Black smoke..loss of power 1.6TD JX...

[malverner]

So ...about a week ago I was pushing the van a little and for the first time ever (had the van 8 years) I got raised water temperature...stopped..checked everything..let it cool (no loss of level in either water reservoir)..and on I went taking it a bit more steady...but it's giving less speed for the same revs. In the last few days its got terrible...heaps of black smoke and very little power...

Is it likely to be the head gasket....??
Or what...?

[peasant]

Black smoke usually means that it's overfueled and/or under-aired.

First port of call would be your air intake from ear to filter. Filter clean? All hoses properly connected and not kinked or collapsed? Sometimes the air hoses only collapse under suction