Page 1 of 1
starts fine, then smokes, then clears up
Posted: Sat Nov 01, 2014 7:56 pm
by TrevorinGibsons
I've got a '95 L400. It starts fine and burns clean, but at about the 2 minute mark I hear a click and then it smokes badly and has little power (have to floor it to get the turbo to kick, which it does after after a huge cloud of black smoke). After a while it clears and runs fine. When it's warm out, the smoke time is short, but as it gets colder the smoke time lengthens. Injectors are good. Any suggestions of where to look for the problem?
Re: starts fine, then smokes, then clears up
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 4:05 pm
by Big-Bird
Check for loose hose connections from your air filter box to the intercooler and the intercooler to the turbo. Cracked/weathered intercooler hoses might also be a problem....though this is rare.

- images.jpg (11.48 KiB) Viewed 1304 times
Then check the egr valve. Pull the small vacuum hose off the egr actuator and plug the hose with a small bolt. Then run the engine. If the smokey problem goes away you now know your egr is faulty and that you probably need to install an EGR blanking kit. Just search ebay and you find them cheap.
Re: starts fine, then smokes, then clears up
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 6:28 pm
by TrevorinGibsons
Thanks Big-Bird. The egr appears to be the culprit. I blanked the vacuum hose and the smoke has disappeared. A blanking kit is in my future. Really appreciate the help!