Diesel cleaner

[twig]

Hi all,

Just had my Ibiza ('98 TDi AHU) fail its MOT for, amongst other things, black smoke in the emissions. The mechanic said to run some diesel cleaner through it which should sort it out. Has anyone done this before, and got any products they'd recommend?

Cheers.

 

[sydoggkdy]

u get REDEX diesel cleaner! but when my old diesel used to go for an MOT my machanic said giving it a good hard run cleaned it out aswell.

 

[oldman]

does millers sport not do this?

 

[twig]

like this?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...1_productId_189902_langId_-1_categoryId_58758

or course, it could be burning oil. I do have to top it up pretty regularly

 

[oldman]

not sure, but millers sport ds4 i believe does something akin to this and is talked about quite a lot
getting rid of smoke and possible sticky vanes i did a thread where it was mentioned to load car to full weight breaking point and drive to clear it all out

 

[twig]

any idea if it's worth using oil additives before an MOT as well? i reckon if it can pass emissions, it's worth doing. if not, I'll break/scrap it.

 

[ChrisGTL]

any idea if it's worth using oil additives before an MOT as well? i reckon if it can pass emissions, it's worth doing. if not, I'll break/scrap it.

Engine oils already have additives in them to do the job in hand, if you see any 'detergent' type additives on the shelf keep on walking past as your oil is already doing cleaning in the 1st place (as long as you bought some decent oil).

Personally, if the car is producing smoke and there is no mechanical fault with the engine then its most likely the fuel thats slightly dirty.

Get a new fuel filter (£17) and refill using Shell Diesel V-Power (costly but very very clean fuel), find a long hill you can drive up and make the engine really hot. Blast all those cobwebs out!!

Millers Diesel Sport 4 will also reduce smoke, but again I doubt if you would see any improvments until half/full tank run through.

 

[Ultra_Joel88]

get some forte fuel treatment

 

[sssstew]

Engine oils already have additives in them to do the job in hand, if you see any 'detergent' type additives on the shelf keep on walking past as your oil is already doing cleaning in the 1st place (as long as you bought some decent oil).

Personally, if the car is producing smoke and there is no mechanical fault with the engine then its most likely the fuel thats slightly dirty.

Get a new fuel filter (£17) and refill using Shell Diesel V-Power (costly but very very clean fuel), find a long hill you can drive up and make the engine really hot. Blast all those cobwebs out!!

Millers Diesel Sport 4 will also reduce smoke, but again I doubt if you would see any improvments until half/full tank run through.

Yep agreed with Chris here, this will get it through, assuming its not a worn injector.

 

[cheshire cat]

plus you could remove the air cleaner and disconnect the egr (if it's a turbo) just for the test

 

[twig]

thanks guys. i decided that i didn't have time for changing the air filter, plus i didn't want to spend any more money on a car that i was going to scrap if it failed. So... £1.39 of Redex (supposedly enough to treat a whole tank) plus 9 litres of diesel and a lot of hooning it last night and this morning, and it's through the emissions test! good news for me as the only work now is for them to adjust the brakes (didn't trust myself to meddle with them).

 

[sssstew]

cool, glad you sorted it