Tdi Starting Problems White Smoke- Timing ?

[Guest WilliamR]

My 97 110 Tdi (130k miles) won't start. It churns over and occasionally catches and when it does start, there are clouds of acrid white smoke. The local diesel specialist found the pump timing was miles out and diagnosed a faulty injection pump which has been changed at enormous expense about 3 weeks ago. The car was fine until yesterday, following a fast motorway run when it decided to revert to the white smoke and not starting routine. When it does start, there is sometimes an intermittent delay of a couple of seconds or so between pushing the accelerator and the engine picking up speed. Otherwise, it appears to run OK-ish with perhaps some more white smoke than would seem normal.

 

Today, I had to get it recovered as it just wouldn't start at all but the recovery man got it running using some "easy start". He reckoned that pointed to the glow plug relay/timer but I'm not convinced as it is slightly better to start when warm but certainly isn't as it should be and still produces the white smoke but not so much of it.

 

This whole fault sometimes appears to be intermittent ? When it first started doing this, I changed the glow plugs to no avail and the problems just got steadily worse.

 

It will be going back to the diesel specialists tomorrow but I'm now very concerned that having spent a fortune on a pump that it seems may not have been required, they are going to scratch their heads. Could it be the crankshaft sensor that I've seen mentioned in other posts ? I've checked the socket and connector for that which looks to be OK.

 

Any HELP or words of wisdom greatly appreciated. My wife is going mental at the cost so far and just wants to see the car gone !

 

PS When first starting the engine there seems to be quite a lot of air visible in the fuel line to the injection pump.... is that normal or could it be causing these problems ? There's a disheartening post elsewhere that suggests it could be the keyway in the crank that makes the pump timing fail but I'm trying hard to ignore that particular post.

[GSMGuy]

Hi m8,

 

Firstly, if the timimg was out, why did the so called specialist simply not readjust it by moving the pump, or if it wasw really bad, by moving the sprocket around on the belt??

 

Have you by chance had the cambelt done recently, as the timimg should be recalibrated after it is done..

 

Also, ANY air bubbles in the supply to the pump WILL cause starting problems and rough running for the first couple of mins or so - is the engine speeding up or racing of it's own accord after starting?

 

Have you had the fuel filter replaced recently, as the o rings may be missing or incorrectly seated??

 

Hope this helps

 

Mike

[Guest WilliamR]

Mike

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm no expert but I believe that what they said was that the pump timing was out in relation to the settings the pump uses when starting ? They changed the cambelt & fuel filter when they replaced the injection pump. Car ran fine exactly as it used to/should run for the 2 or 3 weeks since all this work was done. It's just since yesterday that it's gone back to being a problem.

 

There's been no problems with the engine speeding up or racing etc.

 

The people I took it to are normally very good and are well respected locally for diesel problems by other garages etc who use them extensively. My gut feeling says it's some bit of electronics that is at fault but I'm just guessing

[joczeze]

Dear William

 

I have the same problem with my 110 hp, and 140 k (km). My expert test every elctric and electronic system, and say everything is OK. However they had change relay 109. But dont start and when does with a lot of smoke. During ay it starts OK.

Now they are trying to see the pump timing. I do not have yet the answer.

If you found the solution, please tell me. I will do the same.

 

Thanks

[seatkid]

With diesels, white smoke is usually either due to low compression (worn piston rings) or faulty(worn)/dirty injectors. The white smoke is due to incomplete combustion...

It would be difficult to start when cold.....

 

NB repeated use of easystart damages diesel engines....