The plot thickens - just like the smoke from my exhaust!

[Stumped]

How do people, the plot has taken another twist and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas before I take Old Barry to the garage.

A few months back I started getting huge plumes of white smoke on first start of the day after i removed my EGR cooler bottle and blanked the exhaust manifold end. After the first start it was fine all day but has gradually got to the point where its every start up. Around the time of the white smoke starting the van would drive and stall at every set of lights which i would then switch back on again and it would be fine for a while till I stopped again. Before it stalled the 'Miles to go' reading on the dash would flash back to the 'four dashes' readout and back to 'miles to go'.

For months now though I have had no stalling or juddering or anything. I still had the smoke at start ups but once the van was up and going it was the perfect drive. A few days ago I checked the coolant tank and it was empty so I filled it to max with the red stuff and went for a drive and the bloody van started with the stalling at every lights thing again.

Now this little nugget has got me thinking, did the stalling and juddering stop because the coolant bottle was empty and ive been driving for months without knowing? Its weird how I refill the coolant and it starts again instantly isnt it.

Should i now drain the coolant and see if the problem stops and if so whats the best way?

One other question is, is the disappearing coolant the cause of my white smoke that belows out at most startups? but if it is, how was the white smoke still flying out even when the coolant system was empty?

Cheers for any light shed on these dark times. Marcus

[knobby1]

How do people, the plot has taken another twist and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas before I take Old Barry to the garage.

A few months back I started getting huge plumes of white smoke on first start of the day after i removed my EGR cooler bottle and blanked the exhaust manifold end. After the first start it was fine all day but has gradually got to the point where its every start up. Around the time of the white smoke starting the van would drive and stall at every set of lights which i would then switch back on again and it would be fine for a while till I stopped again. Before it stalled the 'Miles to go' reading on the dash would flash back to the 'four dashes' readout and back to 'miles to go'.

For months now though I have had no stalling or juddering or anything. I still had the smoke at start ups but once the van was up and going it was the perfect drive. A few days ago I checked the coolant tank and it was empty so I filled it to max with the red stuff and went for a drive and the bloody van started with the stalling at every lights thing again.

Now this little nugget has got me thinking, did the stalling and juddering stop because the coolant bottle was empty and ive been driving for months without knowing? Its weird how I refill the coolant and it starts again instantly isnt it.

Should i now drain the coolant and see if the problem stops and if so whats the best way?

One other question is, is the disappearing coolant the cause of my white smoke that belows out at most startups? but if it is, how was the white smoke still flying out even when the coolant system was empty?

Cheers for any light shed on these dark times. Marcus

Your front battery is possibly fooked, hence the cutting out & duff readings on your dash. You'll need to get it properly load tested.

EGR cooler bottle..?? What's this then..??

Is your cooling system being pressurized after driving.??

Did you blank off "both" coolant lines to the EGR cooler at the rear of the head..?? If the EGR cooler is fugged and you didn't blank off both coolant hoses, the "white smoke" is probably steam.

Lord Knobrot

[Stumped]

How do people, the plot has taken another twist and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas before I take Old Barry to the garage.

A few months back I started getting huge plumes of white smoke on first start of the day after i removed my EGR cooler bottle and blanked the exhaust manifold end. After the first start it was fine all day but has gradually got to the point where its every start up. Around the time of the white smoke starting the van would drive and stall at every set of lights which i would then switch back on again and it would be fine for a while till I stopped again. Before it stalled the 'Miles to go' reading on the dash would flash back to the 'four dashes' readout and back to 'miles to go'.

For months now though I have had no stalling or juddering or anything. I still had the smoke at start ups but once the van was up and going it was the perfect drive. A few days ago I checked the coolant tank and it was empty so I filled it to max with the red stuff and went for a drive and the bloody van started with the stalling at every lights thing again.

Now this little nugget has got me thinking, did the stalling and juddering stop because the coolant bottle was empty and ive been driving for months without knowing? Its weird how I refill the coolant and it starts again instantly isnt it.

Should i now drain the coolant and see if the problem stops and if so whats the best way?

One other question is, is the disappearing coolant the cause of my white smoke that belows out at most startups? but if it is, how was the white smoke still flying out even when the coolant system was empty?

Cheers for any light shed on these dark times. Marcus

Your front battery is possibly fooked, hence the cutting out & duff readings on your dash. You'll need to get it properly load tested.

EGR cooler bottle..?? What's this then..??

Is your cooling system being pressurized after driving.??

Did you blank off "both" coolant lines to the EGR cooler at the rear of the head..?? If the EGR cooler is fugged and you didn't blank off both coolant hoses, the "white smoke" is probably steam.

Lord Knobrot

Cheers for the quick reply Knobby mate, yeah the EGR cooler its on the backside of the engine and resembles a sort of large brass bottle shape implement and supposedly cools the exhaust fumes before they enter the actual EGR. I may be wrong with the name of it haha.

The EGR cooler has been completely removed and a solid blank with gasket put on the Exhaust manifold side and a blanking plate put just before the EGR as well.

How would I check the coolant system pressure mate? And is the front battery the aux battery?

When the Cooler was removed the in and out hoses where taken off and then linked in to the rest of the coolant system as if the EGR cooler was just being bypassed with it in place.

Cheers. Marcus

[knobby1]

Ah...I understand now.

Well the coolant can't be getting into you exhaust through there then....maybe a possible cracked head or block..?? That's the only way coolant can get into the exhaust that I'm aware of. Have you had the cooling system pressurized to check for obvious external leaks. You're loosing it from somewhere, just a matter of finding it. Is your oil still black and "oily"..??

Lord Knobrot

[Stumped]

Ah...I understand now.

Well the coolant can't be getting into you exhaust through there then....maybe a possible cracked head or block..?? That's the only way coolant can get into the exhaust that I'm aware of. Have you had the cooling system pressurized to check for obvious external leaks. You're loosing it from somewhere, just a matter of finding it. Is your oil still black and "oily"..??

Lord Knobrot

Yeah the oil was changed last week and of the 5L that came out it was deep black with no crap or water/coolant in. I put 7 back in which brought the dip level up to just below the max mark and all seems to be fine with that.

Like you say though I think my best route now would be to do the pressure test of the coolant system and then just hope its nothing too serious. I can feel that its going to be though.

Marcus

[knobby1]

Like you say though I think my best route now would be to do the pressure test of the coolant system and then just hope its nothing too serious. I can feel that its going to be though.
Marcus

Yeah, It's also unlikely to be the head gasket, they're usually quite robust on these engines. We've seen a couple of cracked heads and even some expansion plugs let go of late. If the head or block were cracked you'd think it would pressurize the system though...

Lord Knobrot

[Stumped]

Cheers for all the info knobby, I rang the garage today and he said its certainly a strange one but things it is defo head gasket or Cracked head related. Looks like its gonna be an expensive one.

Once diagnosed, how hard is it to do a head gasket on my model of van? I can see the head gaskets for sale at decent prices but can find zero info on how to replace one (even on here).

Any ideas would be good.

Thanks. Marcus

[knobby1]

Cheers for all the info knobby, I rang the garage today and he said its certainly a strange one but things it is defo head gasket or Cracked head related. Looks like its gonna be an expensive one.

Once diagnosed, how hard is it to do a head gasket on my model of van? I can see the head gaskets for sale at decent prices but can find zero info on how to replace one (even on here).

Any ideas would be good.

Thanks. Marcus

If it is indeed the head gasket or a cracked head, they aren't real difficult to do, many here have done it, you'll need to find out which head gasket it has fitted though, they come in 3 different thicknesses, (1,2 or 3 "notch")... 1.10mm, 1.15mm & 1.20mm. You'll also need the appropriate "locking pins" to do the cam timing.

Lord Knobrot

[Stumped]

Cheers knobbers mate. The garage that have my van rang me today and said they had done a full presure test of the cooling system (which we thought may be the problem due to loosing coolant and white smoke/steam from the exhaust).

They say the pressure is fine but a slight leak from one of the coolant hoses, the upper hose that leads throught the bulkhead into the cab. Has anyone heard of this being a problem area and how would i sort it? I cant afford garage so itll be a diy job.

[knobby1]

Cheers knobbers mate. The garage that have my van rang me today and said they had done a full presure test of the cooling system (which we thought may be the problem due to loosing coolant and white smoke/steam from the exhaust).

They say the pressure is fine but a slight leak from one of the coolant hoses, the upper hose that leads throught the bulkhead into the cab. Has anyone heard of this being a problem area and how would i sort it? I cant afford garage so itll be a diy job.

Sounds like one of the heater hoses...pretty easy to change. There should be two hoses going to/from the heater matrix, on in and one out...the matrix is like a small radiator which lives under the dash and the coolant passes through it to heat the air being blown through it by your heater fan.

Lord Knobrot

[jumbo 57]

Cheers knobbers mate. The garage that have my van rang me today and said they had done a full presure test of the cooling system (which we thought may be the problem due to loosing coolant and white smoke/steam from the exhaust).

They say the pressure is fine but a slight leak from one of the coolant hoses, the upper hose that leads throught the bulkhead into the cab. Has anyone heard of this being a problem area and how would i sort it? I cant afford garage so itll be a diy job.

...the matrix is like a small radiator which lives under the dash and the coolant passes through it to heat the air being blown through it by your heater fan.

Amazing
Next you'll be telling us that the air is ducted somehow to various poitions

[Stumped]

Cheers knobbers mate. The garage that have my van rang me today and said they had done a full presure test of the cooling system (which we thought may be the problem due to loosing coolant and white smoke/steam from the exhaust).

They say the pressure is fine but a slight leak from one of the coolant hoses, the upper hose that leads throught the bulkhead into the cab. Has anyone heard of this being a problem area and how would i sort it? I cant afford garage so itll be a diy job.

Sounds like one of the heater hoses...pretty easy to change. There should be two hoses going to/from the heater matrix, on in and one out...the matrix is like a small radiator which lives under the dash and the coolant passes through it to heat the air being blown through it by your heater fan.

Lord Knobrot

Thanks once again knobby, I didnt even know the coolant went through into the dash to another little radiator so all good info. I have now found why i was occationaly smelling coolant as well, it was the slight drip form the hose through the bulkhead and directly underneath is the exhaust manifold, which i can clearly see now has changed colour with all the coolant landing on it.

Its just really unlucky I guess that all 3 of my problems happened at the same time and can be linked togther symptom-wise but arnt actually connected. At lest it didnt turn out to be the head / head gasket though. All the problems I had are on so many of the head gasket topics on here.

I'll let you know if I need any more advice ie the changing of the heater hose or draining the system (if it needs draining for changing that hose that is)

Marcus

[knobby1]

Amazing
Next you'll be telling us that the air is ducted somehow to various poitions

By magic too...LOL... Sarcastic bastage..!

Lord Knobrot

[jumbo 57]

Amazing
Next you'll be telling us that the air is ducted somehow to various poitions

By magic too...LOL... Sarcastic bastage..!

Lord Knobrot

Moi

Respect.