Excessive blue diesel smoke on initial start-up (130BHP TDI Galaxy)

[bouncypete]

I have a 2004 130bhp TDI Galaxy which Iââ,¬â,,¢ve owned from 2.5 years old and 36k miles. Itââ,¬â,,¢s now got 127k on the clock and in all the time Iââ,¬â,,¢ve owned it it has produced a large cloud of blue smoke on the first start of the day. It smells like diesel smoke rather than oil smoke and it doesn't smoke excessively on subsequent starts.

Does anyone elseââ,¬â,,¢s TDI do the same or does anyone know how to stop the excessive smoke on start-up?

This engine is so widely used by VW and yet Iââ,¬â,,¢ve not found anything by searching Google. So why am I looking into this now when Iââ,¬â,,¢ve accepted it smoking for all these years. I guess itââ,¬â,,¢s due to the stigma of dirty diesels when the car is in very good condition for its age and it runs so well otherwise.

The car was still just under manufactures warranty when I bought it I took it to several dealers who couldnââ,¬â,,¢t find anything wrong with it. The dealer also showed me all the other Galaxyââ,¬â,,¢s that they had in stock at the time and they all did the same thing. Therefore I just accepted this was ââ,¬Ëœnormalââ,¬â,,¢. It has always started very well, it still barely uses any oil between services. In the time Iââ,¬â,,¢ve owned it Iââ,¬â,,¢ve had the turbo charger replaced and this did not reduce the smoke at start-up at all.

If I crank the engine immediately without first allowing the glow plugs to do their thing it still starts perfectly and if anything, produces less smoke on start-up. This suggests to me the engine has good compression on all cylinders, otherwise itââ,¬â,,¢d be lumpy on initial start and itââ,¬â,,¢s not caused by a faulty glow plug. This also suggests that the car is somehow adding extra fuel that it doesnââ,¬â,,¢t actually need when the glow plugs activate.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome.

[johnnyroper]

Slightly leaky injector nozzle or injector seals leaking by overnight.

Try a fuel additive initially see if it helps over a week or so.

[Mirez]

Depends on your definition of large. Every PD engine I've ever come across chucks out a small cloud of exhaust fumes on the first start of the day which, by modern standards, looks bad. How big are we talking? Maybe video it?

[bigjeeze]

I had this on mine - I then had to change the head gasket and I thought I would do the valve stem seals at the same time to reduce the blue cloud.  - It didn't!

[christiant]

Mine did this because of worn cam! And the valve lobes were fine, the one on cylinder 4 was worn. Check group 13 when cold and if anything out of spec, it is very possible that that is the problem. On mine eplaced MAF, checked cam for wear but didn't see the lobe for injector rocker, checked turbo hoses, replaced 1 injector, checked torsion value... Cleaned the airlines and EGR.. Checked glowplugs... Nothing. Only went away after replacing camshaft. Very important on these is to run them on 5w40 to avoid the issue.

[bouncypete]

Mine did this because of worn cam! And the valve lobes were fine, the one on cylinder 4 was worn. Check group 13 when cold and if anything out of spec, it is very possible that that is the problem. On mine eplaced MAF, checked cam for wear but didn't see the lobe for injector rocker, checked turbo hoses, replaced 1 injector, checked torsion value... Cleaned the airlines and EGR.. Checked glowplugs... Nothing. Only went away after replacing camshaft. Very important on these is to run them on 5w40 to avoid the issue.

Thanks for this.

I'm curious to know how a worn injector cam/rocker can cause excessive smoke on start-up but not during normal running, it's only recently passed it's MOT and the emissions were fine.

I'll also try to run VAGCOM group 13, I'm not that good with VAGCOM but I'm sure I can work it out. Also, for what it's worth I've always used proper PD oil.

[christiant]

Check group 13 when cold while its doing it. I had exactly all the symptoms you describe. Did you check torsion value? A video describing the symptoms..

Also could be other things injectors, injector seals, tandem pump seals between tandem pump between head and pump, but I did all those and ended up doing the shaft along with lifers and bearing caps. It is hard to see the lobes for the injectors, the ones for the valves are visible but you can't see the other lobes unless you pull the rockers off. Otherwise it was completely fine apart from on start ip! After I did this, the engine had better throttle response too and more torque in the low revs. It is important to set the injector lash after doing this.

[actionvin]

mine does this exact same thing, just first thing in the morning .. never at any other time, just passed it's MOT so i'm finding it hard to be bothered by it. It's just a bit inconvienient when the window is open and you get a face full of diesel inside.   

[christiant]

Sorted mine as I mentuoned above. No smoke ever on start up now.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Johnny roper is right , I would bet itââ,¬â,,¢s the turbo.

Anyway itââ,¬â,,¢s probably not a big problem so just let the car warm up and donââ,¬â,,¢t worry unless you get other problems