Smoking Mondeo Tdci

[iamthestig]

I recently bought an 04 plate Zetec TDCi 130 with 56k miles on the clock and full service history. This is my first TDCi (and modern diesel for that matter) and there are a couple of things that it does that I'm not sure are considered 'normal' for a diesel.

The first is a cloud of blue smoke from the exhaust when starting after the car has been standing for a few hours (eg overnight). It clears within a few seconds and doesn't occur again until the next time it's started after being left for hours.

The second is an uneven idle when starting from cold which clears after 20 seconds or so.

And finally it emits black smoke from the exhaust under hard acceleration.

Are these normal characteristics or does the car require attention? Any help and advice gratefully received.

Many thanks

[MrrNoName]

hi, the blue smoke upon starting is likely to be worn valve seals. when the engine is parked for a long-ish period of time a small amount of oil drips down from the valves into the cylinders. when the engine is started this oil is quickly burnt off and the result is greyish blue smoke that quickly dissapears.

the uneven idleing could be down to the oil being burnt but im not sure. best bet with that is to plug it in and see if any codes are showing.

does your engine contain a DPF (diesel particulate filter) ? if not it is usual for it to black smoke under heavy acceleration. I have a 1.8tdci focus without a DPF and when accelerating hard can see black smoke from the rear. I was worried about this and after posting on this forum ended up taking the car to fords. the ford dealer told me they could not find anything wrong with the engine and that non DPF diesels do sometimes smoke under hard acceleration because of soemthing to do with additional fuel not being 100% burnt. they told me that the engine was well within acceptable limits. although im not sure about this i cant really complain if they tell me nothing is wrong ?! lol

hope this helps and reassures you :) also I dont particuarly think the valve seals are a major problem. I have a skoda fabia that does this and has done for YEARS and it hasnt caused any type of problem. having said that its older then your car and has more miles. might be worth getting ford to check it out? up to you really

:)