I know sweet FA about diesels so perhaps someone can enlighten me.

I have an 8 year old D Max that has only done 110,000 klms, but when I have to occasionally give it the gun I see a big cloud of black smoke in my rear vision mirror. I get the pick-up serviced regularly by Isuzu which usually just entails an oil change and filter. Is it something like the injectors that need cleaning or is it something else?

Edited March 18, 201412 yr by giddyup

new ones have dpf's (a filter) that is suppose to cut down on this..

nothing unusual about your 8 yr old truck blowing smoke when you put your foot down.

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new ones have dpf's (a filter) that is suppose to cut down on this..

nothing unusual about your 8 yr old truck blowing smoke when you put your foot down.

What causes it to blow smoke and can it be rectified? I know with a petrol engine that blowing smoke is usually a sign of worn rings, so what is it in a diesel?

To be sure, when your next service, get them to do a diagnostic test. Not sure if your ride has a hook up for it though. Put a few tank fulls of Shell V-Power through it and see if an improvement.

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new ones have dpf's (a filter) that is suppose to cut down on this..

nothing unusual about your 8 yr old truck blowing smoke when you put your foot down.

What causes it to blow smoke and can it be rectified? I know with a petrol engine that blowing smoke is usually a sign of worn rings, so what is it in a diesel?

Too much fuel, or cleaning out the exhaust system. Worn engines blow out blue smoke, oil. Fuel is black, water is white-ish.

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new ones have dpf's (a filter) that is suppose to cut down on this..

nothing unusual about your 8 yr old truck blowing smoke when you put your foot down.

What causes it to blow smoke and can it be rectified? I know with a petrol engine that blowing smoke is usually a sign of worn rings, so what is it in a diesel?

Too much fuel, or cleaning out the exhaust system. Worn engines blow out blue smoke, oil. Fuel is black, water is white-ish.

air filter no good or air intake blocked by wasp or rats nest.

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new ones have dpf's (a filter) that is suppose to cut down on this..

nothing unusual about your 8 yr old truck blowing smoke when you put your foot down.

What causes it to blow smoke and can it be rectified? I know with a petrol engine that blowing smoke is usually a sign of worn rings, so what is it in a diesel?

Too much fuel, or cleaning out the exhaust system. Worn engines blow out blue smoke, oil. Fuel is black, water is white-ish.

air filter no good or air intake blocked by wasp or rats nest.

Could bee.................

+1 on trying a couple of tanks of Shell V-Power.

If that doesn't work, the EGR valve and intake might just need cleaning..

Your prob is You don't Gun it Enough,its done a tiny mileage in 8Years .Is it your first Clacker.?. Just gun it in first each day, and max it more often. and i bet You A Leo the problem dissipates.Try that first. Thats why T.A. never blows Black apart from his Chip squirting in an extra bucket full of rubbish.

Some older diesels blow a bit of black smoke when booted as they over-fuel while the turbo catches up. An 8 year old Dmax should be a common rail engine and have better control.

As Ozzydom said, first thing to check is the air-filter, inlet ducting and inter-cooler. Isuzu should change the air-filter element every second service or so but it could be overlooked, or blocked prematurely from a lot of dust.

If the smoke clears after a minute or so after a boot full, it's probably as Ace says. Too much idling, short trips, running cold or at light load and diesels build up carbon which gets blown out the first time you rev it. The occasional "Italian tune-up" can help.

If the above does not work, Isuzu should be able to check for fault codes. The EGR valve IMHO mentioned are prone to sticking. These are supposed to be cleaned at the 40 - 60k service so maybe it is due again or was overlooked. Turbo problems can also make smoke but usually the smoke will not clear when the engine is under load and the engine will be down on power.

Edited March 18, 201412 yr by Jitar

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Your prob is You don't Gun it Enough,its done a tiny mileage in 8Years .Is it your first Clacker.?. Just gun it in first each day, and max it more often. and i bet You A Leo the problem dissipates.Try that first. Thats why T.A. never blows Black apart from his Chip squirting in an extra bucket full of rubbish. alt=thumbsup.gif width=25 height=19>

Yours may be the best answer. I do tend to drive it fairly gently and rarely give it the gun. The last time I did the inspection for my road tax the guy gave it some stick when it was over the pits and a big cloud of black smoke came out. He did say something about driving it a bit harder.

Cheers.

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Some older diesels blow a bit of black smoke when booted as they over-fuel while the turbo catches up. An 8 year old Dmax should be a common rail engine and have better control.

As Ozzydom said, first thing to check is the air-filter, inlet ducting and inter-cooler. Isuzu should change the air-filter element every second service or so but it could be overlooked, or blocked prematurely from a lot of dust.

If the smoke clears after a minute or so after a boot full, it's probably as Ace says. Too much idling, short trips, running cold or at light load and diesels build up carbon which gets blown out the first time you rev it. The occasional "Italian tune-up" can help.

If the above does not work, Isuzu should be able to check for fault codes. The EGR valve IMHO mentioned are prone to sticking. These are supposed to be cleaned at the 40 - 60k service so maybe it is due again or was overlooked. Turbo problems can also make smoke but usually the smoke will not clear when the engine is under load and the engine will be down on power.

Thanks for the tips. The air filter was replaced at the last service only 3 months ago, but I'll try gunning the engine a bit more regularly.

Make sure every day you take it a few times to 3-3.5K RPM's to clean the pipes..

Injectors.

All the other things mentioned above, might help.....or not.

But the injectors are guilty of black smoke most of the time.

If I lie I lie in commission

Black smoke from a diesel means that it is not burring all the fuel it gets.

the problem is not usually very serious.

Diesel fuel is injected into the combustion chamber where the high compression and temperature make it explode.

When you put your foo=t down it increase the fuel injected into the chamber - NOT the amount of air like in a petrol engine.

So why the smoke?

I'll stat at the cheapest and work up.......

1. a dirty air filter - if you restrict the amount of air coming in the more fuel you put in the more smoke.
2. It could be that the injection system needs a good service - it might be pumping took much fuel in for the engine to cope with.
3. There might be a need to check valve or injection timing.
4. Fuel line - fuel pump; if the fuel is not getting to the chamber at the right time it won't burn fully.
5. Worst case scenario, your compression is not up to spec, this could be wear and tear on the pistons/cylinder. build of carbon deposits can affect combustion too. This can be a problem with bio-diesel - all "standard" Thai diesel is 5% bio

Fuel - additives are shown not to work, but if you are constantly getting your fuel from one source you might want to get a tankful from somewhere else and see if it improves.

Thanks for all the responses/advice.

Cheapest way would be via Italian tune up. As above give it a bit of a rag through the gears.

Also apart from the above reasons it could be caused by heatsoak. If the air is hot coming in its not as dense which can cause the TDi to burn more fuel. Which equalsblack smoke.

I take it there is no loss in power? damaged boost pipes can also cause this issue.

I would have thought if it's got a dpf you would have had warning lights to say there is a problem. Also at 8 years old I think its probably pre dpf, though my knowledge is based on uk cars most did not have until 2008.

When was the fuel filter last changed?

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Cheapest way would be via Italian tune up. As above give it a bit of a rag through the gears.

Also apart from the above reasons it could be caused by heatsoak. If the air is hot coming in its not as dense which can cause the TDi to burn more fuel. Which equalsblack smoke.

I take it there is no loss in power? damaged boost pipes can also cause this issue.

I would have thought if it's got a dpf you would have had warning lights to say there is a problem. Also at 8 years old I think its probably pre dpf, though my knowledge is based on uk cars most did not have until 2008.

When was the fuel filter last changed?

Have no idea when a fuel filter was last replaced, I'll ask next time it's serviced. No loss of power, goes like the clappers when I gun it, and I've never used the power (PWR) button on the left of the T Bar.