Cutting Out & White Smoke

[scribe1974]

Hello

My 95 2.5l TD has been cutting out when cold now for a couple of months. It starts first time everytime but on cold morning it will often cut out when I slow down for the first corner or if I leave it idling for to long sometimes. By cut out I mean that when I take my foot off the acelerator the rev needle drops to 700 but then continues dropping, the engine struggles and it cuts out when the revs get to low.

I have so far had replaced:

Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Oil Filter
Engine Oil
ATF
Glow Plugs
Fuel Filter Seals
Cleaned Banjo Filter

Recently I have noticed that when i let it idle on the drive in the morning that there is no smoke from the exhaust for the first 10seconds after starting but it then puts out quite a bit of white smoke/steam for about 3 minutes before clearing completely. If I wait for the smoke to clear I can usualy drive it without it cutting out but not always.

Has anyone any ideas what the problem is or do I just wait and hope it goes away once the weather improves and the temperatures rise? There is no significant loss of oil or coolant although there is a small oil leak from the head gasket.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[francophile1947]

White smoke is usually either unburnt fuel or steam. Unburnt fuel is often caused by glow plugs, but you've had them replaced, so it's more likely to be steam. You say no significant loss of oil or coolant, but you shouldn't lose any coolant at all. I'd suggest you get the coolant tested for the presence of exhaust gasses - maybe the start of a head gasket going

[mikexgough]

Sounds like the white smoke is just early morning steam on a cold damp morning, mine does that but soon goes after about 50 metres or so from home

[Alacrity]

You have changed the glowplugs but are you sure they are working? For example is power getting to them? Old or new they don't work well without any sparks in them! Just a thought.

[francophile1947]

Sounds like the white smoke is just early morning steam on a cold damp morning, mine does that but soon goes after about 50 metres or so from home

I thought of that Mike, but he says it goes on for 3 minutes - mine, like yours, clears in a few seconds. I was thinking of a very small leak that sealed by expansion as the engine warmed.

[scribe1974]

Hi, It starts first time no matter how cold it is so I assume there is power to the glow plugs.

I haven't had the coolant tested yet, is this something any garage can do quickly? The van's my daily drive so I have to take a day off work everyone time I want any work done at the moment.

[rita]

Hi Scribe,
Have you had any previous coolant leaks.If so was the system bled properly.Some times you can get delayed problems if this is the case.(Metal Fatigue)etc.

Hope not.

[francophile1947]

I haven't had the coolant tested yet, is this something any garage can do quickly?

Most garages can probably do it but best to check with them first - it's just a while you wait job.

[dandywarhol]

Sounds like the glowplug relay/timer is cutting off too quickly for this cold weather. There should be an audible "click" from behind the main battery when you first turn on the "ignition". It will click of and on as you accelerate (controlled by turbo boost pressure) but they shouldn't click off for several minutes in these temperatures when idling - OR the idle control solenoid isn't doing its job - the idle speed is too low at 700. Come to think of it - its possible the same solenoid does both jobs............

[scribe1974]

No ongoing coolant leaks but i lost four litres at the start of winter when a pipe froze and split. Once that was fixed coolant has remained steady but I just checked it and level in the tank seems to have dropped maybe a cm since i last checked a week ago.

On days when I don't have problems it seems to idle at about 900 when cold before dropping back once warm. Would a faulty solenoid work some days and not others?

The problem I have is I've spent weeks looking at forums and it seems like there could be any number of problems so I've been trying to have the most common ones checked/changed but it's costing more and more money and i'm running out of holiday days.

I can't keep getting bits replaced in case they might be faulty and no one seems to know of any garage vaguely near Northampton that knows anything about bongos.

I might try some Steel Seal or the like next.

[francophile1947]

No ongoing coolant leaks but i lost four litres at the start of winter when a pipe froze and split.

Did the engine actually overheat at the time of the coolant loss?

[dandywarhol]

No ongoing coolant leaks but i lost four litres at the start of winter when a pipe froze and split. Once that was fixed coolant has remained steady but I just checked it and level in the tank seems to have dropped maybe a cm since i last checked a week ago.

On days when I don't have problems it seems to idle at about 900 when cold before dropping back once warm. Would a faulty solenoid work some days and not others?

The problem I have is I've spent weeks looking at forums and it seems like there could be any number of problems so I've been trying to have the most common ones checked/changed but it's costing more and more money and i'm running out of holiday days.

I can't keep getting bits replaced in case they might be faulty and no one seems to know of any garage vaguely near Northampton that knows anything about bongos.

I might try some Steel Seal or the like next.

Could do - its the same solenoid which is activated by the a/c switch - do the revs stabalise when the a/c is switched on? (assuming it's charged) you can tell by feeling the throttle pedal drop a few mm

[scribe1974]

I saw the temp gauge start to rise and pulled over before it reached max. The coolant was not rebled but the heater gets nice and hot quickly.

I think I tried switching the aircon on a while ago and I don't think it did make a difference, but then if the problem is fuel starvation of some kind, am I correct in thinking this test wouldn't work because the peddle would already be lowered?

I forgot to mention that once it cuts out it won't restart for a few minutes and several tries.

[Rhod]

Could do - its the same solenoid which is activated by the a/c switch - do the revs stabalise when the a/c is switched on? (assuming it's charged) you can tell by feeling the throttle pedal drop a few mm

Will the a/c still have this effect in low temps Dandy? I seem to recall that the A/C doesn't actually function below 5 degrees of so?

My Bongo has had pretty much the same symptoms since I got it, but only occasionally & only ever in winter. It's definitely cold weather related & there's no associated coolant loss. It'll only do it once when first started & after that it's fine all day, or longer. When I reported it on the forum, the consensus seemed to be leaking fuel pump seals, but there's no sign of leaking diesel, so I haven't got around to changing them yet. I'm not quite sure why leaking seals would only cause problems in cold weather - any more informed thoughts on that one?

[mikeonb4c]

Could do - its the same solenoid which is activated by the a/c switch - do the revs stabalise when the a/c is switched on? (assuming it's charged) you can tell by feeling the throttle pedal drop a few mm

Will the a/c still have this effect in low temps Dandy? I seem to recall that the A/C doesn't actually function below 5 degrees of so?

My Bongo has had pretty much the same symptoms since I got it, but only occasionally & only ever in winter. It's definitely cold weather related & there's no associated coolant loss. It'll only do it once when first started & after that it's fine all day, or longer. When I reported it on the forum, the consensus seemed to be leaking fuel pump seals, but there's no sign of leaking diesel, so I haven't got around to changing them yet. I'm not quite sure why leaking seals would only cause problems in cold weather - any more informed thoughts on that one?

I'm surprised to hear that as it sounds like the classic symptoms of tired glowplugs