Modern diesel smoke (probably the wrong forum)

[TerryG]

My daily driver is a 2005 focus TDCI 2.0. On cold days if left idling for a few minutes when I put the engine under load it is like driving a thick cloud. I leave HUGE amounts of smoke behind me for 200 yards. No smoke when it is idling though. When the car is warm it doesn't have a problem.
I have recently replaced the thermostat as the car wasn't warming up properly, it has made no difference.
Does anybody have any thoughts as to what it could be? the computer is not reporting any faults and ford want silly money to investigate as the car has over 100,000 miles on the clock they have said (without even seeing the car) that I should have all 4 injectors replaced first at £209 each plus VAT and labour.

[harvey]

ISTR a mate of mine having similar problems with one, and although that was intermittant, and he never knew when or where it was going to happen, that left clouds of smoke in its wake, and in the end he blocked off the EGR valve and that sorted it.
My interest in those sorts of things is zero, my memory not much better, and so it's quite possible I dreamt that, but it may be worth looking into.

[suffolkpete]

Could well be the EGR valve, that's a very common cause of diesel smoke although the fact that it only does it when cold suggests that fuelling could be wrong, possibly due to a duff sensor somewhere. With all these modern systems, the only way to make any progress is to plug a computer in and see what it says.

[Young Farmer]

I had a 1990 Deisel Maestro and that was the same. Stand in traffic for a time and when you pulled off an almighty cloud of smoke came out. when driving normally, even giving it a fair amount of welly it ran as clean as a whistle and was clean on tick over. Another diesel car that I had problems with was a 1.8 Fiesta. If you had it in 4th gear in a 30 mph zone and started climbing a slight slope the engine would start kicking quite violently until you dropped a gear and lifted the revs. It was worse on driving lessons as most pupils don't give the car enough throttle. Ford dealer was worse than useless as all they did was put it on their computer which told them that the car was ok. Eventually I took it to Shorts of Swansea where the first thing they asked is it a school of motoring car? Even though they knew that it was a problem with Fiestas used as school cars they said that they had tried to cure them with varying success. £600 later at least the car seemed to be cured only for the problem to return 2 months later. The car was coming up to 90k and due for an MOT. I took it to an Mot station and asked to have the emissions tested which it failed miserably. The fitter advised to put Redex in the diesel and hammer the car. On three lessons I made the pupils keep the car in 3rd gear and drive up a long hill at 60mph. By lunchtime the car was pulling up that hill with out a trace of smoke. That afternoon I noticed that the car was no longer kicking but pulling cleanly at all times. Bit gutting really as a £5 bottle of redex had done the same as a £600 overhaul. Might be worth you putting an additive in, give the car a hard run at high revs and see if that helps.

[JPB]

Turps substitute with a little green dye is even cheaper than the same thing in a bottle with Redex on the label and the dye isn't necessary at all but marketroids know that people aren't attracted to clear liquids.

[jimmyybob]

For a cheap fix you can buy special blanking plates to eliminate the EGR(see eBay), or just give it a blood good thrashing.

[TerryG]

Thanks for all the suggestions gents. I have tried Redex of various varieties including their super expensive (£15 a bottle!) version and currently it is on it's 3rd tank of shell "vpower nitro+" diesel. It still does it but only if I run the car in the early hours as it is now warm enough that if I do it at 2pm it is fine.
Ford insist that this fault is caused by faulty injectors which I am reluctant to let them try as they are going to charge me over £1000 for something that "might" fix the problem.
I have also tried 2 cans of EGR cleaner but not actually pulling the thing off and cleaning it as this car seems to need half of the front end pulled apart to get at it.
At least I know why I quite like working on the minor, even the RR has good accessibility to components compared to this damn focus!
I will have a go at cleaning the EGR out over the weekend and see if that makes a difference.
Cheers

[tractorman]

I suppose you could try to get Ford to change the injectors on a "fix it or no charge" arrangement - but I doubt they would go for that! However, in spite of a diesel expert telling me injectors need new nozzles at about 80K (on my first Golf - indirect injection), the Passat managed 200K and the current Golf has 114K (2008 PD engine) and, while the Passat put the odd puff of smoke out, the "new" Golf doesn't (though has a DPF). The last Golf (PD engine without DPF) only managed 97K, so doesn't really figure - it occasionally put apuff out, but only on really cold days (the PD engines take ages to get to temperature).

I'm not sure three fills of "premium" diesel will have had much effect - I tried on the last Golf and it didn't make a lot of difference. However, the new one goes like a bag of bolts after about a gallon of "regular" diesel and sounds like the proverbial sewing machine when using the premium stuff. I used Redex in the Passat, but had limited success; to be honest, I think it made it worse! As VW (and I expect most other makers) say you shouldn't use such stuff, I avoided it in the newer cars - especially when it failed to help the Passat!

One thing I did notice with the last Golf was that there was a sooty patch on the garage floor and I usually move off as soon as the engine is running. I'd wait for oil pressure light to go out, but they don't come on on newer VWs (even when I smashed the sump on the last Golf )

I assume such things as air filters and the like are clear and that the oil is in good condition - and you aren't using a lot of it! I'd guess that it gets a reasonable thrashing in normal use, so wonder if the EGR is the problem.

Sorry to mention my "moderns" in the forum - I try to avoid it!!

[Wicksy]

Terry, I bet this is a known problem. Obvious I know but have you tried a Ford forum to see what other Focus members have experienced
I must agree with the recommendation on using test equipent but the "only does it when it's cold" obviously does suggest sensor related overfueling.
Had a Shogun once and the recommended cure for smoke on those was to blank off the EGR valve but that was for an engine that smoked in all running conditions

[Luxobarge]

Terry, I bet this is a known problem. Obvious I know but have you tried a Ford forum to see what other Focus members have experienced

Gotta agree with that. For example, I'm a very active member of the Volvo OC forum, and if this car was a Volvo diesel, the experienced folk on there would definately tell you that it needs the timing set up dynamically with the correct Volvo equipment, as it can't be done accurately by manual methods. This was the first thing that came to mind, as it fits your symptoms, other than that your car isn't a Volvo of course!

I have no idea what decent Ford foums there are out there, but they must exist I should imagine?

Cheers