d22 st-r blowing blue smoke

[TurboDragon]

hey, my 2003 d22 zd30ddt started blowing heaps of blue smoke today

had to top it up with oil, and stopped driving it

i dont think its overheated, and its holding water

 

[bods]

Take the pipe off the front of the turbo and see if there's a lot of oil there. If there is, the pcv valve could be faulty. If there's not a lot there, remove the piping from the turbo to inlet manifold. If there's a lot in there it will be turbo seals. If there's not a heap there, it could still be turbo seals, but may be leaking into the turbine (exhaust) side of the turbo which you won't see without removing either the turbo or dump pipe.

Failing all the above, it could be worn rings and/or bores causing oil to be burnt during combustion... I'd have a good look at the turbo first though

 

[TurboDragon]

i took the pipe to the inlet manifold off, there wasn't too much oil in there.

took the air filter off and let it run a bit, was still smoking

when i went to top it up there was a bit of blueish white smoke that just wafted out

any helps appreciated

 

[Old.Tony]

Just for an experiment - remove the PCV hose from the turbocharger and aim it at the ground. Block the hole on the pipe heading into the turbocharger.

If smoke stops, it's your PCV which usually means your rings are either stuck or misaligned (more likely stuck). There are oil additives you can buy that claim to clean and loosen sticking parts like rings, valves etc - no idea if they actually work, the only engine I've had that happen to was my old 1970 Volkswagen Kombi, so I pulled the engine out and rebuilt it. That's not so easy with these diesels!

If removing the PCV doesn't change anything, it could be rings (not so likely) or valve guides (likely). It's at this stage when you'd start looking for a mechanic, and preferably one that you have a little faith in.

It could be turbo seals. If you're not seeing a lot of oil in the intake manifold it could mean that it's all being combusted rather nicely too - but seeing SOME oil there means your PCV has been working at the very least.

 

[bods]

i took the pipe to the inlet manifold off, there wasn't too much oil in there.

took the air filter off and let it run a bit, was still smoking

when i went to top it up there was a bit of blueish white smoke that just wafted out

any helps appreciated

Going from that, I'd say aa above. Either valve stem seals or rings. If you have smoke coming out of the oil filler hole when the cap is removed it is an internal engine thing...

 

[happy john]

hey, my 2003 d22 zd30ddt started blowing heaps of blue smoke today

had to top it up with oil, and stopped driving it

i dont think its overheated, and its holding water

How long has this been running since you drowned it the other day?, there was no problem beforehand was there?.

 

[TurboDragon]

only smokes after its been for a drive, then idles

leaves big clouds of blueish smoke at stoplights

took the pipe off as suggested, no smoke or anything, but the engine was cold

took the filler cap off while it was idling too, no smoke or anything

thinking of buying a wrecked nav and doing an engine swap, fearing the worst right now :/

just a couple of days after it drowned, no problem beforehand

 

[bods]

Oh right... didn't realise this was the same one that got drowned. If it's had water in cylinders there's a very good chance it's rings then. You could try running a decent oil flush through it and doing a few quick oil changes...

 

[TurboDragon]

alrighty, ill give that a crack tomorrow

thanks for all the help, dont know what i'd do without you guys haha

i replaced the oil with 15w40 the day before it started blowing smoke, could that have anything to do with the problem? motor has done 428,000k's, dont know if rebuilt or not as i got it at 414k, timing chain/gears have barely any wear :/

 

[Old.Tony]

As more info comes out we get closer to a likely solution!

400K on an engine is a decent amount. It's about halfway through what some consider to be the lifespan of a long-lived diesel (700-800K is the figure I've been told by a number of experienced mechanics).

At that stage in its life there's every chance that valve guides or the valve guide seals have given up. The seals are under the valve springs and since you normally remove the head to replace them, I'd be considering the following exercise:

* Replace valve guides
* Replace valve seats
* Replace valves (especially if any valve tops have been hammered by the tappets)
* Replace tappets (if there's been any hammering)
* Replace valve springs
* Replace valve guide oil seals
* Check cylinder head distortion - should be less than 0.1mm. If it's been resurfaced before, check that the height of the cylinder head is correct (98.9 +- 0.1mm in the ZD30)

You'll need to replace the head gasket, have some liquid gasket handy and have a valve seating tool plus you may need to ream the valve guides.

It's not a small job, but (if done properly) you'll have an engine that you know is in good order.

It might be unrelated to the drowning - it might simply be age, and if the engine was strong before, then all that's needed now is a "tidy up". You could put a "stop smoke" treatment in the oil and hope for the best, but that's a bandaid that could easily fall off.

 

[TurboDragon]

had a look again today, its idling fine now but when you put your foot down it leaves a big cloud of smoke

 

[Leprechaun]

thinking of buying a wrecked nav and doing an engine swap, fearing the worst right now :/

Rev the crap out of it on the way to the picking up the donor engine.
You never know, the water injection may have just cleaned out the 400K of carbon buildup..................

 

[TurboDragon]

bahahahaha

sounds like great advice

 

[vicszd30]

Get it hot add Liquid moly engine flush- "swear by it" , give it a drive for 15min. Drop old oil, new filter and 15w-60w. If it 's still playing "puff the magic dragon" add some "stop smoke" ! You never know it may be a sticky oil ring but if it's puffing as you take off I'd say valve seals..
Let it coast down a hill with your foot off the gas for a bit then step on it, if it bellows out smoke i'd be betting valve seals.. Buy a reconditioned head ? Simple'sss