Thick cloud of black smoke

[markjw]

Driving into work this working I had to slow to about 20mph for a car that was turning left into a side road. I then changed down into 2nd gear and put my foot down - huge dense cloud of black smoke behind me. The smoke was bad enough that the guy behind swerved round it - think he was a bit shocked!!!

Took my foot off and car seems to be OK - any one got any thoughts?

Vehicle is Leon TDi SE 110bhp registered early 2003 (52 plate) and has about 34,000 miles on it - has had three new MAFs (last one about a year ago) and a new turbo about 8 months ago.

 

[daveyonthemove]

Your car has probably been sooting up if you don't put your foot down too often.
Every now and again it does them good to give it a good blast through the gears (up to legal limit) holding the revs at about 3-3.5rpm before gear change. Cleans out the veins in the turbo and blows out cloggage (is that a word?) in the exhaust. It might even run a bit better

 

[mpm1987]

what fast said basically,

i give my car a good seeing to atleast twice a week!!

 

[devonutopia]

Hell, this is a daily occurrence with me. Gave a porsche 911 a good sooting today as he was hassling me in the outside lane of a dual carriageway as I was passing some cars.... Still, at 110, the noise that 911 made as I let him past was awesome. Not sure what they made of being covered in smoke though....

 

[markjw]

normally give it a blast at least once a week and get quite a bit of smoke, but not this much - that said it did seem to be running better this evening

 

[devonutopia]

If it happens again some time, and you find the performance dropping - might be worth checking if a sensor has gone. When my turbo boost sensor started packing it up, it sent the fuelling crazy - lots of black, JET black smoke pouring out, and no power. Ended up going into limp mode until I got a new sensor fitted.

Initially though, it was like you have now - boot it, get lots of black smoke, and eventually smoke got worse, power dropped.

 

[UncleFester]

I boot mine all the time and it doesn't smoke at all. I get a bit of a 'blue' startup cloud when its cold and that's it. I drive mine right through the rev range every time i drive it.

 

[lukey]

mine only smokes out when giving the beans in the dark

?

 

[basstard]

it also depends on how you feed the power in,,, put it down all at once and it'll smoke like an israeli tank,,, feed the power in gently and you'll have less strain on the transmission, acceleration will be much smoother and constant and still be very "pulling" in a very diesel sense, and you'll have less smoke. I always do it this way,,,

 

[muddyboots]

Driving into work this working I had to slow to about 20mph for a car that was turning left into a side road. I then changed down into 2nd gear and put my foot down - huge dense cloud of black smoke behind me. The smoke was bad enough that the guy behind swerved round it - think he was a bit shocked!!!

Took my foot off and car seems to be OK - any one got any thoughts?

Vehicle is Leon TDi SE 110bhp registered early 2003 (52 plate) and has about 34,000 miles on it - has had three new MAFs (last one about a year ago) and a new turbo about 8 months ago.

Three new MAFs and a new turbo in 34k miles ?

It's difficult to know whether the smoke you're referring to is the usual smoke you get when booting it, or whether it's worse because of a fault.
If it happens regularly it could mean a boost leak somewhere, possibly the pipes weren't refitted properly when the new turbo was fitted

 

[markjw]

Three new MAFs and a new turbo in 34k miles ?

It's difficult to know whether the smoke you're referring to is the usual smoke you get when booting it, or whether it's worse because of a fault.
If it happens regularly it could mean a boost leak somewhere, possibly the pipes weren't refitted properly when the new turbo was fitted

I think the original problem was the turbo all along and there was nothing wrong with the MAFs - fault code every time was for positive pressure deviation on the turbo (all changed under warranty so I did'nt care!!!)

 

[basstard]

I think the original problem was the turbo all along and there was nothing wrong with the MAFs - fault code every time was for positive pressure deviation on the turbo (all changed under warranty so I did'nt care!!!)

and they did change the turbo cos of a bit of sticking vanes causing overboost????? you lucky dog!!

 

[sssstew]

typical, people all too often blame a maf for problems and change it when its not the problem, i had experienced this myself too.

 

[basstard]

typical, people all too often blame a maf for problems and change it when its not the problem, i had experienced this myself too.

as long as they do it under warranty,,,

 

[sssstew]

yes but they fob the customer off its fixed they drive away and its not and it has to go back in again, more inconvenience. if they just looked at the fault code/symptoms in hand, and logged the MAF to see if it needs changing.

 

[basstard]

I'd like to have 'inconveniences' where someone puts new bits on my car for free,,,

 

[markjw]

and they did change the turbo cos of a bit of sticking vanes causing overboost????? you lucky dog!!

by the time the turbo got changed the car was well down on power with nasty noises on overrun coming from the area of the turbo - would have like to have seen what the inside of the turbo looked like

 

[cheshire cat]

I'd like to have 'inconveniences' where someone puts new bits on my car for free,,,

you're not kiddin', good to hear from you again Carlo it's bin-a- while

 

[jonjay]

Soot builds up aswell due to "bad" supermarket fuel. I noticed since buying my car, it doesnt smoke as much. Person who had the car before me used Texaco fuel and it smoke bad when i first got it. Since using Shell Diesel extra its gradually cleaned out all the crap out of the engine.

A good indication of what i said it my exhaust isnt covered in soot like it was when i first got it. Of course it could be a dodgy MAF or sensor for the turbo. Looks like you have had bad luck with that car...

 

[sssstew]

or a different driving style jonjay.