Thread: 300 disco with smoking problem

Originally Posted by spook

Just after some advice on a disco I'm looking at to buy ,its a 96 diesel it has a motor problem it blows smoke above 2000rpm it idles fine no knocking no water in oil no over heating this is what the owner is telling me, just some idea what it could be it has 250clicks maybe head gasket or turbo any advice on this would be great thanks Luke.

What colour is the smoke? Blue, White or Black? Is it when driving down the road under load say up a hill is the Throttle pedal flat to the floor?
Do the easy things first........
Fit a new fuel and air filter when where they last changed? It may have two fuel filters? Take it to a Truck repair Workshop and get one of their Mechanics to look at it smoking and ask Him what he thinks it may be? Remember BEER gets good results.......? Good luck....

If you can look inside the hose that comes off the turbo - if it excessively wet with oil it may be the turbo seals starting to give up. Oil in there may also be build up from the breather too, but if there's excessive movement of the turbo shaft it may point to the seals. Wouldn't hurt to look inside the top hose after the intercooler too for oil. The smoking over 2Krpm can be caused when the turbo starts to make boost and pushes the extra oil in. This is from experience as my 300TDI had this problem a month or so ago - I thought the engine was giving up, replaced the turbo with a rebuilt unit and now no smoke at all. The old one was well worn out, seals had gone completely, this is after 320K km. If your turbo is OK, you might have a really big build up of oil in all the hoses and intercooler just from the breather, again being pushed in on boost - there are a few posts on this if you do a search.

Originally Posted by Spel1

If you can look inside the hose that comes off the turbo - if it excessively wet with oil it may be the turbo seals starting to give up. Oil in there may also be build up from the breather too, but if there's excessive movement of the turbo shaft it may point to the seals. Wouldn't hurt to look inside the top hose after the intercooler too for oil. The smoking over 2Krpm can be caused when the turbo starts to make boost and pushes the extra oil in. This is from experience as my 300TDI had this problem a month or so ago - I thought the engine was giving up, replaced the turbo with a rebuilt unit and now no smoke at all. The old one was well worn out, seals had gone completely, this is after 320K km. If your turbo is OK, you might have a really big build up of oil in all the hoses and intercooler just from the breather, again being pushed in on boost - there are a few posts on this if you do a search.

Good advice! Don't ignore this symptom I have a 300Tdi block with a huge hole in the side where a conrod and bits of a piston escaped after hydraulicing oil after the turbo shaft broke in 2, and filled the intake with oil. The owner was driving it around smoking like a train for some weeks before it let go!

JC

Any tips on where to buy a new turbo? Have had quotes here in Tas of around $1000 to rebuild....seems a bit high to me.

Found these on ebay.... turbo

Any tips?

Originally Posted by Spagga

Any tips on where to buy a new turbo? Have had quotes here in Tas of around $1000 to rebuild....seems a bit high to me.

Found these on ebay.... turbo

Any tips?

That's a pretty good price if the shipping is OK from the US. Rebuilds can cost 850-1200 depending on if your core is OK. If its cracked or unusable it will be the high end of the two. Graeme at British Car Components in N Melb has new ones for $1050 approx.