Black smoke on acceleration

[rburnham11]

Black smoke is definitely passing the dpf. pressure readings? how can I find this out? I have a icarsoft MB v2 which I have updated but I still struggle to get it to do half the stuff its capable of

 

[91dm]

If you go onto view data under the engine ECU it should give you 'differential pressure'. Be interesting to see at 2.5-3k revs is the reading very low. Also look for regen frequency or distance since last regen.

What year and model is the Vito, I don't see it listed on earlier comments?

 

[rburnham11]

It's a 2011 mercedes viano 2.2.
Question though, should mercedes not have done this when they had it? They advised me to have the exhaust cleaned. Is this a thing? Do people clean exhausts? Clearly the cat/dpf are not doing their job if it's honking out this much black smoke. That's why I planned to take exhaust off clean it and maybe gut the cat and dpf before replacing but surely that would let more smoke out.

 

[91dm]

Is that EURO 4 or 5, if 4 it won't have a DPF?

Yes DPF cleaning is a common thing, can be done on or off the car.

To me it sounds like another issue that is causing the excess smoke and unburnt diesel. I would do a smoke test on the air side to check for split pipes or a cracked manifold and then move onto injector readings etc to check fuel readings.

 

[rburnham11]

I don't know if it's a euro 4 or 5. So I still think it's something causing it to run very rich. The intercooler pipes have been changed, the intercooler itself has been changed, it's been smoke tested by at least 2 places.

 

[91dm]

Do they know what the boost reading is from the turbo?

 

[91dm]

If you type your reg into totalcarcheck.co.uk it will show you what the Euro status is.

 

[rburnham11]

It's says 5a for euro thingy.
I don't know about boost reading. Is there anything that wouldn't show up on a smoke test until under turbo boost pressure?

 

[91dm]

The boost reading will tell you if the turbo is creating the correct pressure. If it was only making half the boost it would explain it however should log a fault and you would notice low power.

 

[rburnham11]

Update.
Black smoke sorted.... Now I have white smoke.
First how I fixed the black smoke- I removed the dpf, blocked all the holes and filled with a dpf cleaner and left it soaking over night. Then flushed it all out with lots of water, making sure to flush it back upstream rather than forcing particles through the meshing. I went to do the same with the cat however this was empty.
Took for a drive once all dried out and initially thought was great as zero black smoke.
Then I noticed when idle in traffic or on the drive a fair amount of white smoke comes out and doesn't seem to clear when warm either. Smells very fuelly too.
Local non merc garage have done a head gasket test and it's not a head gasket. Thinking it's likely to be low compression (yet to have compression test done). Is this likely and if so is it likely to be top end, valves ect or piston rings?
Did consider putting a can of the oil treatment ring seal stuff in.
It still drives and starts really well.
I do have a number of electrical anomalies like doors sometimes don't work until I disconnect battery and reconnect, recirculation button doesn't work and AC has a mind of it's own, but I assumed these are unlikely related to engine issues?

Thanks

 

[Bellow]

Update.
Black smoke sorted.... Now I have white smoke.
First how I fixed the black smoke- I removed the dpf, blocked all the holes and filled with a dpf cleaner and left it soaking over night. Then flushed it all out with lots of water, making sure to flush it back upstream rather than forcing particles through the meshing. I went to do the same with the cat however this was empty.
Took for a drive once all dried out and initially thought was great as zero black smoke.

Good work.

Then I noticed when idle in traffic or on the drive a fair amount of white smoke comes out and doesn't seem to clear when warm either. Smells very fuelly too.

Identifying exactly what the 'white smoke' is will be key.

Local non merc garage have done a head gasket test and it's not a head gasket. Thinking it's likely to be low compression (yet to have compression test done).

For sure a HG can be half checked by looking for cross-contamination between oil and coolant but the integrity of the fire ring - where compression can be lost - can only be done by compression testing AFAIK.

Is this likely and if so is it likely to be top end, valves ect or piston rings?

HG - if low compression is the issue - is much more probable.

Did consider putting a can of the oil treatment ring seal stuff in.
It still drives and starts really well.
I do have a number of electrical anomalies like doors sometimes don't work until I disconnect battery and reconnect, recirculation button doesn't work and AC has a mind of it's own, but I assumed these are unlikely related to engine issues?

Thanks

Compression test and drilling down on whether the 'white smoke' is water based or fuel based (as you imply) would be my next steps.

 

[91dm]

How long have you driven it since? Are you sure it's not steam coming out after the dpf flush?