Technical What causes these sooty specks?

[Campeo]

After a longish drive I discovered a number of sooty specks in the engine compartment that I suspect come from the circled area in below image.

What part is this? (the ribbed aluminium tube etc).
What could be the cause of this leak?

The car in question is low milage 2021 2.3 130hp Ducato.

Thankful for help!

/Patrik

 

[cid]

You've got your face too near the exhaust. Ian.

 

[cid]

Apologies Campeo, I didn't realise, until now, that you are from Sweden and our senses of humour may be different. As for your problem, the specks look like a mixture of gas and oil so I would look for a pipe that carries both. I don't know that engine but that's where I'd start. Clean it off with engine cleaner then run engine and see if you can tell where it is coming from. All the Best, Ian.

 

[Campeo]

Thanks Ian,

I'm not so familiar with diesels but judging from this image of an identical engine it appears to me that the yellow circled area is the throttle body (with connections) and perhaps the leak comes from the clamp in the red circled area.

Cleaning it all off and look for newly appearing spots would probably be a good start.

/Patrik

 

[Campeo]

I'm replying to my own post. Maybe it could be helpful to someone in the future.
I had this issue fixed. After a throrough troubleshooting at a garage involving a smoke generator, they found a crack in the ribbed tube (circled in red above) so this was replaced along with pipe sleeve and gaskets. Everything works fine now.

 

[cid]

Hi again Campeo, Firstly, may I congratulate you on getting your van fixed and, secondly, for taking the time and trouble to let the forum know what the problem and solution was. So many people would not have bothered. Well done and all the Very Best for the future. Ian.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Looks like the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system burnt exhaust gases feed back into the inlet to be burned a second time and reduce NOX emissions

On diesels the exhaust at this point can be thick with soot which newer cars capture in the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the past the soot would end up in the air and in people’s lungs which is why regulations changed to include all these requirements on new cars. Glad to see it was a fairly straightforward fix

 

[Campeo]

Looks like the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system burnt exhaust gases feed back into the inlet to be burned a second time and reduce NOX emissions

On diesels the exhaust at this point can be thick with soot which newer cars capture in the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the past the soot would end up in the air and in people’s lungs which is why regulations changed to include all these requirements on new cars. Glad to see it was a fairly straightforward fix

It was fairly straightforward once diagnosed. FIAT however, would not take liability under the EU ruling that makes manufacturers responsable for failing parts concerning emissions for vehicles up to 8 years of age. 6 hours of shop work was the costliest part.