Black smoke on acceleration
Advice: Clean EGR, replace intercooler hose, get car remapped.
****************************************
I had this exact problem.
Since having the car this past 20 months it has always been a bit smokey.
Last autumn, had the EGR replaced as it was said not to work by the garage; since all these forums talk about EGRs being problematic, I decided to just get it done.
At the start of February, the car would not start and was taken back to the garage. The garage said the EGR was faulty and as I understand, it was replaced.
Start of June: The car had the other common issue of noisy aux belt tensioner. The car became temperantal to start, so I put it in to have the tensioner done and check the starting. The garage said that there was no problem they could find with the starting. There was, it was hard to start when I picked the car up. The tensioner cost £374 to have replaced btw.
The cat has got progressively harder to start. Chugging if it could be got going, then after a steadily lengthening time, it would rev 'normally' but produce black smoke, increasingly bad as the weeks went on.
I had the carbon clean treatment (£50) 12/7/20 but there was no improvement with starting, though I was advised to have the Turbo actuator and MAF replaced. I checked the prices of these from ECP and it was over £500 so I went to a trusted breakers and changed them. (Parts totalled £30) An easy job, no more than 15 mins in total. This made no difference at all.
I decided to remove the EGR and clean it. It was not bad, so I brushed the very light carbon out with an old toothbrush. Checked the intercooler hose and it was torn. Taped it up temporarily and hey presto - after the initial rev up there was no black smoke, so the culprit for black smoke was the intercooler hose.
Went on Amazon and got one for £20, and after removing the air filter, the associated bracket and moving a few wiring runs to one side, it was still tight for arm room, it was fiddly to remove the old hose, the new hose was very tight (had to chamfer the inside of the hose to get it into the bottom connection) and tightening up the new jubilee clip was tricky.
Putting the EGR back on was easy enough and the other bits were all straightforward.
After initial start up, the black smoke was gone.
It did not cure the starting problem.
I looked at some forums and one suggestion was to get the car remapped.
I contacted The Jag Man in Platt Bridge, near Wigan.
Left car with him to cool down and got it remapped (£50)
It is like having a new car.
If I had not done this, it would have cost me beyond £1000 and the starting problem would still be there.
The parts I would prioritise on are: Intercooler hose, jubilee clips.
The EGR will need cleaning out. Brush it out as I did.
I recommend the Carbon Clean and the remap is a no brained.
A local garage offered a diagnostic for £140 + VAT.
I anticipate they would have charged a few hundred pounds minimum for whatever bits they decided upon plus parts
After that the remap would cost about £150 + VAT.
With a bit of patience and getting my hands dirty, the entire resolution cost me:
Carbon Clean: £50
Turbo actuator & MAF sensor: £30
Intercooler hose: £20
Jubilee clips: £3.98
Remap (Jag Man): £48
Total £151.98
I can thoroughly recommend The Jag Man. Just now and then you meet someone who knows exactly what they are talking about.
