What is normal for 2.0 HDi (90) smoke?

[ZilogJones]

I'm still fairly new to this diesel malarkey...

If I floor it and go over about 3.5k RPM I see quite a lot of grey/black smoke behind me - is this normal? Besides that I don't notice anything, and have never got any funny lights on the dash when doing this or any other time.

I've started using a fuel additive (Dipetane) for the last couple of months but it doesn't seem to have made much difference (supposed to reduce smoke and increase economy) - fuel economy has actually gone down but that may be more due to the weather and traffic. Average speed last month was 34km/h (21MPH in the old money)

Should I be giving it a blast out on the motorway more often? I might go on a 120-mile trip (about 10 miles of that is motorway) about once or twice a month but besides that it's mostly stuck in crappy city traffic.

[rwb]

Yep, that's normal.

The 2.0 HDi is a big lazy diesel: enjoy the low-down torque and don't try to hurry it. It'll take a bit of getting used to if you've just switched from petrol.
You'll have noticed that the HDi runs out of puff at about 3000rpm anyway
In city traffic you should be able to push it about on under 1500rpm.

An occasional blast on the motorway -- 70 in 4th for a couple of minutes -- might make it feel a bit perkier.

[ZilogJones]

Thanks, so at least the important things are working right in my car

[FarmerPug]

3500 revs sounds normal to make a bit of smoke even the 110 smokes around that speed its not really necessary to push it above 2500 revs as most of the torque has been used although its good to floor it now and then to keep everything clear a can of egr cleaner does a good job

[steve_earwig]

It shouldn't really smoke, the only reason for that is soot getting blown out of the cat. Mine's been doing this again after loads of stupidly short journeys - a few km at 4krpm and it's clear.

[ZilogJones]

Hmm I've noticed something new in the past few weeks:
On cold days when starting from cold, if it takes longer than normal to start (normally takes about about a second or less) then I get white smoke - the amount seems to vary with how long it was cranking for. Once I get moving it's more or less gone (can't see it in the mirrors anyway), and any warm starts after that are fine.

Is this something to be concerned about? I searched through other threads, saw someone else who was getting similar smoke when starting and it ended up being the battery. I'm not sure how old my battery is, but there's a few numbers stamped on it ending with "02" so maybe it's the original? It's some German-sounding brand, forget the name...

Sometimes idling is a bit lumpy on these cold starts too, but again after it starts moving it's fine. No warning lights or anything else unusual. Dunno what state the glow plugs are in, but I believe on the 2.0 HDi's they don't do much until it gets to minus temperatures? Coldest I've seen so far has been +2 degrees.

[FarmerPug]

your egr valve could be a bit dirty if they are dirty or blanked off the car can smoke or run lumpy, but even so a diesel will always smoke on a cold morning for a wee bit white smoke is normal enough even from other diesel engines.

its worth changing the battery if its old, it will just get longer and longer to start the car thats what i found with the old battery in the car.

[Doggy]

I'd say the white smoke is unburnt fuel, indicating your engine is not firing on all cylinders initially, which could indicate a glow plug problem.

The glow plug indicator on HDi engines doesn't tell you when they're energised, it's more of a 'wait till it goes out before you turn the key', signal, which, (as you quite rightly say), goes out almost straight away, unless temperatures are really low. Though the light goes out, glow plugs remain energised for a period after starting to help establish smooth idling quickly.

I, (like most HDi drivers I suspect), never think about glow plugs, just turn the key straight away like a petrol and it starts after a second or two, cold or hot it makes no difference.