Mk3 06 Galaxy Smokey startup

[mantissa]

Recently acquired an 06 Galaxy 2.0tdci which seems to be a bit 'lemony'. Got over most of the trauma associated with the acquisition, but still have a smoking issue that I would appreciate a view on.

I'm a bit of a noob (as the kids say) when it comes to diesels (first one) and cars in general, but I can detect a pattern in the behaviour I have seen.

1. First start of the day - great clouds of white smoke and general reluctance to start. Needs a bit of right foot to get it to start and coax it through a lumpy idle which lasts for 10-20 seconds. After this time, it will idle OK (with the odd 'catch' every now and then, but generally OK) and drives fine with good power. Returns approx 40mpg (combined).

When idling immediately after this first start, there is a small amount of constant white/blue smoke which can be made into a huge cloud by revving the engine.

2. Subsequent starts, small black cloud and smoke immediately on start (no need to coax it to do so with right foot) which then clears to a smokeless exhaust within 5-10 seconds.


Initially, after googling around all I could find were (largely) mechanical engine faults (piston rings etc) as a cause of continual smoking, but the fact that it only happens on the first start of the day  could point to some other fault. Maybe it's a control system fault rather than a leaky pot sort of thing?

Anyway, on the basis that a picture tells a thousand words, I took a video which I popped on youtube. It's 12 minutes long and a bit yawny, but the key points are;

0:0 - the first start of the day (hesitant, lumpy and smoking)
0-11:00 - various idling and running with plenty of smoke - engine at proper working temp after about 9 minutes.
11:00 - a start which occurred some 40 minutes after the initial one. [So the timing is 12:27 engine off then after 40 minutes another start (which appears in the video at 11:00 minutes)]

The first start is as described above, loads of smoke and the second start has an initial puff of black and white smoke, then clear running.

Any ideas? Any opinions gratefully received - although there's no need to comment about my (fat man) cycling outfit which makes a fleeting appearance - many thanks in advance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yfTuOn3x2k

Cheers

[Mirez]

I cant watch the vid just at the moment but the description suggests a warm up problem. I would suspect you have one or more glow plugs failed. Diesels need a lot of heat for proper conbustion when cold, if not then you'll have a lumpy, smokey idle... hence why I think you have a glow plus issue.

Welcome to the forum btw!!

[gregers]

ive just watched it,bejesus thats a hell of a lot of smoke.
theres does seem to be a very loud whistle,
does the car actually drive ok?turbo ok??

[mantissa]

Hi, thanks for looking....

Bearing in mind that I have nothing to compare it with (well, not another galaxy anyway) - it seems to drive fine and from my own experience with a non-working turbo petrol car, I'd say that the turbo's working fine. What gets me is that 40 minutes later, it's not a problem.

I did wonder if I should do another test tomorrow but try starting it again sooner after the initial start - to see if it's a system issue which is truly related to the first start after 8 hours of not running or not.

I'll dig around here to find out how I can check the correct functionality of the glowplugs.

Thanks.

[Chrispb]

 
My first thoughts were glow plugs with the starting issue and the smoke also possible timing retarded.
Checking glow plugs first is a must.
Wouldn't worry to much about the turbo whistle but turbo seals could be letting oil through, may be worth checking intercooler and pipework for excess oil laying there if the glow plugs is not the problem
Engine does sound a bit clattery although video's can be misleading, does it have high mileage?