"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - rg
Trooper/Monterey 3.1TD

There are two thingies on the inlet manifold to regulate/recirculate air, both looking similar, both with vacuum pipes attached to them. A piston shaft can be seen to go up and down.

For the third time in a few months one of them seems to be playing up. Piston shaft seen to shoot up and down unevenly. No turbo boost, black smoke out the back, 25% performance. Urgh.

In the absence of a workshop manual, can anyone point me in the direction of a fix on these? My local diesel specialist says that one of them may have carboned up or have a damaged piston. He suggests taking them off and checking for carbonisation/damage.

Anyone been up this learning curve on a similarly-equipped diesel? David W, maybe Citroen do a similar thing with quantities of rubber balls and green oil..Give me back my Viva.

On the previous two occasions a dose of STP diesel treatment seems to have sorted them out, leading to my suspicion of a jammed injector. My diesel man cannot work this out.

Help!


Rob
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - M.M
Rob,

Sadly I have no experience of your Isuzu (I assume) engine in this vehicle. If it was in front of me I might have a careful prod about but can't think of any specific advice.

Apart from going back to the Viva of course!

David W
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - Andrew Moorey (Tune-Up)
I think the bit you are referring to is the EGR valve. Disconnect and plug the vacuum supply to it. Test drive should result in smoother running and generally more power. Its an emissions thing that causes more problems than it could ever hope to solve and my T4 had it disconnected from day 1. Grey imported diesels seem to suffer with excessive amounts of diesel smoke anyway.
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - jc
The fact you complain of lack of boost suggests a problem with the overboost control on the turbo;it's there to restict the turbo when the boost pressure gets too high-it sounds as tho' it might be playing up.Certainly disconnect the EGR valve-your emissions will go up but it should not do much else unless the EGR has electronic feedback as well as vacuum control which will cause havoc as lack of vacuum signal will cause the electronics to do allsorts of peculiar things.
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - rg
jc

Thanks very much. No obvious leads/sensors. The 3.1TD is basic 1992 technology. Will I need to reconnect at MOT time? Emissions were well within limits last time.

rg
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - rg
Thanks, Andrew,

Yes, EGR it is. Diesel man said disconnect it, too.

Is there anything that can be cleaned on it to fix it, such as carbon deposits around the valve seat? I have yet to unbolt it, but, as per posting above, I am loath to disturb anything which might have implications elsewhere. Or does the diaphragm get knackered. It is now running OK after a dose of STP.

Rob
"Piston, Diaphragm, Vacuum Thingie" - David Lacey
Leave it permanently disconnected and plugged, Rob

No worries at MOT time, either


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black smoke - tracy
i have a 3.1 diesel that is also very smokey when the turbo is used but stops being smokey when it then changes gear. could this be something to do with my vaccum thingie or could it be blocked breather pipes.........tracy
black smoke - rg
Tracy,

Is there a lack of power to go with it, and what colour is the smoke? Sooty black or white-ish?

The EGR valves (tecnical term for vacuum thingies) Can be isolated in around ten minutes to rule them out.

Are you anywhere near Birmingham/Wolverhampton? There is an Isuzu independent workshop in The Black Country:- Central Isuzu. 0121 526 6500.

HTH

rg