Early 316 Black Smoke on Acceleration - Last Resort Reward Offered!

D

dazsilver

New member
Hi Everyone,

This is me at the end of the road so to speak...

I have a 2004 316 5cylinder 2.7 that pour out black / dark smoke when under load and puffs a cloud briefly when reved in neutral. The smoking is excessive. There is no loss of performance and over the last 6 months I have tried the following:

1. SET OF NEW RECON INJECTORS
2. COMPLETE ENGINE REBUILD (EG PISTONS, HEAD REGROUND, VALVES RESEATED, NEW TIMING CHAIN ETC - THIS ON AN ENGINE THAT HAD CLEARLY OVERHEATED BADLY AT SOME POINT)
3. FITTED A SECOND HAND TURBO (NO SIGNS OF PROBLEM WITH ORIGINAL)
4. NEW AIR MASS SENSOR (SENSOR ON BIG PIPE ON RIGHT HAND SIDE OF ENGINE AS FACE FRONT OF VAN
5. NEW SENSOR THAT CONTROLS THINGS UNDER THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLAMP (SOMETHING TO DO WITH TURBO)
6. COMPLETE SERVICE, NEW AIR FILTER AND FUEL FILTER AND OIL 1000 MILES AFTER REBUILD

Other points, vehicle looks like a genuine 120K miles. Vehicles was remapped a year ago, but has been put back to original files which simply reduced the excess of the issue, did not remove the issue, so it is back remapped at present.

3 specialist have worked on / looked at this issue, hence all the changes listed above. We are back to the beginning and no one has further ideas at present. I would love to get this sorted and am staggered that its proving so tough, even to point where am now considering ditching this lovely vehicle we use as a work horse and camper, and going back to an old non computer, non turbo old mercedes. Was hoping I would be good for next 10 - 15 years with this 'bullet proof' sprinter purchase!!

If someone will engage with me on this (I am not a mechanic, but am handy with the tools) and it turns out to be something real simple which we can resolve easily - I am hoping it may be something that has just been overlooked (happy to do Skype or FaceTime live to look at the engine together, then I am happy to offer a straight £200 Reward (or donation to charity of choice) for an end to this fairly major drain on resources! It would be really worth it to me. Any thoughts please!
 
L

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Just make sure you have a CLEAN genuine MB air filter in air cleaner box with the lower hopper vacuumed out before we go any further.
Read important.
Dennis
 
zamorano007

zamorano007

Member
The same problem came to my head, my mercedes sprinter was 313 Cdi, black smoke problem, this problem was the problem with the new injectors, the problem was over, the diesel pump was done

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M

Midwestdrifter

Engineer In Residence
My first thought is bad injectors, reman doesn't mean new.

My second thought is the O2 sensor.

My third thought is the EGR, but that would affect performance.

My fourth thought is a low reading rail pressure sensor.
 
D

downunder

Active member
Dazsilver, have you read thread 'Transmission regulator valve spring' #15 in T1N Talk by Jack Bombay? 07/29/2017
Long shot but may be relevant??
(I'm not smart enough to "link it" easily for you.....)
 
Eric Experience

Eric Experience

Well-known member
Daz.
Its a shame you spent all that money on parts without diagnosing the problem. Black smoke usually means not enough air. So if your air cleaner is not blocked then you are loosing boost. To find out if you have any boost to start with get hold of a vacuum gauge then place a "T" piece in the small hose to the turbo control.When you start up you should have a little vacuum on the gauge then it should rise rapidly as you rev up. If it does not you have a vacuum hose of somewhere, usually at the back of the heater blower. If the vacuum does rise with revs then you have a leaking boost hose. Eric.
 
2

220629

Well-known member
dazsilver said:
...

I have a 2004 316 5cylinder 2.7 that pour out black / dark smoke when under load and puffs a cloud briefly when reved in neutral. ...

5. NEW SENSOR THAT CONTROLS THINGS UNDER THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLAMP (SOMETHING TO DO WITH TURBO)
...
Click to expand...
Is this an OM612 or OM647 engine?

The OM612 has a vacuum driven turbo vane positioner with a control near the air filter box and no O2 sensor (even with an EGR). The OM647 has an electrically driven turbo vane positioner. The OM612 and OM647 have some differences in sensors and ECM aka ECU.

Our NAS aka NAFTA 2004 would have an OM647 engine with O2 sensor and EGR. Do you even have an EGR?

Dennis always recommends baseline.
Even after rebuild, has compression been checked?
Were the injectors properly coded when installed?
There are scan programs which show fuel amounts to each injector.
The OM647 engine has a smooth running rudimentary test for injectors.

Along with what Eric mentioned about black smoke.
Has the inter cooler been checked for blockage? (Although I would expect that to affect overall performance.)

Sorry I can't offer more.

Good luck.

vic
 
D

dazsilver

New member
Hi Vic thanks for input, its OM612 vacuum driven, no EGR. Smoking on hard acceleration and low rev set off was there with original engine and the engine has been completely rebuilt. I am interested to know about 'properly coded' injectors. How does this work, and who does that normally. Installer or supplier? There is no loss of performance with this engine and non before rebuild (although the engine was in a state due to overheating at some point). I will disconnect the air filter and see how it runs without filter. How do you check intercooler for blockage? I am taking the original turbo down to an engineer to strip down and check next week (since it is running on a second hand turbo). Would be big co-incidence but would rule that out. thx Daz
 
D

dazsilver

New member
Thanks Eric, there is no loss of performance, but plenty of smoke on pulling, so does your advice still stand? Turbo is active.
 
D

dazsilver

New member
Thanks Mid west, there is no EGR, and would like to know where the low reading rail pressure sensor might be located and is it something fitted to and that can be replaced on the OM 612 engine?
 
J

jackbombay

2003 158" shc
Eric Experience said:
Black smoke usually means not enough air.
Click to expand...
Or fuel being injected at the wrong time, either from an injector that is leaking fuel into the cylinder when it should be closed, or improper timing.

dazsilver said:
I am interested to know about 'properly coded' injectors. How does this work, and who does that normally.
Click to expand...
The installer should code the injectors, BUT, it really doesn't seem to make any difference in my experience, I installed new injectors and didn't even know about coding them for a few months, then randomly found the coding portion of my diagnostic software and I coded them then, only one needed to be changed. Each injector has a number 1-3 on the top of it, you input the number for each injector for the appropriate cylinder in whatever diagnostic software you are using, pretty easy, but I'm sure that is not the cause of your smoke.



Here is a link to my thread where I replaced bits in the trans which solved my smoke issue AND made the trans shift much better.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58269
 
NelsonSprinter

NelsonSprinter

Former Nelson BC Sprinter
dazsilver said:
Hi Everyone,

This is me at the end of the road so to speak...

I have a 2004 316 5cylinder 2.7 that pour out black / dark smoke when under load and puffs a cloud briefly when reved in neutral. The smoking is excessive. There is no loss of performance and over the last 6 months I have tried the following:

1. SET OF NEW RECON INJECTORS
2. COMPLETE ENGINE REBUILD (EG PISTONS, HEAD REGROUND, VALVES RESEATED, NEW TIMING CHAIN ETC - THIS ON AN ENGINE THAT HAD CLEARLY OVERHEATED BADLY AT SOME POINT)
3. FITTED A SECOND HAND TURBO (NO SIGNS OF PROBLEM WITH ORIGINAL)
4. NEW AIR MASS SENSOR (SENSOR ON BIG PIPE ON RIGHT HAND SIDE OF ENGINE AS FACE FRONT OF VAN
5. NEW SENSOR THAT CONTROLS THINGS UNDER THE DRIVER SIDE HEADLAMP (SOMETHING TO DO WITH TURBO)
6. COMPLETE SERVICE, NEW AIR FILTER AND FUEL FILTER AND OIL 1000 MILES AFTER REBUILD

Other points, vehicle looks like a genuine 120K miles. Vehicles was remapped a year ago, but has been put back to original files which simply reduced the excess of the issue, did not remove the issue, so it is back remapped at present.

3 specialist have worked on / looked at this issue, hence all the changes listed above. We are back to the beginning and no one has further ideas at present. I would love to get this sorted and am staggered that its proving so tough, even to point where am now considering ditching this lovely vehicle we use as a work horse and camper, and going back to an old non computer, non turbo old mercedes. Was hoping I would be good for next 10 - 15 years with this 'bullet proof' sprinter purchase!!

If someone will engage with me on this (I am not a mechanic, but am handy with the tools) and it turns out to be something real simple which we can resolve easily - I am hoping it may be something that has just been overlooked (happy to do Skype or FaceTime live to look at the engine together, then I am happy to offer a straight £200 Reward (or donation to charity of choice) for an end to this fairly major drain on resources! It would be really worth it to me. Any thoughts please!
Click to expand...
Replace the vacuum hose that attaches to the turbo regulator as seen from below engine near Alternator
 
J

jackbombay

2003 158" shc
This is a situation where it's helpful to have a boost gauge installed so you can see in real time when the smoke is being generated in relation to boost pressure. If the smoke occurs after the turbo has spooled somewhat I'd look for boost plumbing leaks or a bad sensor, if the smoke occurs right when the pedal is depressed, before the turbo has had a chance to spool I'd look elsewhere, restricted intake, or faulty injectors.

With the engine being recently assembled the injectors should come out easily, but you must pull them with the engine at operating temp. I'm kind of skeptical that it is injectors, but they are obviously a critical part of the equation.
 
NelsonSprinter

NelsonSprinter

Former Nelson BC Sprinter
dazsilver said:
Hi Vic thanks for input, its OM612 vacuum driven, no EGR. Smoking on hard acceleration and low rev set off was there with original engine and the engine has been completely rebuilt. I am interested to know about 'properly coded' injectors. How does this work, and who does that normally. Installer or supplier? There is no loss of performance with this engine and non before rebuild (although the engine was in a state due to overheating at some point). I will disconnect the air filter and see how it runs without filter. How do you check intercooler for blockage? I am taking the original turbo down to an engineer to strip down and check next week (since it is running on a second hand turbo). Would be big co-incidence but would rule that out. thx Daz
Click to expand...
Om612 do not have coded /programmed injectors IIRC .
As long as the replaced injectors are the same part number as original they should be good.
When did the smoke first start happening?
Did you check the air tube before the air filter for plastic bag / blockage?
 
Last edited:
J

jackbombay

2003 158" shc
NelsonSprinter said:
Om612 do not have coded /programmed injectors IIRC .
Click to expand...
My OM612 has the option to enter codes for each injector, this is with my DAD plugged into the OBD2 port, I noticed no difference when they were coded correctly vs when they weren't so maybe it makes no difference, but there is the option to change that info in the ECU. I will say that I only had to recod one of the injectors, from a 1 to a 2, IIRC all the injectors were set to 1 when I first looked at that info.
 
owner

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
Are you sure the injectors were installed properly by the book. It wouldn't be the first time that someone installed them with 2 seal washers instead of 1. If the injector isn't sitting at the exact right height in the chamber, it will cause black smoke.
 
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