Technical HELP!! Massive clouds of white smoke (mostly) on Regen.

[Dizzydalek]

A new mechanic has looked at my Ducato, and he suspects that the cause of the heavy smoke is an aftermarket DPF. Do you know if your DPF is original or aftermarket?

Is there any news about your Ducato?

Mine had the original DPF in it but it was knackered, overheated fried. At the moment I’m trying to get to the bottom of the cause of all the soot, but no joy on that yet.

The DPF specialist I went to did say that aftermarket DPFs are no good, so I’m hoping that solving the soot issue and fitting a Stellantis one will solve the problem.

Iain

 

[DrEggman]

I have this exact same problem! Although I notice the tone of the engine change slightly beforehand, and the power doesn't seem to be the same. I have always thought it was a sticky injector causing it to leak fuel into the engine, as the MPG drops like a stone. Knocking it out of gear normally shows instant MPG of 99.9, but when this happens it's more like 35. Often if I play with the accelerator it sorts itself out, again suggesting a sticky injector. I find stopping the engine for a bit and then going again seems to fix it.

Yesterday I received MES, and plugged that in today. Realised the previous regen was at the exact time I last had white smoke. Now I find this page too..... The plot (and smoke) thickens..... Haven't had a proper look at all the sensors though, so will have to check those over the weekend. Took it to a garage previously and they said "Well there's no error codes, so can't be any problems" Glad I'm not the only one imagining this!

It's a 2014 Fiat Ducato 2.3. Had the DPF cleaned last year as it kept going into limp mode. I blame that on the M1 roadworks. I do a nice long drive every Friday morning, but couldn't get over 50 for years

 

[Dizzydalek]

I have this exact same problem! Although I notice the tone of the engine change slightly beforehand, and the power doesn't seem to be the same. I have always thought it was a sticky injector causing it to leak fuel into the engine, as the MPG drops like a stone. Knocking it out of gear normally shows instant MPG of 99.9, but when this happens it's more like 35. Often if I play with the accelerator it sorts itself out, again suggesting a sticky injector. I find stopping the engine for a bit and then going again seems to fix it.

Yesterday I received MES, and plugged that in today. Realised the previous regen was at the exact time I last had white smoke. Now I find this page too..... The plot (and smoke) thickens..... Haven't had a proper look at all the sensors though, so will have to check those over the weekend. Took it to a garage previously and they said "Well there's no error codes, so can't be any problems" Glad I'm not the only one imagining this!

It's a 2014 Fiat Ducato 2.3. Had the DPF cleaned last year as it kept going into limp mode. I blame that on the M1 roadworks. I do a nice long drive every Friday morning, but couldn't get over 50 for years

Welcome to the club!! Let us know if you get anywhere with it!!

Latest update.. my van presently doesn’t have a DPF fitted (temporary) until we get to the bottom of the excessive soot issue.

A leaking injector is definitely possible. Mine is overfuelling (apparently) and the theory is that’s what killed the DPF. Spot build up leading to overheating of the DPF on regen and destroying the lining.

Iain

 

[Bonefish Blues]

My Panda is in for investigation next week, coincidentally. Mechanic suspects injectors, I'm past speculation. I'll also update when we have something definitive.

 

[Rustybloke]

Hi All,
I turn to you in desperation

I have a 2016 Ducato 2.3 which has, since I got it, had an issue where "every so often" (200 miles or so) to will belch out white clouds from the exhaust. The only fault it shows is the DPF input temperature sensor shorted to ground, doesn't do this every time but sometimes it pops up coinciding with the clouds. Sometimes it pops up without clouds. Sometimes (there's more) it also shows the ASC Unavailable / Hill Holder unavailable faults too.

I go MultiECU scan and that shows that the white clouds mostly coincide with a DPF Regen, so I'm guessing it's unburnt diesel released as part of the region process? MECUS shows the temperature of the exhaust ramping up as you'd expect, so is it dumping too much fuel in before the DPF is hot enough? On the way up the motorway last week she regenned three times in succession.

I've swapped the "temperature sensor at input to DPF" but that error still occurs from time to time. It's been into the garage a couple of times and they did find that the differential pressure sensor had a blocked hose that's now been sorted but no change (apart from maybe making things slightly worse cloud-wise).

Apart from the odd "cough" as the regen / clouds start the van drives great, if it wasn't for the fact you can see / smell the clouds you'd never know there was anything happening.

Googled this to death but can't find an answer. She's not losing any coolant and the oil level is fine. Mostly motorway miles so not loads of starting and stopping. Don't want to just fire the parts cannon at it until I can at least get a handle on what's going on!!

Help!!

Thanks

Iain

Hi Dizzy. I have a 2013 ducato doing this smoking just after every startup. The dpf has been mapped out and drilled and the egr mapped out and blanked. Does it everytime from cold and lasts about 5 mins. It's so bad that it can't be driven in a town until this stops. We can't find any solution at all. Currently trying to find a genius that can map out the regens if that is at all possible.

 

[Dizzydalek]

Hi Dizzy. I have a 2013 ducato doing this smoking just after every startup. The dpf has been mapped out and drilled and the egr mapped out and blanked. Does it everytime from cold and lasts about 5 mins. It's so bad that it can't be driven in a town until this stops. We can't find any solution at all. Currently trying to find a genius that can map out the regens if that is at all possible.

That sounds like a different thing. It should only try to regen when everything is up to temperature, in my case after at least half an hour of driving.

When my DPF was removed they also mapped out the regen process which at least confirmed that was the cause of the smoke.

Mine still spits out black smoke if you boot it, that’s the next thing to fix.

 

[Rustybloke]

That sounds like a different thing. It should only try to regen when everything is up to temperature, in my case after at least half an hour of driving.

When my DPF was removed they also mapped out the regen process which at least confirmed that was the cause of the smoke.

Mine still spits out black smoke if you boot it, that’s the next thing to fix.

Thanks Dizzy. This one does it after about 2 minutes and clears when warm maybe 5 mins after. It's very white smoke just like a regen when diesel is injected on the exhaust stroke and hits the hot manifold.

 

[KSch]

I have now had the injectors checked and they are ok. So the troubleshooting continues. We are starting to suspect more and more the non-original DPF which is approx. 1 year old...

 

[Dizzydalek]

I have now had the injectors checked and they are ok. So the troubleshooting continues. We are starting to suspect more and more the non-original DPF which is approx. 1 year old...

Ooh, that’s good to know. The injectors were my next port of call

 

[KSch]

Have you solved the problem with your Ducato? I'm still waiting for an original DPF... It's on backorder.. I ordered it in early December. Now I'm looking for a used one which is also not available unless it has driven +200K km

 

[Dizzydalek]

Have you solved the problem with your Ducato? I'm still waiting for an original DPF... It's on backorder.. I ordered it in early December. Now I'm looking for a used one which is also not available unless it has driven +200K km

Alas I have given up. Drove it with its sooty wake but couldn’t find anyone who had an idea as to the root cause.

Picked up a 19 plate Peugeot Expert this morning which has solved the problem

Or will have once I stop banging my head.

Pity, lots of effort on the Ducato and now getting rid. Great camper!

D.

 

[Golonko]

Hi everyone,


I’ve been following this thread because I’ve been having exactly the same problem with my Fiat Ducato-based motorhome (2.3 Multijet 150, Euro 5, year 2013).


Every time it regenerates, it produces a massive amount of white smoke, especially when it regenerates at low speed or idle. It’s been happening consistently for a long time.


So far, I’ve done the following:

• Replaced the DPF with a new one
• Sent the injectors for professional testing → they are OK
• Replaced the pressure differential sensor and temperature sensors
• Had the EGR checked → no faults and seems to be working fine
• Turbo is reconditioned, and hoses are new

After all that, I did a long trip (~800 km) and the van didn’t regenerate until about 75% saturation, which I believe is normal. But I still worry that I haven’t found the real cause of the smoke.


Has anyone here fully solved this issue?
Could this be just a normal behavior on some Euro 5 units during regeneration?


Thanks in advance for any insights!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

My Panda is in for investigation next week, coincidentally. Mechanic suspects injectors, I'm past speculation. I'll also update when we have something definitive.

Mine was solved by re-sealing the injectors. No smoke signals anymore

 

[DrEggman]

I've kind of just left it to it now. I think it does it only when it's on regen, I thought it was more often but after looking at the ECU log it seems to occur when it thinks it's regenning. So now when it happens I just maintain the speed and carry on driving and it passes eventually. The car behind can't see where they're going, but that's their problem

 

[Golonko]

Thanks for your reply.
In my case, I suspect injector sealing may not be the issue — although of course I can’t completely rule it out.


The reason is that since the white smoke problem started, the engine was replaced, including the injectors (all reconditioned).
Later on, the injectors were removed again and sent to a specialist for testing, and were confirmed to be in good condition.
After that, they were reinstalled by my mechanic.


It would be quite unlucky (and strange) if the sealing had been done poorly both times — during engine replacement and then again after injector testing.


So while I’m still getting the white smoke during regens, I’m wondering if something else is causing it…

Mine was solved by re-sealing the injectors. No smoke signals anymore

 

[Golonko]

Hi everyone,

I’m writing because I’m still experiencing the same issue described in this thread — massive clouds of white smoke during attempted regenerations that get interrupted.

My case is particularly strange because I’ve already:

Replaced the DPF with a brand new one

Replaced the pressure and temperature sensors

Had all four injectors removed and professionally tested — they were OK

The engine and injectors were already replaced last year

The EGR was checked during the engine swap and appears to be working properly

There are no error codes currently apart from the usual P2106/P0238 that only seem to appear when the DPF is heavily saturated


Now, after driving over 1,000 km, the DPF is at 90%, and it keeps trying to regenerate — you can see the smoke start — but each time it gets interrupted, as if the ECU cuts the process.

I'm starting to worry because the DPF is new, and there's no obvious reason why it should saturate so fast or fail to complete regeneration.

Any ideas? Has anyone solved this with something else?

Thanks in advance!

 

[lycopersicum]

All I can say is this: I have the same year model, 130hp.
I time it so the regen happens on a motorway.
In that situation there is zero smoke. The only sign of a regen happening is a burning oil smell and increase in fuel consumption.

The only times I got visible white smoke during a regen are:
- if I slow down to city speeds during the regen
- when my DPF was heavily blocked

Have you tried recording data during a regen attempt?
And I don't think the error codes should be discounted, it's never normal to have one.

My DPF regenerates around 130% soot load and goes down to 22%. I've never had it try to regenerate before at least 110%. I believe that value is just a counter of how much soot per second is predicted to be generated at the engine's operating point and does not use the DPF pressure. That might mean yours is filling up faster than the ECU expects but I'm cautious of putting too much into these values without knowing exactly how they work.

 

[Golonko]

Thanks a lot for your reply — this is very helpful.

It’s interesting that your regenerations only start around 110%. In my case, they seem to start earlier (around 75–90%), but they get interrupted, and I’m left with massive white smoke and a rising soot load.

I’ve also tried to trigger regeneration on the motorway, keeping engine revs high (around 2,800 RPM), but the process still gets interrupted every time — even when there are no major speed changes or load variations. I can smell burning fuel and see smoke, but it always stops before completing. No error codes are triggered during the regen, only later when the DPF is already heavily saturated.

You mentioned recording data — I’ve been using a diagnostic tool (Ediag) and watching parameters like soot %, regen status, pressure sensors, etc. I can try to post some of those readings if helpful.

The idea that soot % is a prediction based on engine operating conditions is interesting — maybe something’s wrong with the injection or combustion process that's producing too much soot, even though injectors tested fine.

Thanks again for sharing your experience — I’ll keep digging and report back.

 

[lycopersicum]

One more idea -- have you checked the catalytic converter? I wonder if that's where the extra fuel for the regen gets combusted, or if that happens in the DPF itself.

 

[lycopersicum]

Re: the data, how high does the DPF temperature go before it gets interrupted?