Trundling all day in low 1st gets smokey in my 300tdi

I'm sure this overlaps with other threads but can't find quite what I'm looking for so - opinions please.

3 or 4 times a year I help out at events or setup on sites which often inolves me trundling around in my 110SW 300Tdi ('96) in low range 1st / 2nd (site safety 5mph speed limits, avoiding tearing up peoples grass), never going far and then at the end of the event I'm often running it idling to keep the work lights on whilst I strip out the remaining site electrics etc. (will the last person to leave the planet please turn off the lights...after turning on their landy lights to find their way out!).

The problem I have is after a few hours of low speed (no foot on the throttle type speeds) and idling with the 300Tdi staying (or even going) stone cold the fumes from the exhaust begin to smell like anything (diesely - oily smells) and produce quite a haze. It then takes a good motorway run to clear the smell and smoke.

As all other performance is about normal I'm not overly concerned something is wrong, just looking for the tweaks to improve the situation - surly the target farmer market must have needed to be able to toddle around in low effort low range or idle running a pto all day without clogging up the engine.

Should I be lifting the idling revs for the stationary stuff or is that just going to wear things out quicker?
Rad muf fitted and Fan removal efforts both continue to leave the engine running cold, especially in the winter nights. (+ the last thing you want to do at midnight in the freezing rain after being on the go all day is faff around refitting a fan before the 2t trailer pull home!)

Thanks.

How many miles on your engine? Is there any smoke during normal driving ? Thermostat may be stuck open.Engine should maintain at least the opening temp of the thermostat. Running at a low temp can result in poor combustion and smoke.

."tottot said:

How many miles on your engine? Is there any smoke during normal driving ? Thermostat may be stuck open.Engine should maintain at least the opening temp of the thermostat. Running at a low temp can result in poor combustion and smoke.

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~204k on the clock, had wandered about holding the temp but it generally drives normally well.
Only other thing I didn't mention whenever I start it this altinator light stays on until I give it a 2-3sec hi gh rev. During other works I had a meter on the headlight switch and still got 10.5v after 5 mins of idling, 2 seconds on the throttle and ticking over a nice 12.7v at the switch but I guess all that's probably just heading for a new altinator and unrelated

My alternator is much the same,needs a blip on the throttle to get it going.

chil6ep said:

~204k on the clock, had wandered about holding the temp but it generally drives normally well.
Only other thing I didn't mention whenever I start it this altinator light stays on until I give it a 2-3sec hi gh rev. During other works I had a meter on the headlight switch and still got 10.5v after 5 mins of idling, 2 seconds on the throttle and ticking over a nice 12.7v at the switch but I guess all that's probably just heading for a new altinator and unrelated

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Alt blip is std old landrover territory.

Have you checked the inj pump timing?

I imagine bores are glazing up

He does not do slow dutys all the time so bores should be OK.

Mine is always the same, na engine. I put it down to low load / high revs. Always clears 500m down the road

lynall said:

Alt blip is std old landrover territory

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I just don't understand why a belt driven device can need a fast jolt to get it going, surely that can only happen if the belt is slipping?

lynall said:

Have you checked the inj pump timing?

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I'd have to read up on that (or take it into my local friendly LR specialist). Wouldn't the timing being out show at high speed too?

The blip for alternator is something to do with excitation. A DC current is needed to generate the magnetic field in the alternator.

I presume the blip is needed because idling isn’t enough to start it off

freelance said:

I imagine bores are glazing up

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Always hoped that following the slow trundle with a motorway run under load (normally towing and loaded to the headlining!) would burn off any buildup before it did any harm, but I havn't looked into the science of glazing bores up so maybe I am kidding myself???

tottot said:

He does not do slow dutys all the time so bores should be OK.

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Few times a year but sometimes for most of a weekend, but hope your right

Only time I have seen genuinely glazed bores was on a gritter truck that spent days/weeks idling and that was toast with 30k on the clock, new engine time for them!, otherwise its pretty rare.

chil6ep said:

I just don't understand why a belt driven device can need a fast jolt to get it going, surely that can only happen if the belt is slipping?



I'd have to read up on that (or take it into my local friendly LR specialist). Wouldn't the timing being out show at high speed too?

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Its mainly the old style Luca7 A127 alternators that do this and they are fitted to all sorts, my boat does the same.

The timing only has to be retarded a little and you could get this problem, wont really show in day to day work hence why most people dont notice it.
Keeping the engine hot helps as well, someone earlier on mentioned the stat, cheap starting place.

The engine will just be getting cold, that is all.

At idle this time of year (or any time other than high summer generally) the Tdi will not produce enough heat to maintain proper temperature. Especially if the heater is on. Give the engine a bit of work to do and it’ll warm up.

In theory you could be at risk of glazing the bores but I would agree the risk is minimal.