Glow plugs and oil :(

ive just found this:

Black smoke

This is due to a air to fuel ratio imbalance, either the fuel system is delivering too much fuel into the engine or there is not enough clean air (oxygen ) a few things to look for :

• Faulty injectors (injectors need attention at about 100.000 to

120 000 miles) * Faulty injector pump * Dirty air cleaner * Turbocharger or intercooler faulty * Problems within cylinder head, valves clogged up due to faulty EGR (exhaust gas recycling unit)

White smoke

Normally means that the fuel injected into the cylinder is not burning correctly. The smoke will burn your eyes.

• Engine/pump timing out * Fuel starvation to the pump causing the pumps timing not to operate correctly * Low engine compression * Water/petrol in the fuel

Blue smoke

The engine is burning engine oil

• Worn cylinders or piston rings * Faulty valves or valve stem seals * Engine over full with engine oil * Faulty injector pump/lift pump allowing engine oil to be mixed with the diesel

Are you looking for a problem that does not exist? If its not consuming oil then there is no oil consumption problem, IYSWIM. Have you actually had it looked at by someone who knows what he is doing?

Huw

Dont know how to take that!

Engines are not me strongest subject... hence why i'm asking questions.

Might be an idea just to take it along to a garage, point at it and say "what do you reckon", ISTR this going on for some time. For those of us who don't know that much about cars (myself included), trying to use someone else's expertise via a text-only medium can just lead us down the wrong path. Dropping into a garage or two for a quick assessment would be much quicker and more reliable.

Take it the way it was written. It's a proper question and a valid one.

The thing is, you see, this is the internet. Your engine is there physically with you and really needs to be looked at physically for anyone to accurately diagnose and possibly repair it, if this is needed. Try the chemical route first because it is simple and unintusive then get serious with a tool kit, yours or a contractors', if the simple and cheap route doesn't work. If someone with a bit of nouse has a look and desides something is going to go bang imminently then this should be taken a bit seriously. There is no substitute to being in close proximity to the device and no-one here is that close.

Huw

Point taken.....

In message , Mark Solesbury writes

99% of all tdi glow plugs that I change look like that so I would not worry.

Mark, get it compression checked pronto mate. It will give you a good start.

If it's been upside down then theres bound to be an odd pocket of oil about, these engines don't run particularly hot so it may take some time to dry out. If it's not losing any oil and it runs ok then there may not be a problem as Huw says. If it's not broke don't fix it!

Martin

Why? Is there any sign that compression is low? Is there crankcase pressure? Is it consuming oil in great quantity? Is it knocking as if there was a man with a sledge inside it? Is it exceedingly slow starting? If the answer is 'no' to most of these, don't bother with a compression test. Always check the simple things first.

Huw

Thanks mark.

On or around Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:08:59 +0000, Mark Solesbury enlightened us thusly:

try pulling the plugs and testing them. get a charged battery and some fat wire on the glow plug terminal; hold the plug body on one terminal and touch the wire to the other. The plug tip should glow red hot within a few seconds. if nothing happens or it glows other than at the tip, it's dud. This *is* still white smoke on startup with the engine cold?

Could be a combination of low compression and no glowplug, on one or more cylinder, causing imperfect fuel burn.

White smoke on startup is mostly a characteristic of old diesels, especially those with no glowplug or other heating device, as on these it's started simply by turning it until it fires, and that causes excess of fuel in the cylinders and exhaust, which then evaporates or burns off.

I would also perhaps guess that it might not be oil. It could be a mixture of fuel and carbon.