Blue/ white smoke from 140 tdi

[brownyboy]

Newbie on here as been looking online about my mentioned title but wanted to check with you guys on here.

I seem to be getting a fair amount of bluey/ white smoke out the exhaust when pulling away from stationary and seems to be especially worse when the engine is cold. Even when the engine is warmed up fully I still see blue tinted smoke even if I get the revs up to like 3000 rpm and quickly get out and look around the back end of the car.

The car is on 135,000 miles, 05 plate TDI 140. I have only had the car since October 2016 and i think its been a bit smokey since then and i probably shouldn't have bought it but i took my chances. 4 months on I am now getting more concerned as I don't want to do any further damage to whatever is causing the smoke to occur.
Since i have had the car I did an oil change with Mobil 1 oil and had the cambelt and water pump changed.
Limp mode kicked in the other day for the first time but i was purposely thrashing it to try and clear out the turbo a bit, turbo seems to boost ok etc.

At the moment i am running supermarket fuel but someone recommended that i use a better diesel from BP or Shell etc and also stick in some Millers additive.

Looking online it could be a number of things but what should i check first?

Any input would be appreciated.
Cheers
Mark

[Rob69]

Try to measure oil consumption by measuring level on the dipstick, then monitoring over next 500 miles or so. Check turbo compressor outlet for wet oil, some oil residue from the breather is normal but a leaking shaft seal will leave the compressor outlet dripping wet. You will find some oil normally collects in the intercooler pipework but it should not be full. It is more difficult to check the turbine seal for leakage as you'd have to drop off the exhaust and it is buried down the back of the engine. Check tailpipe for wet oily sooty deposits that might indicate the turbine seal leaking. It could also be an injector fault, Check the cams for wear, easy to remove the plastic rocker cover and check the injector cam lobes. If you can get hold of vcds check torsion values (measuring block group4 iirc ) and idle speed smooth running group13 iirc. If you have vcds also check MAF and boost MAP requested and actual readings. Check engine is running at 90, vcds or OBDII scanner will tell you sender output temp, rather than relying on the inaccurate dash gauge. Worst case, failing all easy checks you have worn bores, rings, valve stem seals or shot turbo, injectors or cams.

[brownyboy]

Thanks Rob, so it could be one of many things...?

Maybe I would be better off giving it to a garage for them to diagnose. My feeling is it is the turbo, the cars on 136k miles and I have no paperwork to show the turbo has been replaced. They wouldn't normally last this long on the original would they?

[Rob69]

I'm thinking yours is a 140, 2 litre engine, from pals experience of these fitted with kkk turbos they have had to replace them at less than 100k. I've ran a couple of 1.9 pd engines with Garret turbos to over 100k, passat is currently on 135k and looking ok. Maybe something in that anecdotal evidence! Be worth you getting someone to do other checks before coughing up several hundred quid on a turbo change though.

[niall campbell]

I change my oil and oil filter every 10,000 miles

Even if I put in Long Life service oil, it uses oil after 10,000 miles. It doesn't now I stick to 10 K service

I have had many diesel cars, with some at 280,000 miles .......................... and never replaced a turbo yet ........................ maybe just lucky


So my advice is to service the car firstly & then monitor the oil consumption over 10,000 miles . I would say going from Max on dipstick to Min over that time would be acceptable


If the limp mode is on, then get the car scanned to see what it wrong. For all we know this may cure the smoke problem

In this cold weather, white smoke will be evident on tick over ............................................ Service the car , monitor the oil consumption and wait for warmer weather is the cheapest option

[brownyboy]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've bought some millers cleaner/ additive stuff that I was thinking of sticking in the tank and I'm also going to fill up with a better quality fuel compared to the supermarket poop I've been sticking in the last few months. The limp mode hasn't happened since and it seems to boost ok it's just I'm still getting blue smoke out the back but mainly when the car is stationary before e.g. pulling out of a junction. Maybe it's still the same when I'm going some in 3rd/ 4th etc but it's just harder for me to tell what's going on through the back window.