Down on Power

[shadowcaster]

I'm sure that this has been covered before but I never quite know what to search for so hopefully someone can nudge me in the right direction. OK the car is a 2005 X Type Estate 2.0ltr Diesel. And the problem, most of the time it drives normally but after a period of little use she goes down on power, changing to a lower gear or dipping the clutch and revving the engine usually  produces some smoke from the exhaust, not clouds of it, and then it clears and everything seems back to normal and then a while later it sometimes does it again. The smoke is a greyish colour, everything like water temp seem normal and there's no warning lights on the dash. Any help would be gratefully received.

Cheers

Rich

[Old Peter]

Welcome to the club, Richard.

My son has a 2.0 litre Diesel estate on a 06 plate, so I understand what is going on with your car.

Blue/ grey smoke also appeared from his exhaust and a slightly higher consumption plus a slight loss of power, which signified to me a dirty fuel system.  The 2.0 litre  diesel does not have a Diesel Particulate filter but it does have an EGR valve which can get dirty.  I also drive a diesel [2.7 V6] which also needs occasional treatment.

Cleaning the EGR valve is a mucky job so I found a very easy way of cleaning it  --  I was recommenced to use Millers Diesel Power ECO Max which costs about £15 and a shot of that  every full tank of fuel will do the trick.  Also I recommend premium fuel which will assist in keeping the engine clean.  Both these solution keep my engine clean, and give a good mpg.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Peter. 

[shadowcaster]

Many thanks for the reply Peter, I'll give that a go. I always use V Power when filling up as she definitely runs a lot better with that, I have the feeling that the cold weather yesterday and also the lack of use has clogged up the gubbins somewhat.

 

Cheers

Rich

[shadowcaster]

Well took her out a couple of times and there's a definite improvement so hopeful a regular clean will hold her together until the better weather allows me to take the ERG apart and clean it properly.

 

Cheers

Rich

[Old Peter]

Hi Rich,

That's good news.  I don't get under cars any more, or even mess around with the engine  I found that the occasional blast at 2500 revs often clears out the diesel fuel system.

Regards,

Peter.

[shadowcaster]

On 12/3/2018 at 1:29 PM, Old Peter said:

Hi Rich,

I found that the occasional blast at 2500 revs often clears out the diesel fuel system.

Regards,

Peter.

Ah the Italian tune up always a good ploy. ha ha

 

Cheers

Rich

[shadowcaster]

Hi all

 

Bumping this to the top again, for a while the car has been behaving herself she passed her MOT last week with only a bush needing to be replaced on the rear suspension so was well pleased with that. The only real problem now is the smoking has been really bad recently, I had the garage look at it and they did a diagnostic and found nothing wrong, she passed the emissions test with no trouble, other that I had only done 1,300mls in the last 12mts all of which were short trip of 4 to 5 miles in traffic. They think it's gummed up and needed a blast up the road to clear it out, I did this and for a couple of days she was not to bad but today after going about 5mls, again in traffic, she started to smoke quite badly with the added bonus of a red light showing on the dash a look in the handbook revealed it to be the DPF warning light, (Amber and Red lights above the trip computer/information readout) now as mine is a 2005 model I'm confused because I did not thing that year had a DPF. The smoke is a grey/black colour and a clacking noise can be heard when it smokes but stops when it clears it's self. Provided the revs are kept up she seems to run fine with loads of power but let the revs drop when the car gets warmer and the power goes down. 

So chaps what to do next is it the DPF playing up, turbo on the way out or something worse. I would add that on someone's recommendation I gave it a can of Wynns EGR cleaner through the air intake which I don't think has done any good or has it shifted the bad stuff down stream. Any help/advice would be welcome.

 

Cheers

Rich

[Old Peter]

Hi Richard, 

I used Wynns for a year or so but found that Millers Diesel Eco Plus was far more efficient. It is worth a try.

Peter.

[Leo]

I wonder if it is doing a DPF regeneration? You should make sure that regenerations are given time to complete before switching off, give it a longer (20 miles plus) run at motorway speeds at least once a month, and always use premium diesel. 

A bit of a bind, I know, but these DPFs are simply unsuitable for cars that only do short runs.

[shadowcaster]

Hi again

I've just been looking on the internet again and it seems that a 2005 2.0ltr diesel does not have a DPF filter, is this correct. If so what are the warning lights the red one only come on intermittently with no indication on the dash information centre. Peter I have started using the Millers Diesel Eco Plus so hoping that will help in the future thanks for the tip. Any ideas what the noise is while it's smoking, I would add that no warning lights come on while she's doing her asphyxiation routine to the cars behind, but I'm a bit concerned about doing a longer run in case I damage something.

Cheers

Rich