Diesel - white smoke

[dinkel]

2011 FIAT Grande Punto 1.3 MJET - fab car and no complaints.

Last months I suffered from serious white smoke under 1st and 2nd gear acceleration . . . but every now and then, every other week.

Also: smell when at stand still and with the engine off. Plastic, oil and also every now and then.

Two weeks ago I had the ECU reset and dropped some oil to set the level.

Engine felt fine and the smoke was gone. I was happy.

Until this afternoon . . . There was the white smoke again. After a few good 3-4K thrashings it was gone.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

[dinkel]

Coolant level is ok - it was the 1st thing I checked.

turbo oil seal: thought that too.

Carter vent: that is a weak point on these engines. Just a hose.

Thanks for the input. Big Service on its way, within weeks.

[dinkel]

May 2011 - May 2013: 2 years.

Carter ventilation.

Smoke looks white to me, no hint of blue.

As it is only now and then - once a week and only for a minute or so - I guess it looks like an 'alternative warning light'.

[dinkel]

Sorry: carter = sump.

That's why I dropped some oil from the sump to lower the oil level.

:dutch:

[dinkel]

OK, no black smoke . . . but white smoke and indeed mist-like.

As it is only for a minute or so and after 15 mins I can go along with a cocky injector.

The funny odd thing is: I don't feel any loss of power or pick up.

Maybe it's bad diesel - I will try and avoid cheap non-brand fill ups and see what happends.

[dinkel]

Yeah, but why? Running too rich?

It's still there every other week ... and the car is running just fine.

[dinkel]

Lol - good un.

The diesel needs a service every 15K kms. Garage cleans DPF with stuff.

There's an auto mode in the ECU that tells the DPF to burn. When that happends - very rarely, I drive the car! - the display tells me to run the car for at least 10 mins at > 2K revs.

I try and keep the engine at 2K when cold for the first 15 mins. After that I pull up to 3K which is enough to use the gears properly. It's not a winterproblem BTW.

Thanks for the advice: bottemline is is should not worry, it's only unburnt diesel

[dinkel]

Last year I ditched the EGR - both hard and soft - and I never had white smoke since. Well, only once in 18 months or so.

Injectors: maybe sloppy diesel could be a reason. But whatever: I'm happy now.

Losing the EGR (done at 180k kms) changed the characteristics of the lump and made it more supple.