Soot (black smoke) question????!

[ExtremeTDI]

I've had my car for ~6 months and when I first got the car I could get on the accelerator fairly hard with no black smoke coming out the exhaust. I've been changing my driving habits to increase mpg and therefore almost never accelerating hard for the past couple of months. Now, if I get on the accelerator hard black smoke plumes out. Does the soot build up in the system if the car is driven very lightly? If so, does the car need to be driven harder periodically to blow all this soot out? Would this soot build up reduce mpg? Thanks for the help

 

[Lex4TDI4Life]

The answer to all of your questions is "yes". You need to drive your car hard once in a while (at least) to burn off the carbon buildup in your turbo. Drive like an old lady all the time and you will definitely get more accumulation of gunk in both the turbo and the EGR/intake mani.

I've had my car for ~6 months and when I first got the car I could get on the accelerator fairly hard with no black smoke coming out the exhaust. I've been changing my driving habits to increase mpg and therefore almost never accelerating hard for the past couple of months. Now, if I get on the accelerator hard black smoke plumes out. Does the soot build up in the system if the car is driven very lightly? If so, does the car need to be driven harder periodically to blow all this soot out? Would this soot build up reduce mpg? Thanks for the help

 

[ExtremeTDI]

Do you know what kind of frequency I need to keep to in order to maintain a clean system?

 

[Naimanator]

Do your engine a favor and just wind it up really hard at least once a week. A lot of the black soot is probably due to oil accumulating in the intercooler which is then getting burned when you accelerate hard.

 

[NewTdi]

I give my car the Italian tune-up once a day on my way home! At 137,000 miles my intake is still extremely clean !

 

[ExtremeTDI]

Doesn't the daily Italian tune up hurt your mileage?

 

[ExtremeTDI]

Bump for more good info

 

[velociT]

Doesn't the daily Italian tune up hurt your mileage?

Once a day will not hurt your mileage.

 

[wczorn]

Also keep your rpms up per Wingnut. Don't lug your engine.

 

[NewTdi]

Doesn't the daily Italian tune up hurt your mileage?

I bring it gradually to 3500-400 rpms for 30 seconds and I am done, and usually I do that as I crest a hill so on the downhill I just pop it into neutral and coast at 75-80mph ... I am still getting 700 miles/tank on average

 

[kon111TDI]

Do your engine a favor and just wind it up really hard at least once a week. A lot of the black soot is probably due to oil accumulating in the intercooler which is then getting burned when you accelerate hard.

Last time I brought my MKIV to 4000 RPM clouds of black smoke came out, got a fright . Being a tool thought that 4000RPM might be pushing it as there was not enough time for complete combustion. But now that you say, my minds at rest. 4000 RPM sounds pretty unnatural for the way I drive. It woun't s**t itself will it?

So its not due to incomplete combustion at high RPM?

 

[TDIJetta99]

Mine gets to redline(and then some) 3rd gear once or twice a week getting on the highway.. Usually I can pull 700 miles out of a tank.. Most of the time I get around 640, but I drive more aggressively than the average driver, not to mention the trailer towing..

 

[thepusher]

TDIJetta99, love the avatar.

 

[MrPolak]

There's this section of the road where two lanes merge to one after a red light - that's where I blow out my smoke. It's also where I lost a race to a Prius and a 2001 Toyota Corolla, automatic, driven by a high-school girl on a cell phone. Time to clean the intake.

 

[TDIJetta99]

I got taken by a civic hybrid recently from a stoplight... My car is not slow for a TDI... I was somewhat shocked... The old square sentra that got me on the way to the Ho5g shocked me even more though..

 

[Ski in NC]

I think the soot collects in the exhaust system. If I baby mine for a few weeks, it will smoke on a full power run up to 3500 or so in third. If I do the same run up again in 20 miles, absolutely no smoke.

If I run it up once a week, the smoke is too light to see in daylight. So I figure once a week is good.

I don't think its the oil building up in the intercooler etc. My old rabbit did the exact same thing and it had no turbo, intercooler etc.

-Eric

 

[zkzkd]

Hello fellow TDi fans,

I have a 2006 Jetta TDi (BRM engine). Every morning I start her up for my drive and i noticed that im gettin some heavy black smoke for roughyl 30 seconds, afterwhich it disappears. However, I noticed the same thing happen when I turned on a warm engine that had been shut off for 5 mins.

Has anyone experienced this kind of problem as well? Would someone be so kind as to explain to me what could be the cuase of this smoking?

 

[tbrainer]

black soot blow out!!!

I too am getting the black smoke at startup. I have an 06 Jetta TDI with about 74,000 miles. I also have noticed reduced milage for the past year. It has dropped from about 40-42 to 33-35. I talked with diesel toyz in San Antonio today and he thinks it might be oil build up in the intercooler. I will see him next week probalby to have this checked. Dealer has not been much help with this at all.

 

[TornadoRed]

I too am getting the black smoke at startup. I have an 06 Jetta TDI with about 74,000 miles. I also have noticed reduced milage for the past year. It has dropped from about 40-42 to 33-35. I talked with diesel toyz in San Antonio today and he thinks it might be oil build up in the intercooler. I will see him next week probalby to have this checked. Dealer has not been much help with this at all.

Dealerships are rarely helpful, no matter how much money you give them.

You can blow out any oil that's collecting in the intercooler with several wide-open throttle (WOT) accelerations, aka an Italian tuneup... you don't need to drain it.

As for reduced fuel economy, it may be related to the black smoke you're seeing -- your engine might not be getting enough air for the amount of fuel being injected. This could be caused by a clogged intake or EGR, or a bad mass airflow (MAF) sensor, or some other sensor problem that is causing a bad air-fuel mix.

If the guys at Diesel Toyz are helpful, please report back. I remember when runonbeer or aNut recommended them, but since then no one has reported either positively or negatively about them. If they can find and solve your problem, then that would be good to know about.

 

[Nico3d3]

I had black smoke right after my timing belt was changed. I didn't know if it was due to that or not. Then I decided to check with the mechanic who did the job, he advanced the timing up to 73 and since he did that, the smoke is decreasing. Even when I push the pedal to the floor, I can barely see smoke in the rearview mirror now.