Smoke from diesels?

[NR123]

Is some smoke from a diesel normal? I asked a seller if there was any smoke from the exhaust and he said just the usual puff when you put your foot down around town. Is that normal?

[littlebasher]

Yep

No poke without smoke

[TheEnd]

Can be, depends on the car and what someone classes as smoke.
Fords seem to chuff out a good bit when they floor it.
Newer cars with DPFs shouldn't make any smoke.

[Pints]

TheEnd said:

Can be, depends on the car and what someone classes as smoke.
Fords seem to chuff out a good bit when they floor it.
Newer cars with DPFs shouldn't make any smoke.

And when you give it a bootful to clear the ol' DPF?

I might be talking cobblers.

[NR123]

The car is a MK5 Golf 2.0 GT TDI (2005). I thought some smoke was normal. What colour should it be?

[340600]

NR123 said:

The car is a MK5 Golf 2.0 GT TDI (2005). I thought some smoke was normal. What colour should it be?

Black. White smoke = not good.

[GoodDoc]

Black smoke from the VAG 2.0TDi in my car is okay, clouds of smoke from the VAG 2.0TDi in my mate's car is very bad.

Work out if it has a DPF, if it doesn't then you can get impressive black smoke when you boot it, more so if you've been driving like an old fart for a few days, but a DPF equipped car shouldn't.

[TheEnd]

Diesel smoke is black, and usually it'll be a light haze that just looks dark, not actually a black cloud.
White may turn up on starting (unburnt diesel) and light-greyish blue is oil and is a bad sign.

[Condi]

Early 00's or late 90's diesels give out quite impressive amount of smoke at times!

As far as an MOT goes there is allowed to be a small amount of smoke on startup which clears quickly is I think the official wording. The emissions tests are done at a constant rpm so as long as the thing isnt overfuelling then you should be fine.

[cra1gy1989]

I have a 1.9 tdi Fabia vrs remmaped, and it chucks out loads of sutty black/grey smoke! If its black its fine, if its blue or white its not!

[Superhoop]

Condi said:

The emissions tests are done at a constant rpm

Happy to be corrected, but isn't the diesel smoke test done by accelerating the engine up to the max governed engine speed?

Petrol engines are constant speed

[Mafioso]

cra1gy1989 said:

I have a 1.9 tdi Fabia vrs remmaped, and it chucks out loads of sutty black/grey smoke! If its black its fine, if its blue or white its not!

Ditto. It's quite embarrassing actually. I feel a stupid rep in his Mondeo...

[sunbeam alpine]

We've got a Golf TDI (had it from new) and it kicks out loads of black smoke if you boot it hard. It's almost a smokescreen! Car's got 220000 approx and still going strong.

[XDA]

Mafioso said:

cra1gy1989 said:

I have a 1.9 tdi Fabia vrs remmaped, and it chucks out loads of sutty black/grey smoke! If its black its fine, if its blue or white its not!

Ditto. It's quite embarrassing actually. I feel a stupid rep in his Mondeo...

DPF hides my black cloud.

/smug

[Stu R]

Rolling coal

[andy-xr]

My little Rover doesnt put out any diesel smoke at all. It gets run 100 miles a day so it might be that it doesnt get chance to build up, but I thought it was a process that just happened as a byproduct of it being a diesel.

My old CMAX had a lot less miles, was in better nick, a lot better serviced and had 8 more valves, but used to smoke like Dot Cotton when it was being pushed.

[Jordan Rich]

Yes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVOFWcXffs0

[BFG TERRANO]

may be utter cr@p but I was told its not smoke but soot particles being blown from the exhaust and turbo? Usually when you give it some after long spells of gentle driving?

[BFG TERRANO]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1epExVwBfI&fea...

[Mastodon2]

GoodDoc said:

Work out if it has a DPF, if it doesn't then you can get impressive black smoke when you boot it, more so if you've been driving like an old fart for a few days, but a DPF equipped car shouldn't.

Impressive? Do you not mean "embarrassing"?

Diesels blowing smoke like soot stacks is not unusual, this is why diesel exhausts point down towards the ground where they would normally sit parallel to the road on petrol versions, as shooting the soot downwards disguises it against the dark surface of the road.