Smoking!
 

...and I don't mean in a nice way!
I have just driven all the way from Central Scotland to the Costa del Sol, Spain. I noticed about half way down, the exhaust was pumping out clouds of black smoke when the engine was stressed - heavy acceleration, or going up big hills. Otherwise, it performed impeccably.
I suspect something is awry with the turbo (it's a CDTi engine)? Any advice? Will it make it back home, or should I attempt to get it fixed here in Spain, given it is in reality a BMW engine?
I was also disappointed with the mpg, but then I suppose over 40mpg at speeds of 70mph or more is not too bad...

Fuel consumption is poor, very poor, and the black smoke is indicative of a leak in the intake system.

Check the intercooler hoses, and the intercooler elbow to ensure the O rings haven't popped ;)

Brian :D

Check the intercooler O rings...

That was quick!

Astraeus just replaced the intercooler rings for me last week or so, and the old ones were in perfect condition! I'll have a local garage check out the pipes to search for the problem - I will be delighted if it is just a loose pipe!

As for the fuel consumption...very costly over a near 2000 mile journey, not part of the plan! On the way down from Scotland to Portsmouth it avearged 44.8mpg for the nearly all motorway trip, but that figure worsened considerably once into France... :(

Well to put that into context John, I've covered 2300 miles in my car in the past ten days, and my consumption is just over 50 MPG fully laden, and not hanging about ;)

Same state of tune too ;)

Brian :D

Ooof! Then I have lost out big time. Mind you, part of the problem may be my fault - in the rush to get going, I forgot to check my tyre pressures :( But still, I'm losing out on around 15mpg...

The local garage mechanic had a look, and saw that the pipe that enters the intercooler was loose. He tightened it up, but reckoned that the whole intercooler was skewed to one side, like it had taken a knock or something...so he reckons I might need a replacement intercooler; he suggested I drive around for a week and see how it goes, before he has to strip it down to check the intercooler for damage...

He said he scrapped an MG diesel like mine last week, from 2001, and he also reckoned that the intercooler was 'round the other way' - with the pipework on the left as you look at it from the front, rather than on the right like mine...does anyone know if the MG equivalent intercooler is different? The MG is probably still at the local scrapyard, so I might be in luck if I need one, and if they are the same. That's a lot of 'ifs'! There's not too many cars like mine running around the Costa del Sol! Funnily enough, when I was near Irun in the north of Spain, I thought I spied a Tourer just like mine going in the opposite direction :) It was like driving into a mirror...

So, please, does an MG from 2001 have the same intercooler as my 2004 Rover? Fingers crossed...

The intercoolers on both the Rover and MG are the same ;)

Sounds like there might be some damage to the intercooler from what the mechanic said, that would certainly account for the smoke issue ;)

Russ

Yep, check the small plastic mounting bracket at the end of the intercooler, I have known a few of these to crack and draw air in to the system.

He said he scrapped an MG diesel like mine last week, from 2001, and he also reckoned that the intercooler was 'round the other way' - with the pipework on the left as you look at it from the front, rather than on the right like mine...does anyone know if the MG equivalent intercooler is different?


As you look at the front of the car the intercooler outlet is on the right..

As an aside, My replacement engine after a few miles started to chuck out a lot of black smoke . I traced this to the intercooler jubilee clip not being tightened up when it was refitted and the pipe half off Tightened it up and all was fine.;)