Technical am i losing power

[sprie]

When i drive the 1999 1.9 TD Ducato on the flat, it is happy enough at 40 and will do 50. I don't have any decent roads nearby where i can see what higher speed it can sensibly do.
If i drive it up a hill, i would drop to 4th gear and then after a while as it slows, i need to drop it to 3rd.
On the flat at 40, i don't see any smoke, but when it is working to get me up the hill, there is some black smoke in the exhaust.

As per other posts, the head has just been rebuilt by local specialists and i replaced the piston rings. The engine wear looks in line with 59,000 (i.e. some wear but not that much).
I have done my best to set the timing on the new cambelt correctly (based on the matching marks on the crankshaft, cambelt/cover & fuel pump/cover).
I believe the turbo is doing its job as on two occasions an air hose has popped off - fixed by using better jubilee clips - but this indicates to me that the turbo is pushing a decent amount of air into the engine.
The engine starts promptly and ticks over OK.

Is the behaviour on a hill described above to be expected or does that indicate i am missing some power?
Is there anything else i can do to
1) assess the power or
2) improve the power or
3) reduce the smoke?

 

[bugsymike]

When i drive the 1999 1.9 TD Ducato on the flat, it is happy enough at 40 and will do 50. I don't have any decent roads nearby where i can see what higher speed it can sensibly do.
If i drive it up a hill, i would drop to 4th gear and then after a while as it slows, i need to drop it to 3rd.
On the flat at 40, i don't see any smoke, but when it is working to get me up the hill, there is some black smoke in the exhaust.

As per other posts, the head has just been rebuilt by local specialists and i replaced the piston rings. The engine wear looks in line with 59,000 (i.e. some wear but not that much).
I have done my best to set the timing on the new cambelt correctly (based on the matching marks on the crankshaft, cambelt/cover & fuel pump/cover).
I believe the turbo is doing its job as on two occasions an air hose has popped off - fixed by using better jubilee clips - but this indicates to me that the turbo is pushing a decent amount of air into the engine.
The engine starts promptly and ticks over OK.

Is the behaviour on a hill described above to be expected or does that indicate i am missing some power?
Is there anything else i can do to
1) assess the power or
2) improve the power or
3) reduce the smoke?

I would check the turbo side, if you are getting visible black smoke then more turbo pressure/oxygen will use that diesel black smoke to give you power and the black smoke will disappear due to better combustion.
On the 2.8iTD Ducato engine I fitted in a boat, I adjusted the injector pump till it gave black smoke under power , then increased the turbo boost pressure to get rid of the black smoke, then adjusted the injector pump to give more fuel/black smoke and adjusted boost higher so the engine that was rated at 122hp originally was now almost as powerful as the original V6 petrol engine of 3.75 litre and boat was able to get 26 knots of speed against originals 30 knots on five star petrol(10 gallons to the hour) I was doing 4 gallons to the hour on diesel, so quite a result.

 

[sprie]

I would check the turbo side, if you are getting visible black smoke then more turbo pressure/oxygen will use that diesel black smoke to give you power and the black smoke will disappear due to better combustion.
On the 2.8iTD Ducato engine I fitted in a boat, I adjusted the injector pump till it gave black smoke under power , then increased the turbo boost pressure to get rid of the black smoke, then adjusted the injector pump to give more fuel/black smoke and adjusted boost higher so the engine that was rated at 122hp originally was now almost as powerful as the original V6 petrol engine of 3.75 litre and boat was able to get 26 knots of speed against originals 30 knots on five star petrol(10 gallons to the hour) I was doing 4 gallons to the hour on diesel, so quite a result.

This is what my turbo looks like. It doesn't look like the arm is adjustable.
However
1) the arm does look fairly corroded
2) i did try to move the lever (on the RHS) the arm connects to but it does not budge when i use my hand.

Do you think i should be able to move the arm by hand?
Is it possible this mechanism is corroded to the extent that it isn't working?
What should i do (spray lots of WD40 on the area? force it by hand?)?