Vectra 1.9CDTI(120) Black Smoke Exhaust.

[Nucleo]

Hey all,
When starting the car cold, I get the typical puff of white smoke from the exhaust, but when I start driving, just inside the turbo range I get a puff of black smoke, bad enough that I can see it from my rearview AND my sideview mirrors.

If I gun it and hammer the accelerator the puff of smoke is purely embarressing!

its a 54 Reg, 51k miles and due for a service. But it seems that the black smoke has gotten ALOT worse in the past couple of months.

Im a newbie with cars and would love to do whatever investigation I can, I heard somewhere about the possibility of split pipes. I have had a good look around the engine bay but couldn't actually see anything of fault (but lets be honest, I dont really know what I am looking for!)

Tonight I am going to stick a video of the exhaust blow so you can see, then if there is 'somewhere' I should look I'll stick pictures on so you can annotate them ... ha

I've spoken to a mechanic and he just said 'Diesels smoke...' yeh, ok, I get that, but this is a hell of alot more than just some 'smoke'

Hopefully you fine chaps can help me out.

[roswell]

Black smoke is normaly, shortage of air flow ( air filter need changing?? ) or intercooler plumbing, a known week spot on the 1.9 cdti`s is the bolt that holds on the dip stick wearing a hole in the intercooler pipe, if thats not your cause you need to start hunting out the leak good news is just look for the filthy black area and you have thesource of your leak.

[Nucleo]

hey, thanks for the answer. Sorry it has taken so long to get to you!.
I have uploaded images of my engine bay Here

Could anyone be as kind as to show me the places to look? take the pics and scribble on them in paint if you like!... the smoke has gotten alot worse!.

I have changed the air filter but it made no difference. Im a total newbie to motors so the engine bay is a guessing game for me

[Homer]

See that big fat hose which is going into the right hand side of the engine? Check that for any oily residue on it and for splits, have somebody rev the engine up and see if you can see a split open up or you can hear hissing, if so that is your culprit!

Could also be the EGR which recirculates exhaust gas back into the engine (nutty EU rules) they can get gunked up and stick open or closed causing lots of smog!

[Craig1985]

Mine also done the when my intercooler hose split.

[Nucleo]

thanks for the answers all. Me and my mate decided, with the help of the guides, to have a go at cleaning the EGR valve and the Boost Sensor. The boost sensor was caked and the EGR valve had seen better days.

cleaned them but still got the same issue, in half an hour going to check the intercooler pipe (the big black one) properly

[Homer]

Cleaning those two items can make a world of difference from what I have read so definitely was worth trying.

Let us know about the boost hoses!

[Nucleo]

where are the boost hoses?

I was told to check these in another post : THESE

but all looks ok, the thinner pipes are a little bent but not leaking.

I am going to clean the throttle body tonight, does anyone know of ANY other things I can check? are there any other pipes I should check for leaks?


So far:
Boost Sensor
EGR Valve

Going to:
Throttle Body

Any help would be appreciated, im running out of ideas!

[barney490]

Possibly it's a split intercooler (known issue on vectra). They normaly go on the bottom right side as you look from the front of the car. The signs to look for are a big bulge in the intercooler on it's underside and dirty oil stains around the back of the bumper, lower right as you look at it. Also check the thin vac hoses that run from the vacuum pump to the turbo control valve on the front panel, upper right side. They perish and split causing the turbo not to boost properly, which can cause black smoke.

[Nucleo]

had the throttle body off and cleaned it. Its still smoking, not as bad though! each thing I clean seems to help it out a little.

Possibly it's a split intercooler (known issue on vectra). They normaly go on the bottom right side as you look from the front of the car. The signs to look for are a big bulge in the intercooler on it's underside and dirty oil stains around the back of the bumper, lower right as you look at it. Also check the thin vac hoses that run from the vacuum pump to the turbo control valve on the front panel, upper right side. They perish and split causing the turbo not to boost properly, which can cause black smoke.

Will try and take a look at the intercooler tonight. As for the vac hoses, I have ordered a fresh set from the bay for a few quid so will fit them when they arrive. Im going through pretty much everything apart from getting it to a garage to be checked over.