BX TZD white smoke from exhaust after head change

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beano
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BX TZD white smoke from exhaust after head change

Post by beano »

After changing the head on my 1.7TZD I initiallycould not get the engine to start and idle evenly and after investigation found the cam belt was one tooth out even after taking a methodical approach. Any way I redid this again locating a 8mm dowel in the flywheel at TDC and then putting M8 bolts through the camshaft and pump sprocket. Rotated the cam belt twice as Haynes suggests and then rechecked the timing, all seems to be OK. Any way after putting it all back together the engines started and appears to run OK at idle, but get white smoke from exhaust. Any ideas
Regards
Colin
harryb.48
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Post by harryb.48 »

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news,but white smoke can mean only one thing - water getting into the cylinder(s).[V] Something is either not lined - up properly (Water jacket passage from block to head) or maybe not tightened to correct torque?
Is this a new/reconditioned or used head ?Skimmed or not?
jeremy
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Post by jeremy »

I'm not quite so sure. How long have you run it for? If you haven't run it for long it may be unburnt fuel. If I don't heat mine for long enough I get a puff of white smoke.
If you haven't run it for long its possible that there is a build up of muck in the exhaust which may take some time to clear. It obviously depends on the volume of smoke but I recall many years ago re-ringing my Hillman Hunter after some tome with oil consumption of 50 miles per pint, giving it a blast and stopping and finding that the back silencer had caught fire and wouldn't stop smoking.
Which in turn reminds me of my new year resolution!
jeremy
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

I had a GTI with the same symptoms, an italian decoke sorted it. be confident that you have done it right then give it a blow through.
Stewart
beano
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Post by beano »

Thanks for the replies, Iam going to recheck everything possible to night, I have now started to think it maybe air getting into the fuek system as I had a simular problen on a 1.6td Golf, any way I'll let you know, what I find.
Regards
Colin
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

Colin -
Hold a rag on the exhaust to catch condensation. If the rag gets wet - it's water. If it gets greasy - it's fuel (or engine oil [B)]).
DLM
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Post by DLM »

Could it be a case of air in the fuel?
Twiss
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Post by Twiss »

Does the engine have thick white smoke and the revs go high and stay high? if so i think its air getting in though a leak on the inlet manifold. inlet manifold not proberly sealed.
if yes--- Redo the gaskett, even put some instint gaskett seal as well on the inlet manifold and leave lets over say over night or a few hours to let the sealent seal.
beano
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Post by beano »

The latest it is now working, I rechecked the cam belt timing twice, checked cylinder pressures - ok (Getting Paranoid). After starting the engine after each check I noticed that the smoke or should I say unburnt diesel mixed with christ nows what, started to reduce. Eventually I plucked up courage and took her for a spin.
Initially there was a thick plume of smoke from the back but suddenly it seemed to clear and since then has been as good as it was originally.
Thanks for all your replies, it did help. What did surprise me was where does all this smoke come from as I thought every thing had been cleaned to the point of being clinical.
Thanks again
Colin
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Oscar Too
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Post by Oscar Too »

Glad you've had a result, esp. as I need to change a timing belt soon. Thanks for reporting back - so many people, I've noticed, simply leave the topic hanging and the membership in suspense. Or is it just me? [:)]
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

My own incident was my fault, when the head came back from the engineering shop I decided to wash it off with degreaser and water, I refitted it and had a serious smoke problem (on my first spin around the block I ran into my own smoke cloud on the return, It looked like a major pollution incident) so I took the car (BX 1.9GTI) for a thrash over the mountain, the steam/smoke clearred after a few miles. It did last a surprisingly long time though and sent thoughts of cracked heads thruogh my mind, especially as there was a chap with a wad of cash waiting for the car.
Stewart
harryb.48
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Post by harryb.48 »

I stand corrected!!
I only have experience with petrol engines and based my opinion on this,whereas diesels seem to be more sensitive to ...whatever it was.
Glad you got it fixed though,and I`ll be just a touch more reticent on commenting on things(diesels) I know little about.!
paranoid
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Post by paranoid »

I think that because of the suck of a diesel plus the turbo etc a lot of stuff has to burnt off on initial start up.
But been there done that [:D] It is nerve wracking taking it for that first smokey run.
tomsheppard
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Post by tomsheppard »

It was the condensation in the exhaust from the blown HG.
oilyspanner
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Post by oilyspanner »

Yes lingering in the pipes.
Stewart
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