Ford Focus II (2004 - 2007) - 05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm

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Sun 2 Aug 2009 12:40
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Blade_Runner
Hi.
I got 2005 Ford Focus MK2 1.6 TDCI,93000 miles done.
When the engine is warm and at speeds exceeding 50 miles,sometimes I get light blue smoke coming form the exhaust, but only if I take my foot off the accelerator.Then if I put the accelerator again,the smoke disapears.It is not happening every day.

1.Valve stem oil seals-NO-it is opposite situation.
2.Emission test done-OK.
3.Had it on the computer as well and nothing came up,except some turbo faults.
4.Turbo has been changed at 80 thousand miles.
5.Injectors tested-OK.
6.No warning lights on the dashboard.

{moved across to tech matters}

Edited by Dynamic Dave on 02/08/2009 at 14:58

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Sun 2 Aug 2009 16:34
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Peter.N.
Sounds like the turbo oil seals, what was the problem with the turbo when it was changed before?
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Sun 2 Aug 2009 18:02
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Blade_Runner
Hi.
I do not know, why the turbo has been changed.Maybe lack of proper service, car has got only 5 stamps in service book.It is ex company car, maybe it was neglected.
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Sun 2 Aug 2009 20:40
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - bathtub tom
>>Had it on the computer as well and nothing came up,except some turbo faults

I would've thought that's the first thing you'd investigate.
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Mon 23 Aug 2010 10:31
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Tangled

Hi Blade runner, Did you ever get to the bottom of this problem?

I've got exactly the same issue on my 110ps 1.6 TDCI (06 plate). Mine's done 118k miles, bought 1 month ago from a private sale. It had an issue with the MAF (Mass air flow) sensor shortly after purchase which was causing thick black and white smoke, including surging and lack of power. The new MAFsensor fixed that issue, but (after 100 miles of ok running) it has now started to produce blue smoke when the engine is warm and I foot off the accelerator (i.e. coming up to a junction from the motorway). No other issues though, power is ok. Cold running also fine, no smoke.

When the Ford garage was diagnosing the MAF sensor they had checked the following items and confirmed no issue:

- injectors all ok

- compression test ok (no head gasket issue)

- dpf sensor was also changed (no fault code from dpf)

Any info greatly appreciated!!

Ben

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Mon 23 Aug 2010 22:26
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Tangled

.

Edited by Tangled on 23/08/2010 at 22:27

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Mon 23 Aug 2010 23:32
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Collos25

If its not the turbo then you are looking at an engine rebuild possible cause worn rings but if you are lucky valve oil seals,

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 10:07
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - StanTheMan78

I think it is very simple - since you are experiencing the problem only when the engine is warm, I suspect that the oil is too thin. It might disappear by itself in winter and re-appear in summer! Do you know what oil viscosity you are using? Since you are close to the 100 k mile mark you might want to reconsider putting thin oil. I would personally recommend nothing thinner than Total 10W40 - since it is a Peugeot engine. You can try a simple fix by pouring in a can of bardahl no-smoke oil conditioner and see if the problem persists.

These engines are also known to suffer from a critical condition - the oil strainer clogging up and sending metal fragments all around the engine - and clogging the turbo oil passages causing the turbos to fail - could be that the replaced turbo has only cured the symptom, not the problem itself. I would have that checked right away!

Ultimately Mr. Bairsto may be right - a rebuild may be required - this can be tested by checking the compression of each cylinder.

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 12:55
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Tangled

I thought it could be worn rings, but drove home at 60mph last night (engine warm) and no smoke appeared even while revving engine etc round the last few roundabouts. This morning, by contrast drove in at 80mph and it was smoking quite heavily while coming round the last couple of roundabouts.

As such, seems to be turbo related, oil leak only appears when turbo is hot and spinning fast.

Interesting about the oil strainer (I guess by that you mean the oil filter??). Oil filter has just been changed, but perhaps damage is already done. Might also try a more viscous oil as you suggest, will check what the garage put in last time.

Compression test was done last week, no issues...

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Sat 28 Aug 2010 16:58
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - StanTheMan78

No the strainer is not the filter, it is not a replaceable part: it fits somewhere in the crank case though I don't know exactly where.

Compression test OK - depends - was it done on cold or warm engine? Be aware that oil viscosity changes greatly with temperature. What might look OK cold may be nothing of the sort when warm. Since you are experiencing the problem when warm I suggest the compression test be done when warm. If it's OK when cold but poor when warm, increasing the high-end viscosity may solve the problem for good - e.g. putting 5W40 or 0W40 instead of 5W30. Bear in mind also though that the turbo needs low viscosities to ensure that oil flows through the shaft bushes - today's minute turbos incorporate oil passages as thin as a pin-point!

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Sat 28 Aug 2010 18:16
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - madf

Worn turbo seals mean oil collects in heat exchanger. Then it is sucked into engine giving blue smoke. Will only happen when engine is hot so oil is more viscous.

Check by removing output air pipe from turbo. If oily... then that's it...

Edited by madf on 28/08/2010 at 18:17

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Wed 8 Sep 2010 17:49
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Tangled

Well, it was the turbo. Have replaced it and now all smoke has disappeared. Checked the old turbo and the shaft was noticeably loose on it's bearings.

Unfortunately, I still have an issue with motorway speeds, shuddering/loss of power. Pretty sure this is a fueling issue though, possible blockage in the fuel lines or fuel filter in need of replacing...

Thanks all for advice.

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Sun 21 Nov 2010 18:08
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - Tangled

The car ran for about 500 miles before it started smoking again. It isn't the turbo, as the shaft on the new part has no unexpected movement. It's also been looked at by the garage, they said it's fine.

It seems to be coming from the rocker cover, which recirculates dirty sump gas back in to the clean air duct, going in to the turbo.The pipe is dripping with oil, when you remove it from the clean air duct. It also makes sense as the blue smoke only comes off when you foot off (engine keeps pulling air through, but without diesel combustion, it comes out as blue smoke). When I put my foot lightly back on the accel, blue smoke completely disappears. Also, no blue smoke under acceleration.

Disappointingly though, I replaced the rocker cover but the oil still comes through. the recirc pipe still sodden with sump oil. It's burning about 0.5 litre per 500 miles.

Any ideas what might be causing that and how to fix?

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Sun 21 Nov 2010 18:23
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - madf

Smoke on overrrun.. = worn oil seals.

Oil in breather = worn pistons rings...

It's burning 0.5 litres per 500 miles..

I suspect your engine may need a rebuild..

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Sun 21 Nov 2010 18:30
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - injection doc

oil consumption sounds high, it may well be ring trouble and under load the rings are under more pressure and tend to improve the seal.

have you checked the dipstick, i would fill the engine with the correct oil quantity and check the dipstick reading, I have come across so many cars where the dipstick tube has moved or wrong dipstick put in and the oil levels in the engine are running too high.

Dont overlook the possibility of injectors leaking diesel into the engine on the overrun causing smoke, but with the oil consumption level and rings is where I would concentrate.

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Mon 22 Nov 2010 14:18
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - StanTheMan78

To me it's plain an clear: thin oil! I had the same symptom exactly on my clio dci with 99,000 miles once I re-conditioned the turbo. It was leaking oil all over the place except the turbo and power was just a bit down, while it smoked quite copiously...I was using 5W30, then poured half a can of bardahl stop-leak to try...and the difference was amazing! I shall now start using 5W40!

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Mon 22 Nov 2010 19:23
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - track
For a quick fix for the smoke and a good way to monitor the oil blown through the breathers try fitting a catch can, very simple and relatively cheap to do. that way you can do a set mileage and see how much oil is in the can, should also show if the blue smoke stops.
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Wed 23 Feb 2011 12:30
05 1.6 TDCI diesel strange smoke when warm - JL129

StanTheMan78,

I have recently had my turbo changed from a Ford garage for the exact reasons you said from the 'critical condition'. Do you know how I would go about sorting the problem itself rather than just curing the symptom?

The same issue has happened again and I am currently trying to see if my turbo warranty covers both turbo and engine as that has now been affected! the problems are really taking their toll now.

cheers

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