Technical Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet (2006, 120) judder and white exhaust smoke??

[Jlgsy94]

Hello,

Brand new forum member here in search of some help!

I currently own a Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet (2006, 120) which I bought from previous owner in May 2019. For the past 3 or so months, the car will on occasion judder and emit white smoke from the exhaust when I slow down or come to a complete stop, and will only stop doing this if I switch the engine off and back on. Someone on good old FB said it could be the DPF filter, so I recently took it in to the garage.

The garage said the car had come up with a coolant sensor error code (the car was saying the engine was -39c when it clearly wasn't). They also had a further deep look and said the car is in otherwise good nick mechanically. They went ahead and replaced all the glow plugs and coolant sensor, and changed oil filter.

Fast forward to 2 days after getting the car back, and it had randomly started to judder and emit white smoke from the exhaust again. I sent a message to the garage asking if it could be a problem with the DPF filter or possibly with the ECU. The garage messaged me back saying that my car doesn't have a DPF filter so can't be that, but could possibly be that an injector is stuck. They've asked me to bring the car back in so they can run diagnostics again to see if that reveals anything (they're doing this free of charge).

So, questions:

1. Is it right that the model car I have never had a DPF filter?
2. What could be causing the judder and white smoke? FYI I live in Guernsey (Channel Islands) and max speed limit is 35mph. Father in law said that it may be the car isn't able to burn the particles as you legally can't drive at a high enough speed. He said buying a diesel additive should help this as he had the same problem with a different diesel car.

Also, could anybody tell me what the correct size wheels and tyres are for my car model? The garage mentioned that whoever's had owned the car before me had put on the completely wrong size wheels and tyres on the car... So naturally I need to sort that out too.

Thanks in advance!

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi.
At 2006.. being DPF is unlikely.

Glowplugs.. normally only changes for poor starting.

I take it that the fluid levels are holding ok?

Wheels and tyres..
You can probably download a manual ok

See eLearn


Charlie

 

[Jlgsy94]

Front end of car

 

[Jlgsy94]

Hi.
At 2006.. being DPF is unlikely.

Glowplugs.. normally only changes for poor starting.

I take it that the fluid levels are holding ok?

Wheels and tyres..
You can probably download a manual ok

See eLearn


Charlie

Hi,

Yes fluid levels are holding ok. They spent a few hours digging deeper in and around the engine and tubes etc, and they had nothing to mention.

 

[jon67]

Front end of car

That certainly looks like a Dpf, it has sensor cable and and differential pipe attached.
I had same issue, I changed the pre cat and that solved the smoke on regen. Also changed Dpf later and had increase in mpg.
There is a whole thread on this in the sedici section. Search for 'Sedici random blue smoke'

 

[jon67]

Also, could anybody tell me what the correct size wheels and tyres are for my car model? The garage mentioned that whoever's had owned the car before me had put on the completely wrong size wheels and tyres on the car... So naturally I need to sort that out too.

My Doblo has 185 65 15 with steel wheels

 

[e42b]

Hi,
if it is a 1.9l 120 HP JTD MJ it definitely has a DPF.
When i got my 2008 model with the above mentioned engine i had the same symptoms three or four times. Every time i restarted the engine, and it ran normally afterwards. The van ran in an urban area before which presumably did not allow to burn off the coal in the DPF. After i bought it, i ran it several times for quite long times on overland roads and motorways. I never noticed the behaviour for a year. (Bought it 1 1/2 years before.) So, your environment can be responsible for the van not being able to burn the DPF free.
In my German papers only one tyre size is given. In order not to let the police catch me for wrong tyring i bought a set of wheels of the size that is given in the papers (14''). It doesn't fit. The 120 HP version requires bigger brakes so that only 15'' rims are fitting. I don't know how this is handled in the UK, in Germany the tyres in the papers definitely don't fit. I asked the guy at the last TÜV-check (MOT equivalent), and he told me that the tyres are ok.

So, you better have a longer trip on the main island or on the continent.
Your tyres are ok even though some 14'' are in the papers.
Good luck

 

[Jlgsy94]

Ok I am back and I am still no closer to my issue being resolved.

So, I called my local Fiat dealer who had seen the car back in 2014 (under previous ownership, not mine) and they confirmed the car did have a DPF filter.

I took the car back to the garage that had fitted new glow plugs and coolant sensor. They tried to get a reading from the DPF filter, but got nothing, and so assumed it was too clogged to get a reading. They proceeded to remove the DPF filter and give it a complete clean. It definitely needed this as it was rammed with soot and ash (see attached pic).

At the same time they noted that my battery warning light was on, and so checked this out and initially said the alternator had gone bad. However, when they got the car up on the ramp and had a further look, they established that the power feed cable going from the alternator was very badly corroded, so they replaced the cable.

Anyhow, I picked the car back up today and on my way home, the car juddered, again! The judder happens when I slow down or am idle (waiting at red light for example) Also, the DPF filter light still stays lit for a few seconds after switching the engine on.

So, now that the glow plugs and coolant sensor, AND that the DPF filter has been cleaned, I really, really do not know what the problem is. I am not mechanically knowledgeable, I have spent a little over £1000 over the past month getting work done, and I am STILL having this problem. Cash is getting really tight now.

Can anyone please shed any light on what the issue may be? Pleeaaaaase!

 

[jon67]

Hi, i don't know how much they charged you to clean the Dfp, however a brand new one only costs around £140 on Ebay and a pre-cat about £120. After they cleaned the Dpf did they do a forced regeneration of it? If they did, did it bellow out smoke? You need to get it connected to the proper Fiat Multiecuscan and find out the temperature of the Dpf and pre-cat on the last regeneration. Eg. before i replaced the pre cat the temp on regen was reaching 90c max, with new pre cat it reaches 800c on regen. same aprox. increase with the Dpf. The Dpf also has a catalytic converter in with it and if that is goosed and your pre cat is also then no matter how much you clean the Dpf you are achieving nothing, apart from putting money down the drain. On the up side you are not alone and cars have problems, fact! any car, new, old, any make.
Find out if this garage where you have had the work done is using Fiat multiecuscan, if they are not then strictly speaking they are wasting your time and money and they should refund you at least the cost of a proper diagnostic with Multiscan. At least!
Once you find out if the TWO catalytic converters (precat and cat in dpf box) are reaching the required temperatures on regen then you can either rule them out or replace them.
All the best for now.

 

[Cyd74]

Not sure if this is relevant... I'm having the same problem. I've noticed that my car does this about every 3 days...However it only does it when I've coasted down a steep hill and then when I'm on the flat it starts emitting white smoke and reducing in mph rapidly. It does this for about 3-4 miles. It's as if any condensed water in the exhaust is, via gravity, flooding the engine. Hope this makes sense to someone. Could this be possible??

 

[jon67]

it starts emitting white smoke and reducing in mph rapidly. ?

Do you mean mph or MPG? If mpg sounds like your car is regenerating the DPF

 

[varesecrazy]

Ok I am back and I am still no closer to my issue being resolved.

So, I called my local Fiat dealer who had seen the car back in 2014 (under previous ownership, not mine) and they confirmed the car did have a DPF filter.

I took the car back to the garage that had fitted new glow plugs and coolant sensor. They tried to get a reading from the DPF filter, but got nothing, and so assumed it was too clogged to get a reading. They proceeded to remove the DPF filter and give it a complete clean. It definitely needed this as it was rammed with soot and ash (see attached pic).

Blimey!

Wow.. thats an awful lot of soot

Is the EGR side of the motor clear..?

 

[Cyd74]

Do you mean mph or MPG? If mpg sounds like your car is regenerating the DPF

Sorry, yes I meant mpg. What does this mean?

 

[jon67]

Drop in mpg indicates that the car is regenerating dpf.

 

[Jim IOW]

I don't know if this helps but I have the same issue with mine, I have been told that it is where the ecu interrupts the injection system for regeneration, it shouldn't behave like this mine often just clears as soon as I can drive a little faster or like you a quick turn off and on clears it, mine only happens every few weeks, it feels quite disconcerting but shouldn't do any damage. I too went through hell with DPF and so on which I will post as a separate thread.