About myself & new car problem!

[unlucky alf]

Hi all, New member & new Jag owner, I am one of those people who hates seeing cars going to scrap & would rather save them where possible, Anyhow I have just purchased a 2004 X type estate 2.0 diesel  which is very tidy for the year & good service history as a replacement for my old Rover 75 which got beyond saving (I saved if from scrap 10 years ago & got 80,000 out of her),

The Jag seemed the obvious choice as the look & size is very similar to my old Rover so when I saw one come up with no MOT that needed saving I jumped at it, I done my homework first on the bad starting, erratic tick over & smoke issue this one has & I thought I had it covered, (EGR problem was what I got from asking around).

So I set about getting under the bonnet today & removed the EGR & manifold, & sure enough the EGR seemed to be stuck solid so replaced it, Started the old girl up &, , , , , , , , ,dammit still the same, So my obvious question is where do i go next?, The smoke has no oil smell to it so i guess that eliminates the turbo, The smoke looks kind of white in colour which to what i read is due to it running lean, I am sure others have got better knowledge than me so I am passing it over to you guys!, , , , , ,Many thanks.

 

 

[Big John]

Hi Tim and welcome.

For me you have not yet eliminated turbo issues. "White" smoke to me indicates either coolant in the exhaust from something like a cylinder head gasket leak or oil burning which can come from a whole host of places. 

I would start by checking coolant level and condition. Basically you are looking for falling level and/or oil contamination. If that all looks good I would be thinking oil smoke.

I always used to try holding a white hanky over the exhaust when revving the engine to see what is actually coming out which might help.

....and just to be pessimistic whilst you are at ground level it is worth having a look at the state of the sills, not the outer painted plastic which will be fine but the metal underneath which are very prone to rust. Just part of the joy of X-Type ownership 🙂

Good luck,

John

[unlucky alf]

4 hours ago, Big John said:

Hi Tim and welcome.

For me you have not yet eliminated turbo issues. "White" smoke to me indicates either coolant in the exhaust from something like a cylinder head gasket leak or oil burning which can come from a whole host of places. 

I would start by checking coolant level and condition. Basically you are looking for falling level and/or oil contamination. If that all looks good I would be thinking oil smoke.

I always used to try holding a white hanky over the exhaust when revving the engine to see what is actually coming out which might help.

....and just to be pessimistic whilst you are at ground level it is worth having a look at the state of the sills, not the outer painted plastic which will be fine but the metal underneath which are very prone to rust. Just part of the joy of X-Type ownership 🙂

Good luck,

John

Many thanks John, The guy i got the car from said that he had the sills replaced so i am hoping that worry is eliminated, Somebody did tell him that the smoke could be the turbo but as I cant smell oil in the smoke I figured that wasn't the issue, But saying that my knowledge of turbo's is very little.

The coolant level is a bit difficult to monitor as the car isn't being used but a good sniff of the expansion bottle & a visual check shows no sign of contamination & no sign of custard on the oil filler cap either, I will try the hanky thing & see what colour that catches, (hopefully not a pinky colour!) but smelling it it has a strong smell of diesel,

This is the first diesel engine I have had to attack as i have never had issues with one before so pretty much going in blind, As it is a right pig to start from cold I have ordered some glow plugs to see if that will at least help the starting problem, I will report back on any progress (if any) is made.

[Big John]

Hi Tim
This is mine: 

If you are getting a strong smell of diesel in the exhaust it could be what is causing the smoke. Have you got a code reader to check for the exact nature of the issue? If not they are only about £20 off ebay or amazon and would really help you get to the bottom of it.
Good luck

John

[unlucky alf]

1 hour ago, Big John said:

Hi Tim
This is mine: 

If you are getting a strong smell of diesel in the exhaust it could be what is causing the smoke. Have you got a code reader to check for the exact nature of the issue? If not they are only about £20 off ebay or amazon and would really help you get to the bottom of it.
Good luck

John

Hi John, i know my neighbour had some sort of code reader so will find out if he still has it, & in answer to your question, yes the diesel smell is pretty much all i do smell & the more you rev it the more smoke you get, & from cold it is a right pig to start almost like a petrol car when it's flooded it starts lumpy then smooths out a bit but with an uneven tickover, I did try the hanky thing & that stayed white so I'm hopeful that is one scare out of the way!, Anyhow time to grovel to the neighbour!,

[Big John]

From your response, my guess would be a faulty injector. I would also check the smell / level of the engine oil as if an injector is not operatin g properly, excessive diesel may be being washed into the  crankcase causing oil dilution. If the smell / level are OK hopefully the code reader will help. I assume you do not have a engine light on the dashboard?.....

 

 

[unlucky alf]

My neighbours code reader turned out to be next to useless & would be more at home in a Xmas cracker!, In regards to a faulty injector I had actually read that somewhere but not how to find it, Would a leak off test show it up? (something I have never done),

I have just stuck my nose into the turbo inlet this morning & although there is no side to side or in & out play it doesn't spin what I would call freely, would the ' drill hole & Mr Muscle' help with this?, , , , ,sorry with all the questions but playing with diesels is a pastures new for me, Oh & no engine light on by the way, , , , Many thanks for your help so far.

[Big John]

Hi Tim

Personally I have grave doubts about messing with the turbo and adding Mr Muscle!

I would strongly advise a code reader before randomly trying things that might not be the problem anyway. I would either be buying a code reader from ebay / amazon or getting the codes read by a mechanic. From what you said it does not have an MOT so presumably getting it to a garage to have the codes read is an issue. You could try and book an MOT so that you could legally drive there to get the codes read?

Good luck. 

....they are great cars and well worth the effort of saving them 🙂

 

[unlucky alf]

19 hours ago, Big John said:

Hi Tim

Personally I have grave doubts about messing with the turbo and adding Mr Muscle!

I would strongly advise a code reader before randomly trying things that might not be the problem anyway. I would either be buying a code reader from ebay / amazon or getting the codes read by a mechanic. From what you said it does not have an MOT so presumably getting it to a garage to have the codes read is an issue. You could try and book an MOT so that you could legally drive there to get the codes read?

Good luck. 

....they are great cars and well worth the effort of saving them 🙂

 

After much searching on the net & looking for ideas I came across probably the most simple & obvious test, Just going along with a long screwdriver & listening to the clacking of the injectors, So this morning brandishing my magical long screwdriver i set about giving that a go, , , , , ,Bingo!, one injector not clacking, & just to double check i unplugged it & the engine note stayed the same,

So hopefully that'll sort it when I can get hold of one, so what is the procedure on fitting another as I hear it has to be coded in or something & is there a club member that does this?.

 

[unlucky alf]

What is the situation in regards to injectors & numbers?, I see listings on ebay quoting long numbers that don't even appear on the item such as EJDR00101Z / 2S7Q-9K546-AH, Is that something i should be concerned about?.

[N6 JMX]

Your best source of correct part numbers for all things Jaguar is the Jaguar parts website, link below:

Genuine & Authentic Classic Parts | Jaguar Land Rover Classic Parts 

Just click through the prompts until you get to the model and system you are interested in.

N6 JMX