Technical Old Smokey

[Ralf S.]

Gerrard (115bhp JTD) has had a leisurely summer, sitting around not being used very much, while I've been locked into the house for months, as probably a load of people.

When I take the beast out for a spin, I notice that if I boot it (big throttle openings and/or a lot of revs) - just to exercise it, once it's fully warmed up - that it makes more smoke than a paddle steamer.

I don't think that sitting around has especially gummed anything up etc. since it looks like regular black soot, as it still used to produce when I used it daily. It doesn't use any oil and it starts and runs fine.. and mpg in the summer touched 60, so I dunno if there's too much actually wrong with it. I suspect I became used to the Younger Mrs S' petrol engine 500 and just forgot what an old smoker Gerrard is.

Any road up... there's still the annual mortal combat to the death, with Dr Death the MOT man coming up next month. I tend to feed the beast a bottle of Cataclean and run it on Optimax or premium heptane diesel for a couple of fill-ups, just to make sure it's got every chance of escaping the Grim Reaper's clutches.. but what else can I do to reduce the smoke-screen?

When the hose around the turbo/MAF was a bit loose, c/o a split... it used to leave oily residue all over the hose and the radiator fan. A new hose fixed that.. but it showed that there was a lot of oil mist in that pipe. Where does it come from and how much is too much?


Ralf S.

 

[flyingdutch]

Oil before turbo inlet is actual quite normal for your old friend Gerrard as it is for most of diesel cars.
It comes out of vent tube from valve cover if I remember correctly old jtd configuration, as most of the engines have counted blowby through piston rings it makes you crankcase pressure go up and therefore being sucked in before turbo inlet.
There's not too much if you don't see blue smoke or experience oil loss between the services.
From Perfection side of things you could fit oil catch can in between to keep your oil vapor secured and not flowing through your intake system.
Also in terms of sooth does your old buddy has any mods done to it like egr blank off plate or similar?

 

[Ralf S.]

Yes.. I can't fault the car. It starts and runs very well... (maybe a tiny bit of hesitation if I go drive through the whole rev-range .. but not really indicating a problem).

All the sensors (electro-boost valve, MAP and MAF) have all been changed in the last 5 years I've owned it (lambda was quite new and already fitted when I bought it). I had a MAF failure and EGR blockage at the same time which made me determined to fix everything so I wouldn't have any more trouble.. and I haven't.

The EGR valve is blanked off with a plate but still plugged in so it can work. It gave me a fault when I first revved the beast properly after a couple of months virtually unused.. but it presumably freed itself up and the code disappeared by itself after a few days... no problems since.

The first time I ever dismantled the throttle body, I did notice a puddle of oil in the inlet manifold. It looked "normal" to me, even though I'm not sure what normal ought to look like in a JTD. That oil was probably polluting the MAP sensor (which was oily and gummed up, which is why I changed it) and might have been causing some of the problems the EGR was having.

Since then I tried to only keep the oil level around "80%" rather than MAX, which seems to have helped reduce the amount of oil that collects in the manifold.

I think you could be right that it's oil.

I recently (March) changed the oil and I usually tip in 4.3 litres that the manual says is how much oil it takes.. and it's usually the perfect amount.. but I this time it looked slightly low after I'd run the engine for a while, and I added a bit more oil in there. When it all drained back to the sump, the level was on "MAX" rather than my preferred 80% full, so it could be I'm getting an oily manifold again.

I'll see if I can find the time to clean out the manifold again.. I haven't touched it for a couple of years so it may be pooling oil a bit. It's a terrific engine otherwise .. it goes between 12,000 mile services using less than a litre of oil, despite being close (207,000 miles) to moon-shot mileage. I want to get it to the perigee distance 221,500.. before it retires..


Ralf S.

 

[Davren]

Gerrard (115bhp JTD) has had a leisurely summer,

lambda was quite new and already fitted when I bought it

Lambda sensor on a 115 ? You sure?
.

 

[davidthelodge]

cover up or grind off the official original Fiat smoke emissions level on the VIN plate under the bonnet at front and the MOT tester has to test it to a much higher level. Pre 2006 I think its "3" for a turbo diesel which is much much higher. Mines now 2.19 (M-1) @ 120K miles

 

[Ralf S.]

Lambda sensor on a 115 ? You sure?
.

Now you mention it.. I can't recall ever seeing one.

Anyway, I know it works...


Ralf S.

 

[Ralf S.]

cover up or grind off the official original Fiat smoke emissions level on the VIN plate under the bonnet at front and the MOT tester has to test it to a much higher level. Pre 2006 I think its "3" for a turbo diesel which is much much higher. Mines now 2.19 (M-1) @ 120K miles

The CO has only been too high once, when the MAF was on the wonk. A new (Bosch) one fixed it and it's been okay since, even with the new MOT regulations where the beast has to manage 1.46 or something, according to the plate. I'm keeping "remove the plate" as a last-ditch tactic, if I ever needs it..

But I get an advisory 2 MOTs out of 4, that the beast "smokes.. but not enough to obscure vision) so if I can reduce it, that'll look better on the road/better for breathing and it won't set off the fire alarm in the MOT station...


Ralf S.

 

[Maxcaddy]

cover up or grind off the official original Fiat smoke emissions level on the VIN plate under the bonnet at front and the MOT tester has to test it to a much higher level. Pre 2006 I think its "3" for a turbo diesel which is much much higher. Mines now 2.19 (M-1) @ 120K miles

Interesting, I just assumed the values were simply a set of given criteria for a range of years. Having to meet what the manufacturer (and we've all now heard how they lied) claimed it to be some 'n' years later and 'x' ooo's miles on, is always going to be a challenge :bang:

I also run an old diesel Chrysler and will have to check the plate on that to make sure I don't fall foul of unobtainable figures

.