Smoke on startup diesel engine

Your diesel engine is equipped with a governor that helps control the amount of fuel that gets delivered to your engine’s cylinders depending on the load your engine is experiencing. The occasional puff of black smoke that may occur when you suddenly push your throttle to the max is really nothing more than the governor shooting some extra fuel into the injectors before the engine catches up and comes up to rpm. The white smoke is due to unburnt fuel caused by improper heating. Consistent smoke coming from the exhaust most likely indicates a deeper internal problem with the engine. A small puff of smoke during quick acceleration is acceptable with older diesel engines due to a lag before the turbocharger’s air flow can match the increased volume of diesel fuel injected into the cylinders.

The most noticeable symptom of internal coolant leakage is when the white smoke is billowing out of the exhaust pipe and leaves a sweet odor in the air. A diesel engine in good condition should produce no visible smoke from the exhaust , under most operating conditions. A short puff of smoke when an engine is accelerated under load may be acceptable, due to the lag before the turbocharger speed and air flow is able to match the volume of diesel injected into the cylinders. But most drivers accept there may be evidence of short puffs of gray smoky haze or vapour when the engine is accelerating hard or under heavy load.

Heavy duty diesels and most trucks emit some white or black smoke on startup or accelerating. Once the engine is warmed up, the use of the glow plug is not necessary as the heat of the engine makes ignition of diesel fuel. If a diesel engine has a bad glow plug, it will create blue smoke at startup until it has warmed up. Has the engine got a fuel pre-heat system for starting in cold weather? If the pre-heat ceases to function it can be like electing a pope for several minutes until the engine warms up.

This typically occurs due to the engine being too cool to burn the fuel , often resulting from low compression in one cylinder, problems with the fuel injection timing or a defective fuel injector. Ford Scorpio MkGhia 2. A brand new diesel engine running at full load will experience a little bit of blow-by upon startup. Blow-by is a condition where diesel fuel, air and vapor are pushed past the rings into the crankcase of the engine.

Basically, smoke from a diesel engine indicates that something is not right. It should be taken as an indication that there is a problem existing (or developing), that will potentially shorten the engine life, or result in unnecessary costs. No car engine should smoke from the hood on startup. Diesel Smoke tells YOU a Story.

For a diesel , the start is the hard bit! White smoke on start up. They don’t usully smoke upon starting cold. Perkins has a wealth of knowledge about diesel engines amassed through years of research, development and testing of its own models. Blowing white smoke is a red flag for your diesel engine , yet we see this happen all the time to our customers.

In many cases, white smoke emanating from the tailpipe (often at idle once the engine reached operating temperature) typically means a worn out injector. If smoke is being release then this is indicative of a problem. HOWTO looks at all the possible reasons why white smoke is coming from your exhaust pipe. It smokes for about 5-seconds and smells like burnt oil, no sweet smell or heavy diesel smell. During that time it idles a little rough like its burning the oil off, then its as smooth as ever.

This is due to the fact that colder air, which is more dense than warm air, lowers temperatures in engine cylinders at the end of the compression stroke. I believe that diesel fuel has enough oil in it where if there is enough raw fuel sitting in the cylinders on a cold start it will produce blue smoke. In very cold temperatures, the heated exhaust can freeze into minute fuel droplets when exiting the exhaust and produce a more prolonged emission of white smoke for a very short period of driving time. This might be caused from the engine being too cool to burn the fuel, low compression in cylinder(s), fuel injection timing, defective fuel injector, burnt out glow plugs, clogged air filter or poor quality fuel.

You might notice a burning smell on start up though. That’s quite normal because the ECU injects more quantity of diesel on startup. If the smoke goes away after some time, the engine might be fine.

All diesels but out a pull of black or white smoke at start up.