Volvo 2003 Turbo: Blue Smoke

[alan]

A friend of mine has a Moody 35 with a volvo 2003 turbo and fresh water cooled. He has had a fair amount of work done recently:

- refurbished heat exchanger
- refurbished injectors
- engine service (oil, filters, air filter e.t.c.)

He has recently noticed an excessive amount of "bluish" smoke, which he does not recall last season. He showed it to me today and and at tickover there is definitely some bluish smoke and at 1800 revs there is excessive bluish smoke. He says the engine does not use any oil and does not lose any water.

Anybody any ideas if this could be something to do with the turbo? or any other ideas?

Alan.

P.S. I did do search of the forum and bluish smoke seems to indicate, according to other posts, some oil being burnt; but he says the engine does not use oil, so could it be something else??

 

[pvb]

The Volvo 2000-series engines do tend to be smoky. My 2003T chucks out a fair bit of smoke, but doesn't seem to burn oil. If your friend has had the injectors serviced, there may be more smoke than he remembers from previously. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[boatmike]

The classic answer is indeed burning oil Alan but a little bit of oil makes a lot of smoke so he wouldn't necessarily notice high oil consumption. It's also possible that having the injectors cleaned and serviced, the fuel pump needs recalibrating but if it's only a bit I wouldn't worry overly much. If when he opens the throttle it increases considerably though there is something wrong. He may well need to go for a nice long belt at at least 3/4 throttle for at least 1/2 hour to really tell. He may find that it will settle down then but if he has a problem it will really show up when the engine is hot. Some engines always smoke a little when cold. Depends on how much!

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

According to the BIBLE (by N.Calder)
Blue smoke can mean:

Worn or stuck piston rings
Worn Valve Guides
Turbo seal problems
Overfilled oil bath air filter
High crankcase oil level

Of your list of activities in the service , the last item on this list should be checked as the most likely ie HIGH OIL LEVEL

 

[Stemar]

I have the non-turbo version on Jissel. As I rarely go above half throttle, things tend to clog up a bit and get smokey. The cure is to wait until someone I don't like is downwind /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif and open up to full throttle. When I can see that someone again, I throttle back and the smokiness is more-or-less cured for a few weeks.

 

[alan]

Thanks to all the replies so far.
I think the first thing to try is a good blast at full power for a while when under load; I don't think he has been out for a "sail" since having the work done, so hopefully this may just clear the problem.

Thanks again.

 

[matelot]

Not saying there is nothing wrong, but I would be worried about a 2003 that didnt smoke a bit. Every one I've ever known has done so.

If it uses no engine oil then I wouldnt worry - it can only be a bit of unburned diesel. So what?