quite stiff when the engine is cold/not running)


E D I T
Every diesel smokes on startup ...especially when it's cold outside and it has stood for a bit.

Make sure all your glowplugs work and use the choke as described above

That should reduce the smoke.

Thanks, I just bought the van and she's a delight.. I'm a bit paranoid about the engine - it didn't smoke at all when I took her out on a couple of tests.
Looking over the old service reports one has a comment 'very low on oil'. If the smokes not blue do you think perhaps whatever's wrong is not terminal?

I'll have the plugs checked.

There's a pull lever looks like a choke under steering wheel left. It only pulls out about one inch though. Someone told me diesel engines don't have a choke. They are wrong?

No ...they are correct.

Diesels dont have a choke in the classical sense ...that's for petrol engines only.

The "choke" on the T3 is called "Kaltstartbeschleuniger" (cold start accelerator) and actually alters the settings on the injection pump to slightly earlier injection ...which helps to get the engine going.

and yes ...it's that lever on the dash

Ahh! is the choke thing stiff because it's cold? I will try pulling it out as you say b4 shutting off.

- This club's great -

Excellent, thanks. She's a G reg T25, I need to create a proper profile. One thing at a time.

Been a bit worried about pulling that lever, forcing and breaking it..

Yeees ..you want to be careful with that ...its a bitch to fix when it breaks.

Best hing to do is to get into a habit of pulling it when switching off (every time, in any weather) and just push it in once you get going and into gear.