Technical head gasket or turbo jtd

[nickmcd]

I dont appear to be getting any responses to my earlier thread. My jtd starts fine but after about 1 minute on tickover (no revving at all) the engine starts to splutter and great clouds of smoke (white /grey) bellow out the back. On shutting it down I found oil to be dripping from the exhaust manifold - downpipe joint. Before any great expense can anyone advise if this is a turbo fault or a headgasket failure (across the oilways) . The water level is fine and the oil is not emulsified. Is it possible to test either without a major strip down? Can the turbo be blanked off?

sorry its the joint below the turbo not above trust this makes a difference with reagrds the oil drip but why does the engline splutter and cough?

 

[GhostWKD]

lots of white smoke indicates water being burnt off... check oil cap for a misty mayo like thing but definately sounds like HG or similar for me and where the oil is coming out is that after the turbo or before?

 

[nickmcd]

There is no sign of water getting in the cylinders at all and the oil is perfectly clean. The water level doesnt appear to be going down either. The oil dripping from the exhaust is from the manifold to downpipe connection which is above the turbo connection so as you can probably understand I am a little confused as to where the oil is coming from.

 

[GhostWKD]

best way to find out then would be to carry out a compression test this will ensure that there is still compression in every cylinder and if the HG is to blame this will flag up on the compression test, also avoids a possibly needless stripdown

Not 100% on how different diesels are to work on, not sure if there is anything that could cause something like this that wouldnt be on a petrol, so you may want to wait for a second opinion first

 

[nickmcd]

hi
just to amend my last response , the oil is dripping ( quire a lot) from below the turbo not above. But would this affect the running, would it cough and splutter on tickover. Thought about a compression test but cant even see the glow plugs (assuming thats where its done) plus my tester is for a petrol engine (larger diameter holes) do i need a special tool for a diesel. Sorry about all the ?'s but this is my first diesel so all new to me.

 

[GhostWKD]

If the turbo's lost an oil seal i would expect blue smoke out of the exhaust? and it may well contribute to it as it would result in oil getting into the intake of the engine..

I'm a petrol man myself (they didnt do the cinqs/sei's in diesels so dont know them lol ) so best bet is probably to wait for one of the diesel lot to come along

 

[nickmcd]

no probs, what you have said has pushed me more towards my original thinking the turbo failure thought, shame cos it's marginly dearer than a head gasket.

 

[EI4GGB]

if this were a head gasket or turbo problem it would probably be there from start up. White smoke on a diesel is usually an indication of a misfire (incomplete combustion), overfuelling, or incorrect timing. poor combustion could be caused by low compression (head / head gasket, valves), a bad injector or a heater plug problem.

Does it happen if you rev it after starting ? Any other symptoms, injection light on etc ?. A diagnostic may show up something.

If the oil leak is below the oil return from the turbo its not a big problem, but you will lose oil and it will make a mess.

Owen