Club 80-90 Forums

I've got a 1.6TD, that runs lovely, uses no water or oil but on start up is so smokey it can be embarassing!! Strong diesel smell.

But after 5 minutes is running lovely & clear(ish).

BTW. Temp gauge doesn't work.

Where should I be looking when I get round to it?

Glow plugs? sounds like un burned fuel.

Hmmmm, yeah that makes sense.

Light on dash does its stuff. Is there an easy way of testing them without going to a specialist?

To test them simply pull them and connect them across the starter battery (jump leads help here) and they should glow cherry red within a few seconds.

They are a PITA to get out from under the pump though.

First check the Glow Plug Fuse (unlikely).

Another way to test them, although I have never tried it is to turn on the courtesy light then switch on the ignition and the light should dim until the glow plug light goes out, might work?

sounds obvious but use your choke on start up and will get rid of the white smoke had the same thing on mine till i started using it as only thought it was to be used in the winter

re the choke ...

a good habit to get into is to pull out the choke (every time) before switching off the engine ...for some reason they are usually easier to pull with the engine running.

KarlT wrote:I've got a 1.6TD, that runs lovely, uses no water or oil but on start up is so smokey it can be embarassing!! Strong diesel smell.

But after 5 minutes is running lovely & clear(ish).

BTW. Temp gauge doesn't work.

Where should I be looking when I get round to it?

I had the same on a Rover Diesel engine - turned out to be condensation forming in the exhaust, and then making lots of smoke when mixed with hot exhaust. Might not be the same with yours though - but any mixture of water and exhaust will cause lots of smoke.

Karl, you don't say what colour the smoke is...

Its normal when standing for a while for oil to drain from the turbo bearings/seals a bit.. then on startup you'll get blue smoke for a while.

Black shouldn't be bad at startup unless its cold or glows not working, they're very often eaten away when removed, so whether they work on not replace eaten ones.
Choke advances timing as well as adds more fuel

From fuel smeel sounds like its black smoke

Thanks for replies chaps!

Its blue-ish/ grey, Strong smell of diesel. Not too bad if engine still warm ie glow plug light doesn't come on.

RAC man told me it doesn't look like choke thing is connected. But I have noticed a difference between using it & not.

Pre-owner told me choke was offically (VW) only for below freezing. Didn't know if its a good idea to keep using it.

As for turbo leak, was told (P-O) that the turbo has only got 7/8000 miles on it. Could it be seals after that sort of use?

Have been told, friend of friend, that it shouldn't be doing that & is in need of a tune-up/adjustment. Was told (pre-owner) that the engine had been gone over/checked by Mr Baxter & it certainly looks to have been worked on.

Loads of them do it, generally due to wear in a cumulation of things.
If it's the truck is the one I think it is the compressions although okay aren't as good as they could be.
I see loads of them and forget what I have done to which but it was brought to me at some point at 20mph max billowing black smoke out and running very poorly.
It was propped up with an air filter, not sure if it had a second hand pump on it? I think the timing belt was falling off, the air filter bunged up and the turbo had fallen in 2.
I can vouch for the turbo as it came from my own personal van and I know the company that rebuilt it, it does look manky on the outside as it lived in France for a while, in the mountains and the salt they put on the road kills everything including the outside of that turbo but it has done about 10k before it went on the van.
After that the van actually ran and could be driven, however a tad smokey on start up.
If this concerns you I would get the injection pump internal pressure checked, and re-check the compressions.
Like I say, I do loads of work like that, peoples budgets and time constaints dictate what work is carried out, We only do what we are told, obviously the best plan would be a new engine, injectors and pump but you have to take all things into consideration and if the value of the vehicle warrants that amount of money to be spent.

Cheers for that.

No, not at all, I'm quite suprised how much I like the old smelly diesel. (I've done 480 miles now for £80) And the engine runs sweet when warm, its just on start-up can be embarassing/laugh. With-out the choke its like the Red army on the move!

So there is no problem with using the choke everytime?

BTW Is the glow-plugs something you would of checked, Mr B? Does look like new wiring/piping to them.

Possibly, dunno though, like I say I see that many I forget whats been done to what.
I doubt it's the glowplugs.
I think in about 3 years I have changes 2 sets, they really don't fail as often as people think they do.
Just drop the bus bar off and check for continuity to earth, that'll tell you and take about 10 minutes.

If you are using the choke everytime it sounds like the pump timing is retarded, a few reasons for this.
if I have done anything on it (and I am questioning if it was me that worked on it and not a "helper") then the timing will have been set, but I am finding with the older stuff that using the dial gauge isn't always the most accurate way of setting them as it doesn't take into account internal wear in the pump, so I now check/set them dynamically with a timing light and a Diesel Pulse Adapter (Google it)
Plus, if the internal pressure pump is poor, or the regulator out of calibration it won't advance when it is meant to... loads of things it could be honestly, I can't see it. I know one trick to liven it up that will probably cure it and take about a minute to perform but theres no way I'm saying it here as there will be a massive increase in people f**kin up their pumps and possibly their engines!