TDi 300 white / blue smoking at startup and intermittently

Hi Guys,

I need some help troubleshooting a problem. My Defender '95 300TDi is smoking... Sometimes is has a blue-ish hue which would indicate that oil is getting in the combustion chamber somehow. On other occasions it's more white... but in all instances it's early in the morning or late at night when the engine is cold. Once the engine warms up it tends to pretty much disappear. However, the engine feels lethargic and does not run as fast as it used to.

Now, I recently had the timing belt changed and it was after this that I started having challenges. I checked the oil and it was dirty so I changed it and the engine ran a little cleaner but it still smoked, added some diesel cleaner to the tank for good measure... I also changed the glow plugs and the glow plug relay but still no change.

Here are the checks I made this morning:

1) Check turbo
Turbo felt ok but was difficult to gauge as I don't know how smooth to was supposed to move. Tried to rock it back and forward and it was pretty sturdy. Crud was in the hose that connects from the air filter to the turbo.

2) Valve stem oil seals
Tested on ascent in 2nd gear to see if under load it would cause it to smoke but it didn't.

3) Checked for soot in tailpipe
Yes (How much is alot? As it's by no means blocked - that I could see)

4) Crankcase breather pipe
Was not sure how to clean or remove so did not risk (is the same thing as the breather cyclone?)

5) Hoses
Ok for the most part a bit worn but no leaks or cracks that I could see

6) Oil levels
Oil was changed three days ago and has not dropped... it still looks pretty clean also.

7) Injection timing
I've read that if the injection timing is off it'd run with white smoke... however my landy only smokes intermittently seemingly after I've been idling.

Any suggestions?

it could be a number of things but as you say things started happening after
a belt change it may well be your timing is a little off.
this can make it smokey and certainly reduce performance.
either you (or a local mech) get the timing checked and reset and
perhaps get all the breather and intake hoses + intercooler cleaned out.
then see where it stands.

Stem seals would generally leak on deceleration, not acceleration up a hill.
Where there is low pressure (vacuum in petrol engine) oil is drawn down the valve stem. Next time you hit the gas and start making heat, the oil burns off the back of the valve ( or gets sucked into the combustion chamber if it's the inlet leaking)
Then you get your tell-tail puff of blueish smoke for a couple of seconds.

However, with the fact you say it is generally lethargic now it sounds more like you've broken a piston ring land if the turbo is genuinely producing the correct boost pressure!

yoiu could remove pipe from inlet and run engine it would eliminate turbo if it didnt make any difference or prove it

The wire on my fuel solenoid came off a couple of weeks back when I was low on fuel. Given the symptoms I actually thought I'd run out if fuel. I filled the old girl up and nothing she still refused to start and therefore I tried numerous things including bleeding the system. However during all of this I repeatedly pumper the fuel manually using the lift pump as I was suspicious that the lift pump was kaput. It wasn't until someone from here suggested checking the fuel solenoid connection that I realised what had happened. I reconnected the wire and then the old girl started first time, despite this, there was loads of blue smoke when starting with rough splutter, if I depressed the accelerator it would eventually stop smoking and pick up as normal. This happened every time I started it and although it was gradually reducing, the problem still existed. I tried using diesel cleaner, I attempted to clean the injectors and although there was an improvement, it was still very much a problem. As a last resort I changed my fuel filter and like magic the problem was solved!!!! If it was the turbo I would expect to be more frequent

Thanks guys, (At the end of month when I normally feed the Landy ) I'll get the timing checked, clean the intercooler, and hoses... (What's the best way to clean the hoses? Soapy water and let dry?) I have already changed the diesel filter and oil filters.

bimrock said:

Thanks guys, (At the end of month when I normally feed the Landy ) I'll get the timing checked, clean the intercooler, and hoses... (What's the best way to clean the hoses? Soapy water and let dry?) I have already changed the diesel filter and oil filters.

Click to expand...

replace them with new pipes

bimrock said:

Thanks guys, (At the end of month when I normally feed the Landy ) I'll get the timing checked, clean the intercooler, and hoses... (What's the best way to clean the hoses? Soapy water and let dry?) I have already changed the diesel filter and oil filters.

Click to expand...

diesel, paraffin or petrol etc if they are just wet with oil i wouldnt worry too much

Mine spat blew smoke on start up like a little hesitation on 1 or 2 clyinders, cleared after a little rev

Then my timing belt snapped so new belt rocker and push rods and times up and rockers adjusted, problem solved

Check timing and valve clearance

I tend to beleive in coincidences - would be checking timing first - probably just a fraction out