Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke.....

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Fri 21 May 2010 15:07
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - CorsaPita

Hi all,

I wish i had joined up under better circumstances but i am really struggling with my car and i hope you can help.

The story so far is......

I own a 2004 1.3 corsa CDTI with the common rail fuel injection and 45,000 miles on it, what happened was the car was using water so as i was too busy with work to look at it i took it to a local garage to be fixed. In the process of fixing it they fitted a new headgasket which later turns out not to be needed (the leak was from a stone strike in the rad).

This is going to sound a bit daft but when i got the car back it was dropped off during the day, my missus had let them put it in the garage and was all Locked up so being late i presumed it was ok so i left it there until i'd need it again (which turned out to be 7 months later) soft i know...... I am to trusting.

Anyway, When i started the car up the garage Disappeared in Black smoke in a matter of seconds, i noticed it would'nt rev properly (was a big delay between the peddle being pushed and the revs going up) so as you do i rang the garage and as expected they said you can't ring and complain 7 months after the work was done.....

So i decided to have a look at it as i am quite a good mechanic but have little experience with Diesels, so with a bit of help from a mate with another Identical CDTI and the Internet i have changed the following with no joy, also the working car didn't play up at all.

High pressure fuel pump (Swapped from working car)

checked low pressure tank pump was working and had plenty of pressure

Fuel rail inc regulator and Pressure sensor (Swapped from working car)

Injectors (they do need cleaning as when i fit mine to the good car it started smoking a bit but nothing major) also there is a slight leak from the copper washers but the good car runs fine with the same leak. (there seems to be plenty of fuel/pressure there)(Swapped from working car)

Fuel filter case/new filter/Air filter

Map sensor (Swapped from working car)

Maf Sensor (Swapped from working car)

Crank sensor (Swapped from working car)

Cam sensor (Swapped from working car)

Coolant temp (Swapped from working car)

Leakage pipes (Swapped from working car)

Continuity tested the engine loom.

Glow plug and times tested

EGR was replaced 12 months ago when the light cam on in the car so isn't very old (less than 250 miles on it) i have removed this and inspected it (there was lots of loose carbon inside but apart that looked like new)

Recent new head gasket (no oil in water or water in oil) Compression was checked and was 350psi on each pot (cold and dry)

Valve timing, I checked this using the cam tool and a 6 mm drill which i put in the hole in the bottom of the gear box and they lined up fine.

Had a look at the turbo and even though its grubby the wheels inside seem to turn but is quite aquard so i don't know how free it is (i could only turn the Compressor side too) but it has little bearing movement.

I have had it plugged into a Diagnostic tool (OPCOM) and there is no stored fault codes and the engine light is not on.

I have also had the Inlet manifold off and there was quite bad Carbon Deposits round the egr valve probe to the valves, which i cleaned out but i think its some thing caused by the problem rather than the problem its self as the car still Black smokes and doesn't rev correctly.


Now after doing quite a bit of reading my symptoms sound like an inlet blockage or exhaust Blockage and the more i try to run it the worse the problem gets and the harder it is to start to the degree it now sounds like the glow plugs are not working now (sounds like it fires on one cylinder then with a bit more cranking gets two going etc but it doesn't quite catch on four at the moment)

I did think it could be the Cat being blocked but i have tried starting it with no down pipe on and it still is not having any.

Now i have started to think it could possibly be the EGR after all simply because i have read the egr should be shut on idle and looking at the amount of carbon that had collected in the Inlet manifold i'd say its open or is being pushed open by high manifold pressure if thats at all possible.

Any ideas?

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Fri 21 May 2010 19:56
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - topbloke

black smoke is either to much fuel or to little air if the egr sticks open it can cause bad starting and all its doing is constantly recycleing the unburnt fuel, the injectors are coded on these engines, they will run with out being programed, but poorly, dont know if your codereader will be able to check if they are in there correct holes (injectors have a number written around the top where the leak off pipe is these should corespond to the ecu) dont know if they were incorrectly fitted when the head was done but you swapping them around wont have helped, worth checking.

I can't remember if this engine has the swirl flaps fitted, these can cause problems if stuck open or closed there is a capsule chain end on inlet manifold, maybey some thing nested in the exhaust and this is causeing your blockage its been known.

I would have stood my ground with the garage they must have had a record of the mileage when they did the hg and as its sat in the garage then it should have the same ish mileage that said you have burnt your bridges now with ddiying it but hats of to you you have had a go<regards TB

Edited by Avant on 22/05/2010 at 00:26

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Sat 22 May 2010 04:33
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - CorsaPita

I have to admit i am Kicking myself that i didn't try it when i got the car back but it was the least of my problems at the time with all the credit crunch taking its toll.

The main problem i have is i don't know if its been put back wrong or some thing stuck or blocked? Personaly i have never seen a diesel make so much thick black smoke without some thing serious wrong and you would think it would be ovious?? Its odd because when it first started it ran really well on idle (started first time and was very smooth) it was the Smoke that alerted me to the Problem at first.

The last thing i did this afternoon was to try starting it with the exhaust off (downpipe back) it didn't make any diffrence. I am just thinking that the Turbo may have siezed or the Shaft snapped?? Bit of a Long shot but it would act like a Blockage? I am thinking its going to be more Mechanical than electrical as i'm not getting any engine codes and the ecu is comunicating ok with the Laptop

BTW the Injectors where in the wrong holes so i have changed them round but its not made any diffrence.

Edited by CorsaPita on 22/05/2010 at 04:37

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Sat 22 May 2010 08:56
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - dieselnut

As the car has been stood all that time, have you checked the air filter & associated trunking for any rodent nest which might be blocking the airflow.

Just a thought.

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Sat 22 May 2010 12:58
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - CorsaPita

I have had the Intercooler piping off to check for holes i couldn't see anything then? That said i had been trying to get it going for a bit at that stage so if there is a blockage it may have got draged into the Turbo?

I'm going to do a bit on it this afternoon so i'll check it out.

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Mon 24 May 2010 12:16
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - CorsaPita
Bit of an Update...

I took all the Inlet Pipes off it over the weekend again and cleaned them out (seemed to be a bit of oil about) i then took the Turbo off and found there was quite a large amount of oil in the Compressor housing but there didn't seem to be much movement in the Shaft with both Housings off.

I am thinking the Oil seals in the Turbo are shot as i can't explain why there is so much oil in there.

Could simply oil getting into the Inlet be my Problem? I always though diesels Ran on when the engine oil was finding its way into the inlet? Mine is the opposite where it doesn't want to start and won't rev properly etc?
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Wed 22 Sep 2010 21:55
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - its me
Did you manage to fix this please as i am having the same problem with mine


thanks
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Sun 13 Nov 2011 22:05
Corsa CDTI 2004 - LOTS of Black smoke..... - CorsaPita

Yes, The main problem i had was the Copper washers at the base of the Injectors where worn/damaged so they didn't sit properly. After this it ran ok but felt a bit lacking in power so i was told to check the Inlet gasket which i did and was ok but as i was removing the Inlet i noticed it was blocked up with carbon and oily deposits which where blocking by about 60% the two off side cylinders. Once the Inlet was cleaned up it ran spot on.

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