White smoke from diesel

[boatone]

Serious question chaps and chapesses. Anyone have a rundown of most likely causes of white smoke from diesel engine. Not serious, mainly at start up and idling.
Incidentally, yesterday was on of those perfect autumn 'lucky to be alive and out on the river' days - what a contrast to last weekend!

boatone@boatsonthethames.co.uk

 

[jfm]

Is it smoke? More likely water vapour, in which case could just be the weather/humidity at the time you started up, or your exhausts are belching out steam which could be caused by blocked raw water cooling inlet or duff head gasket or other things.

JFM

 

[boatone]

Think its smoke rather than steam - certainly has an exhaust smell to it.
Not belching out though - hardly noticeable at 1500rpm or so.

boatone@boatsonthethames.co.uk

 

[syd]

Wotcha, I had the same with the AQD32's in my Princess, it gradually got worse but only on the start up for about five minutes(rather embarrassing, not to mention smelly) Any hoo, I took my injectors out and had new nozzles fitted(£125 the lot) and it was fine.
I presume it disapears when the engine has warmed up, if so this may be the prob.
Best wishes.
Sid

 

[Guest]

Hi Chaps, right if the smoke goes when the engines are warm then theres nothing to worry about too much, however if it is still there when they are up to normal temp, which may be difficult this time of year and at slow river speeds, it could be a number of things, start with removal and testing of injetors, then check the pump timing, white smoke is usually associated with retarded timing and as timing gears wear then timing retards, after that the serious stuff starts, heads off, compression problems etc, good luck.

Paul.

 

[Scubadoo]

Yes Saturday looked very nice, typical for me I had to catch up with some work, however got a chance today only to be greeted with rain and some wind- just my luck.

RM.

 

[Guest]

Re: Are the engines Volvos?

If so it means we are having Swedish Pope!

Seriously, if they only do it when cold then there is a little to worry about, it is only a sympton of a cold engine. If they do it all the time, the engine may be over cooled - check the operation of the thermostat. Otherwise if can be a number of things relating mostly to timing.

Nick

 

[aztec]

worn/dirty injectors, Cheap trick/bodge to try.

remove injectors, put bodies in vice (on flats) only one at a time
undo nozzle, (dont loose shims or springs)
clean nozzle and injector pin in thinners
put pin in drill (don't damage pin)
tip brasso into nozzle and lap in pin with drill (not too hard)
clean again lubricate with diesel
reasemble and repeat with other injectors.

dont mix up different injector parts, and if not confident dont do it. i've used it on plant, truck and car diesels and it's worked fine. good luck.

 

[Guest]

proberly smoking cannabis

But if it's not !!
Before stripping out injectors for cleaning and testing try one of the available additives that you put in the tank .
If you do decide to check the injectors then a straight forwards test is to take them out the put the injector pipe on so that the injector can be fitted for viewing
TAKE NOTE THIS IS VITAL WEAR RUBBER GLOVES AND SAFETY GLASSES
get a jam jar and hold the jar over the injector to catch the spray
AT OVER 15 ATMOSPHERES THE DIESEL WILL INJECT STRAIGHT UNDER YOUR SKIN
and blood poisoning will ensue
Now turn the engine ,you will see what is known as the spray pattern, is this a clean pattern or has it streaks in it .
Does the end of injection finish with a complete shut off of fuel or is their a dribble and a wet end ,
This if you have found either fault could be the cause .It's called over injecting , it is easy enough to clean the inside of the nozzle housing but be warned if you damage either the housing or the needle then it's quite expensive .Checking the breaking pressures requires the correct gauge so then you have to start paying
I have the correct tools for checking the injector breaking point and also the correct holding tool to hold them while trying to undo the housing, it can some times be very hard to get them undone even with the correct tools .
The other faults that could cause it are low compression.
Or incorrect timing which to be honest is very doughtful because once set there are no reasons for things to go out of synchronisation I have never found timing gears so worn that they effect timing also when an engine is serviced the timing or spillport should be checked any way so that can be ruled out .It should be noted that injectors last for around a hundred thousand miles so without dirty diesel or water being present !!
One last tip always try to keep your fuel tanks full to cut down the build up of condensation and I change filters twice a year or before a long journey
cheers
Mick

 

[Guest]

Could be water in the fuel: check your filters.