uh oh black smoke no go...

[grumpy d22]

coming home from a lengthy trip today for work (excess 500km) pulled into the servo to top up from 1/4 full just to make sure i had enuf to get home.
topped up then took off, engine went straight into limp home mode then massive plumes of black smoke coming from the exhaust, not good, returned to the servo to check i put in diesel, all ok.
pulled over and rang nissan roadside assistance, they said they wont send a mechanic not even to diagnose the cause, they sent a tow truck to pick it up and it will be sent to the dealer in the morning.
i made sure that i removed the egr blocking plate (warranty issues?) b4 the tow truck came and then phoned a friend, he said it could possibly be a blown turbo......?
re previous posts from last week, i had a heater core diagnosed as possibly faulty.... so dont know if there is a connection. car has done 75000km.

 

[googs]

Hope yopu didn't pick up any water in your fuel. I heard they won't fix that under warranty. quick thinking with the egr. Don't give nissan any excuse to refuse a claim!!

 

[will]

geezus! not good, hopefully it wont be the turbo & if it is that Nissan come to the party. i wonder what your EGT temps were before you shut it off at the servo. i wonder if the long kms with the EGR blocked off could have caused excessive heat, then shutting it down to refuel played a part in a seal letting go. keen to hear what Ni$$an come back with. good luck.

 

[grumpy d22]

ive had my egr blocked for a few months now with some serious towing, and sand driving with no issues..... i just removed it so that there were no repercussions re warranty, we all know what nissan claims are like.

 

[grumpy d22]

ive kept the receipt for the fuel, showing diesel and what time i bought it and where.

 

[will]

ive kept the receipt for the fuel, showing diesel and what time i bought it and where.

Wonder if anyone else will make a complaint re bad fuel??? Did you see a refueling truck there? They can stir up all sorts of crap from the bottom of the tanks when they refuel the station. Whenever I see refueling trucks I keep on driving, just in case.

Hopefully you get it back before our next trip. Whenever that may be, might need to look at planning something. Whaddyareckon?

 

[grumpy d22]

i am pretty sure i can rule out the fuel, there were plenty of trucks filling up while i was waiting for the tow truck.
yeah we should head out again, there has been a bit of chat, with bosshog wanting to go somewhere, cant remember exactly, but yeah put me in, oh yeah....hahaha when i get my ute back of course

 

[bods]

i'd say air flow meter. are you certain it didn't pop a boost hose off or split one anywhere? if there were no boost leaks, the only think I can think of would be the air flow meter. black smoke means excessively rich, ie lots of fuel and no boost.

hope it is something simple...

 

[Old.Tony]

There's a chance it's the turbo. You were driving long distances and you pulled into a service station, so you were probably up in boost range with moderate-to-high exhaust gas temperatures (EGTs) at the time. Did you idle the engine for a couple of minutes to let the turbo cool? Do you normally do that?

Shutting down the engine while the EGTs are high causes the oil in the turbo bearings & galleys to overheat, rapidly forming hard crusty deposits which will destroy the bearings. There is only ONE way to avoid this (apart from not using a turbocharger) and that's to give the turbo time to cool before shutting the engine down.

That said, Nissan might well come to the party on the turbo under warranty. But it's something I'd look at rectifying for the future - you have several choices:

Buy a turbo timer
There are only countdown timers available on the market for our cars. These are satisfactory but not ideal, although they will prevent the damage. Kenworth make a turbo timer that monitors EGT but I don't think that'll fit our vehicles. I am working on a combination of kits from Jaycar that will achieve this goal.

Buy an EGT gauge
There are several of these - also called pyrometers - on the market. Don't fit it in the exhaust after the turbo, because the turbocharger causes such a significant drop in temperature that the readings there are not as reliable. The sensor should be in the exhaust manifold close to the turbo inlet without getting in the way of anything.

Remind yourself
Don't buy anything, just remember to always give your car a little time to spool the turbo down and cool off a bit. Once the turbo stops spinning, heat can still cook the oil, so it's a combination of both - after gentle driving it doesn't take long, so coasting into your driveway might mean there's no need to wait, but having to give it a little throttle to go up a steep driveway might cause the EGT to rise enough to warrant a minute's cooling.

Then it might not be the turbo at all. Good luck with it, hope it works out for you. My apologies if this post is teaching you something you already knew - but it might come in handy for someone else, and save them a cooked turbo!

 

[grumpy d22]

thats awesome, thanks heaps tony, it makes sense what you are saying re turbo and letting it cool down, will keep that in mind, considering the kms i do every week.
bods i hope that it is something simple like you were saying, cause every day my car is off the road im not earning $, looks like i am going to have to use the crummydore........

 

[Dave]

Is the YD25 D22 turbo water cooled aswell ?

 

[bods]

yes Dave, it is water cooled

 

[Dave]

In that case I doubt its the turbo.

My new turbo is gonna be water cooled aswell.

 

[Old.Tony]

If there's doubt about the turbo, pop the inlet off and give the shaft a wiggle.

Even a water-cooled turbo can fail - once the engine is off, both oil & water stop flowing and if there's too much heat in the sucker, the oil in the bearings will cook just the same.

 

[bods]

any news from the dealer yet or have they not looked at it? i hope it's something simple too.

as far as i am aware the d22's run a water and oil fed ball bearing turbo. not that it makes any difference to cooking the oil though...

 

[maddogrc]

i reckon its an electrical fault for it to instantly change from perfect to a no goer... always electronics causing us grief these days!

and if it is the turbo, you'll probably be denied warranty for not following proper cooling down methods (even in my landcruiser manual from 1998 it says that warranty is void if the cooling down procedure for the turbo engine isn't followed, so this has always been a common issue with the baking of the bearings)

 

[grumpy d22]

well, news from the dealer, the next day! i couldnt believe my ears that they told me they had a look at it and had diagnosed the issues with the ute, i nearly fell over i wasnt expecting a response so soon, let alone an answer.
apparently there is a crack in the exhaust manifold, a faulty injector and a blocked fuel filter, they are replacing the filter with an oe nissan one (my mechanic had put in a RYCO) fixing the injector and the new manifold is coming in on monday, they are also fixing the heater core at the same time and i should get my car back on tues night all things being well, even if i have to wait a couple more days i dont care, like i said to have it even diagnosed considering it was on a tow truck four days ago is awesome.
i have had some bad experiences with another northern dealer in adelaide and i tell you what these guys leave the other dealer in the dust, the guy looking after my car now said to me yesterday " its my job to stress, you shouldnt have to, we will fix your car asap"
so i will wait and see what happens.

 

[maddogrc]

thats a lot of things to just go wrong just by filling it up at the servo lol

least its being fixed quick

 

[nismo4x4]

thats bloody good news..so did the ryco fuel filter failed?? hmmm cause im using their oil filters...

 

[grumpy d22]

apparently so for the filter, dunno will prob get a clearer picture when i pick it up, would like to speak to one of the mechanics when i get it, to see what they did, and to see if i can prevent it from happening again somehow.