C220cdi - clouds of white smoke!

[GBUK1]

Hi, I've just bought a C220 cdi W203. I was driving along at about 20mph (on an industrial estate, not cruising!) when the car started pouring out more white smoke than I'd ever seen before from an engine. I turned the ignition off but the car kept runing for a while with the revs racing up. Someone has told me its contaminated fuel and the injector pump may be stuck open, someone else has said its a turbo problem. Before I start spending a fortune, has anyone come across this before? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dieselman]

Turbo oil seals on the way out causing the engine to run on engine oil. This needs doing straight away otherwise the engine will run away and distruct.

We had a number of Peugeots run away to boom time at work...very impressive....

 

[GBUK1]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply Dieselman. I've read a few of your previous answers so Im confident you're right. I was panicking about buying a new fuel injector pump or whatever then still having the problem. It'll be expensive but there's hope at least! Now I need a turbo!

 

[Dieselman]

This sounds like it's in a pretty advanced state of leaking oil and liable to run away anytime now.
As a precaution disconnect the air ducting at some point after the turbo to stop oil being drawn into the cylinders.

The ECU will flag a fault and select limp home mode but that's much better than the engine blowing up.

 

[GBUK1]

Hi, pretty acurate description - you know your stuff! I've just started to dismantle it. There's a pipe from the turbo up to the engine (looks like a plastic breather or something). This is full of oil. There's also a lot of oil around the top of the engine where its splashed. The car would only rev in neutral - if I put it into gear it won't rev beyond 1000. Not that I'm sitting here revving it up - before the blow up it went into limp mode then went ok so clearly the problem was there. Just trying to sort a turbo now, only seem to be new ones out there, nothing remanufactured unfortunately. You've saved me a lot of worry and the quick reply was amazing.
Many thanks again.

 

[Dieselman]

Trawl your way through this lot and look in your yellow pages and Yell.com.

There are loads of firms now rebuilding turbos.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...sult&cd=1&q=exchange+turbochargers+uk&spell=1

Also have a look on ebay, there are trade sellers for turbos on there.

EDIT:

If the pipe you are looking at is the breather from BEFORE the turbo and to the cam box then it shouldn't be full of oil and could be the problem.
It may have had oil sprayed in from either the engine revving or the turbo but should just have oil mist and slight residue.

Disconnect one of the main air feed pipes then start teh engine and see where oil is coming from.

 

[GBUK1]

Quick update for you. I had the turbo checked and new seals/bearings fitted. The place said the turbo was ok so wasn't causing the problem. The oil does seem to be coming from the engine and down the breather pipe into the turbo. Looks like the engine is the fault, although it did sound ok. I'm in the process of dismantling the contaminated pipes to clean the oil out before re-assembling. The mechanic is then going to come back and tell me what he thinks is wrong. At least I know my turbo will be good for a good few miles. Anyone know the likelihood of the rings going or anything else which would cause the sudden cloud of smoke?

 

[kasino]

white smoke from the exhaust is often a sign of coolant leaking into the cylinders from head gasket failure or cracked head.oil from turbo seal / bearing failure usually causes blue smoke

 

[GBUK1]

The smoke smells of burning oil. Also some oily substance has dripped from the exhaust. It looked white to me although I suppose it could have had a blue tinge!
Thanks for the info.

 

[Dieselman]

It sounds like the oil is being forced out of the breather system into the air intake.
This could be a result of oil overfill, blocked breather allowing pressure build up or broken ring.

Disconnect the breather pipe, run the engine and watch and listen to the breather pipe. It should emit a small amount of oil vapour and you can hear the engine through it.

If the breather is blocked then there will be no output until the pressure becomes too great to hold back.

Good news on the turbo.

 

[GBUK1]

Thanks Dieselman. The turbo has just arrived back and looks brand new. Maybe I should send them the engine to paint! Hope to put it back together this weekend. Will let you know what happens. I suspect rings....