No Power, Mis-firing, Black Smoke, Juddering

[taylor2]

Hi,

 

I have a Galaxy 19.TDI 05. About 4 months ago the car developed a problem. When applying a little pressure to the accelerator the car would start to judder and black smoke comes out of the exhaust. We hooked a computer and there were no obvious faults. The injectors and turbo was working ok.

 

Someone mentioned that it might be the lobes on the camshaft might be worn. So we checked them and couldn

[darton]

Hi Mike. Has this problem continued all the time over the 4 months or does it sometimes run ok and then come back again? sounds like another case of the dreaded injector wiring loom syndrome! (But cannot be sure without more info)...cheers Edited October 13, 2010 by darton

[taylor2]

Its been going on for the last 4 months. Hasn't gone away and come back.

 

Also the oil light came on yesterday and I found that it was nearly empty.

 

I do check the oil, so I feel this has ran down quicker since the fault occured.

[Willie Krashitt]

Hi,

Without knowing the history or driving style, it could be several things aren't right.

Here are some things for you to consider before you go spending tons of money.

 

Excessive black smoke is due to insufficient air going in, fuel going in at the wrong time and/or poor combustion (fuel not burning properly). If no fault codes appear, then my first suspect would be the EGR valve sticking open. Do a search on cleaning/blanking off and investigate that.

Check for cracks/splits in the air system, ie. intercooler and pipework, as they don't necessarily fire off an error flag.

Is it really running on all 4 cylinders? An unfiring cylinder will pull more oil up past the rings, leading to higher oil comsumption, and also put a lot of unburnt fuel into the exhaust where it burns very poorly. Get a compression check / leak down test done to confirm basic engine health.

Has it had a timing belt change? If so, has it really been put back correctly? If out, it will cause many problems.

 

A few more details like mileage, driving pattern (eg: all town use/short journeys etc), does it do this in all gears on every drive or only in the higher gears? just hot, just cold or all temperatures? Some detail like this would help provide a better answer for you.

 

Finally, has it been "chipped/remapped" for 'more power'? Despite what others may say, the Galaxy isn't a good vehicle to 'chip' as it is too heavy and spends a lot of time at high loads, which can cause big problems for pistons, rings, valves, head, head gasket, injectors, turbo's etc, due to the increased thermal and pressure loading on these components.

 

Hope this is of help for you.

 

 

George.

[taylor2]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the response.

 

Before I try the other checks that you have mentioned.

 

The car is mainly used for short journeys.

Mostly does it in lower gears. If i`m motorway driving it tends to run ok in 6th. Only really happens when accelerating.

Happens in hot and cold temps.

The engine has not been remapped.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Mike