2001 3.0 Diesel white smoke from exhaust video

[Fraser]

Originally Posted by balongbalong

what could be the problem?

How is the performance?

Does the engine use oil?

Where do you fuel up?

[balongbalong]

Originally Posted by Fraser

How is the performance?

Does the engine use oil?

Where do you fuel up?

no change in performance

as i have mentioned, no engine oil consumption data as i only had the vehicle for a day.

i fuel up where i fuel up all my other cars, both diesel and petrol vehicles.

[Laurence]

Have you ever had the engine breather replaced?
There has been a lot of talk on the UK message boards about the engine breather becoming blocked and causing turbo failure.
Now, as far as I am aware, the breather isn't a standard service item - my X5 was main dealer serviced up to 90,000 miles. I changed the breather myself and it had not been done before - it was in a bit of a mess.

Needless to say, a blocked breather will cause a build up of crank case pressure and can force oil past seals that would otherwsie be OK (like the turbo seals for example).
I'm not saying that the breather is the cause of your problem , I'm trying to suggest other areas worth checking.

[balongbalong]

^ stealer did not mention any breather as possibility of causing the turbo failure, i'll talk to them about this. Thanks

[powers1]

Originally Posted by Laurence

Have you ever had the engine breather replaced?
There has been a lot of talk on the UK message boards about the engine breather becoming blocked and causing turbo failure.
Now, as far as I am aware, the breather isn't a standard service item - my X5 was main dealer serviced up to 90,000 miles. I changed the breather myself and it had not been done before - it was in a bit of a mess.

Needless to say, a blocked breather will cause a build up of crank case pressure and can force oil past seals that would otherwsie be OK (like the turbo seals for example).
I'm not saying that the breather is the cause of your problem , I'm trying to suggest other areas worth checking.

Very good call Lawrence!Its just not what they say in Uk message boards,its actually a known issue to most dealers but they dont tell you!The known symptons being white smoke as balongbalong describes!Its possible this is the problem,I am just surprised how a dealer would dismiss this,even after changing the turbo
All Bmw diesel engines(and the early Rover Bmw 2.0D CR engine) with this paper element breather filter are prone to blockage but unfortunately ,as you say,it isnt a normal service item!
I saw a Rover 2.0D (320d engine) expel all its oil through the dipstick because the breather blocked completely!

[Sigma]

I had a similar issue, but I also had some rough idling. It ended up being a bad MAF sensor, not sure if you've had yours looked at or even if that's the culprit for you, but it's an easy check.

Originally Posted by balongbalong

Just an update, got the lemon back, and it still has excessive smoke coming from the exhaust.

Here is the time line of what happened soon as i got the car from the stealership yesterday.

1. engine warm, first start no smoke
2. took the car for a 5 kms city drive, car behind(my friend) notices white smoke when i accelerate, none on idle.
3. took the car to a party last night, after a 30 minute city ride, during idle on a stop light i could see smoke building from the back of the X5. went down to check, and yes white smoke from exhaust.
4. on the way home from party, ran the X5 hard (flooring it from stop light to stop light), heavy smoke on the streets i drove thru. (as if i threw a smoke grenade)
5. parked at home left it in neutral and could see white smoke building up in front of my house.
6. this morning, upon cold start, no smoke from exhaust.
7. ran slowly until temperature is up to normal running condition and drove hard 15 kms on a highway
8. parked at home during idle some white smoke (less than the video)
9. rested the car for three hours
10. ran it hard once again for 5 kms.
11. parked it and during idle no smoke.

what is constant is that when i floor the pedal, heavy smoke comes out.

Smoke does not have a sweet smell, just a burning smell.

The smoke is really white, and does linger in the air and causes smoke screen.

I noticed that the vehicle does this excessive smoke during idle after the car has been run hard (floored).

It started to smoke while anytime i step on pedal through rev range 1k to 4k. Any given time i step on it whether light or hard it smokes at the back, continuously until i let go of the pedal, soon as i let go no more smoke.

[balongbalong]

got to talk to the stealer, and its not the breather that caused the turbo failure, they are sure that its the return oil tube from the turbo back to the pan that was blocked and caused back flow that lead to the turbo leaking oil.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by balongbalong

got to talk to the stealer, and its not the breather that caused the turbo failure, they are sure that its the return oil tube from the turbo back to the pan that was blocked and caused back flow that lead to the turbo leaking oil.

Never heard of that getting blocked!Its usually the oil inlet pipe as I said in my post #21!

The return oil pipe will cause back flow if the oil sump is over-filled!Are you sure your car never run with excessive oil or the dealer didnt over-fill ,at some time!
Hold them responsible!If its either the the inlet or return pipe,then they should have checked these when they have remove and install turbo!

[balongbalong]

Originally Posted by powers1

Never heard of that getting blocked!Its usually the oil inlet pipe as I said in my post #21!

The return oil pipe will cause back flow if the oil sump is over-filled!Are you sure your car never run with excessive oil or the dealer didnt over-fill ,at some time!
Hold them responsible!If its either the the inlet or return pipe,then they should have checked these when they have remove and install turbo!

yup, i clarified with the shop foreman, i asked if it was the inlet or the outlet and they said its the outlet. no excessive oils as i check periodically the oil level.

i did held them responsible for the 2nd turbo, unfortunately the very first turbo replaced, it was BMW Phil. who changed it, and they're no longer around.

[powers1]

Originally Posted by balongbalong

yup, i clarified with the shop foreman, i asked if it was the inlet or the outlet and they said its the outlet. no excessive oils as i check periodically the oil level.

i did held them responsible for the 2nd turbo, unfortunately the very first turbo replaced, it was BMW Phil. who changed it, and they're no longer around.

Hi,
Can you ask them ...why was it blocked and with what?
Its very unusual for the outlet oil pipe to block because its a non-pressurized pipe,unlike the inlet!In my 15 years of dismantling turbos ,never came across a blocked outlet pipe.....dozens of inlet,yes!