emissions from Mondeo mk3 2.0 TDCI 130

[Robert Terry]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some help with my Mondeo mk3 2.0 TDCI 130 (2007) which failed the MOT on black smoke. It's not really bad and occurs on hard revving. I have tried cleaning the EGR valve and had a good look at vacuum pipes and intercooler hoses although I havn't been able to get all of them off to give them a goo visual check especially the one going vertical behind the O/S headlight which I believe is a common failure, it does feel intact and there is no sign of oil weeping (if there would be I'm not sure). I have given the car some hard driving over distance a few times and with fuel additive. I have read a lot on the forum and beyond and have Forscan to hand but not a great knowledge of using it. I have however attempted some live data testing and I am hoping that someone could take a look at it to see if there is something obvious there. I can't get the image any better here, regards Robert

 

[nicam49]

One thing often gets overlooked is the air filter. You must remove it and look at the underneath, not just the top as the top side is always clean 

Black smoke means poor combustion due usually to insufficient air, so get that air filter checked 1st.

I had an mot fail due to excess smoke,  checked all the usual stuff - btw,  an  oil change and /or fuel filter change WONT make any difference to the smoke! So don't waste time and money with them.... treat your motor to new oil and filters when it's got that new mot! 

In my case, I did an injector leakoff test (dirt cheap  and simple to do - msg me for details) and just one injector had a slightly higher leakoff than the rest. I changed that (had it refurbed actually) and it sailed thro' the smoke test. 

Another tool in the mot armoury is some fuel additive that you add, do a minimum of 70 miles, and it is supposed to reduce the smoke level. It's by Wynns

https://www.wynns.uk.com/product/pre-emission-test-treatment-2/

Halfords sell it! 

If all else fails.... buy an egr blanking plate... but if the mot inspector spots it, it's an automatic fail. Also, later models it will switch the eml on. Also an mot fail. 

Save that MK3..... Let us know how you get on! 

 

 

[Robert Terry]

Hi and thanks for the great advice so far and I like the "save that mk3 line" I do like the car and it has done well for me. I tried the blanking plate ploy just to see if it made a difference, sadly no. I have the same issue with my wifes zafira which again I cleaned out the EGR  but foolishly tried to clean the ports a little, bad move!!, there must have been deposits still in there and I had a bit of a problem getting the car running again. The point of mentioning this is that it is now going great guns again but a couple of days later I revved it hard and it really belched out the smoke,(DPF clogged I reckkon), anyway, more reading and checked the MAP sensor, It was so clogged i couldn't see it. A good clean and that got rid of most of the smoke so at the minute I am back on the Mondeo and have removed the intercooler hoses and metal tube to clean the MAP there. Also I have removed the inlet manifold and the gunk was thick especially the three ports near the EGR. Fortunatly I see the ports in the head face down so I carefully cleaned them and will hoover them as well and see what difference that might make. I was thinking to do a leakoff test, spill test as it used to be called. I did run the engine for a minute with the top of the filter housing lifted away from the filter (which doesn't look too dirty) which saw no improvement but not really sure if for some reason it wouldn't. Do you think that the engine is quite sensitive to this, also I suppose it could be a cheap one fitted in the past. I did the injecter knock test which was inside the tollerance. It's still all a bit of a mystery to me. Other points which I forgot to mention were that there has never been any fault codes on this car and the engine tends to pink(or make that sound) under load. I am gradually learning about Forscan and it's a great source of info. I'll have to look at the more involved suggestions you have kindly given me but I'm running out of time and might have to buy a car to keep my wife on the road, Regards to all and I'll keep you posted, Oh was the image of forscan too bad to glean anything from. There was uite a bit of difference between the desired fuel pressure and the fuel pressure and it looked to me as it should have been delivering more but i'm not up on the diagnostics. 

[nicam49]

The black smoke won't be due to deposits in the pipes, but it is being generated by poor combustion. Try the additive as well! Don't expect instant results tho' and try to put it in the tank when it's lowish so you get more concentration in the tank. Might be worth recoding the injectors too if you've got Forscan. 

[Robert Terry]

Hi, well i reckon your right because once I got it going again it was still the same so I did the leakoff test and cylinders 2&3 are producing around twice as much as 1&4 with 2 being the worst. It looks like I need to get the injectors done, I'll have to do some research on that, I have Forscan so I could try recoding if I can work out how to do that, Will it still be worth doing it in veiw of the leakoff result, Thanks for taking the time to help me out

[nicam49]

Nope, I think not.... But if you get the injectors replaced or refurbed, they'll come with new codes so you'll have to master how to then 🙂

Check out PF Jones or Bob Beck (Leamington Spa) for refurbing. 

Did you run the leakoff test correctly? 

2 mins @ idle, followed by

30 secs @ 3k rpm, followed by

30 secs @ idle, followed by 

30 secs @ 3k rpm followed by 

30 secs @ idle followed by 

30 secs @ 3k rpm followed by 

30 secs @ idle. 

Leakoff 25 ml-ish max. 

How were yours? 

Oh yes, also, you'll need to look at the label on an injector to see what's fitted. I find it easiest to use my camera phone to do this - you can manipulate the image, reverse it, esp. if you have to use a mirror too. Should take  the form of EJDR00xxx

I take it you've cleaned the MAF sensor - the one on the air filter housing. Did you actually remove the air filter and look at the underneath? Also if you run the engine with air filter removed, does the smoke lessen. (just wondering if you an get it to scrape thro' that way) What was the smoke test result and what is the value on the vin plate? 

HAVE SENT YOU A PM, CHECK YOUR PMs! 

[Robert Terry]

Hi again all, I was looking at the various companies for refurbing and did see Jones but missed Bob Beck. I didn't know the leakoff method you describe but I did run it on idle for two or three minutes and up to 2-2.5k for a few seconds and repeated this a few times. I got approx 15, 27, 29 and 15. I'll go through it again correctly this time and try to measure more accuratly but the little lady want me to try to fix the Zafira so I'll be busy today if she is not using it. I couldn't get the screws out of the MAF(I need to find my torx bit with the centre hole) but took the body off and give it a good spray with contact cleaner but not really confident about that. I'll search for that torx bit . I did look all around the filter to see if there were any parts I thought were too dirty, I was always seeing the smoke looking out of the hatch, oh and the car never made it onto the tester as far I gathered and the manager said there has to be no smoke at all, I got your message and thanks again for the help, I think I have covered things so far and will let you know the outcomes

[nicam49]

I understood that the 'No smoke at all' only applied to cars fitted with a dpf.... but might also apply to post-2006 cars too (forgot yours is a 2007) anyone else on the forum know the mot rule on smoke.... A quick browse seems to indicate the 'No smoke' applies to post-2008 cars and fitted with a dpf... I reckon the garage manager is mistaken!.... can you try a different test centre? 

[TomsFocus]

13 minutes ago, nicam49 said:

I understood that the 'No smoke at all' only applied to cars fitted with a dpf.... but might also apply to post-2006 cars too (forgot yours is a 2007) anyone else on the forum know the mot rule on smoke? 

2007 2.0 TDCI will have a DPF.  You're correct about the 'visible smoke' fail only being for DPF equipped cars.

(d) Exhaust on a vehicle fitted with a diesel particulate filter emits visible smoke of any colour

Major

[Robert Terry]

It doesn't have a DPF but a catalytic, to my understanding (the canister bolted vertically to the manifold), I couldn't find regen on forscan so looked into it and it seems that a few 07 year cars in Germany have them, according to what I read, 🤔

[TomsFocus]

1 hour ago, Robert Terry said:

It doesn't have a DPF but a catalytic, to my understanding (the canister bolted vertically to the manifold), I couldn't find regen on forscan so looked into it and it seems that a few 07 year cars in Germany have them, according to what I read, 🤔

In that case, take it back and tell the tester to test it as a non-DPF equipped car.  Visible smoke is not a fail for those.

These had a separate cat & DPF, so it should be easy to see if it has both fitted or not.

[Robert Terry]

Hi all!!, I have ust done another leakoff test as per above and the results are 37, 64, 62, and 39 mls, yuk!!. Just read your reply and that's interesting thanks for the info, I'm learning all the time here, Am I right in thinking the vertical canister in fronf of the bulkhead is a cat and if itt had a DPF it would have to be close to that on the front pipe(which it doesn't

[TomsFocus]

1 minute ago, Robert Terry said:

Am I right in thinking the vertical canister in fronf of the bulkhead is a cat and if itt had a DPF it would have to be close to that on the front pipe(which it doesn't

Yes, the cat comes straight off of the turbo.  The DPF on these comes after the flexi pipe and is right underneath the car, roughly in the middle.  It's a torpedo shape with two small solid metal pipes like this. 

 

[nicam49]

My understanding* is that the so-called cat is actually some kind of spark suppressor, filled with a metal gauze, no actual precious metals. 

Good news on the non-dpf situation...... Might get it through the mot yet without having to immediately address the high leakoff injector situation

*read it on another forum.. 

👍

[Robert Terry]

Thanks for the info and support I am getting. I will have to get the cat off and try to flush it through because some carbon deposits must have gone through the engine as it takes a bit of starting now and now emits a lighter smoke even on idle. I'll check that again before I do anything and treble check there is no DPF although I am pretty sure it has none because I put a front pipe on a couple of years ago and don't remember seeing one then. Cheers everyone (oh!! I had cleaned the MAF well and was getting confused with the MAF on the Zafira)

[Robert Terry]

Hi all!!, Just to let you know that I have invested in two injectors from PF Jones, they will be a few days in coming as there were non on the shelf. I looked at the cat and it was all clear and it is a straight through affair with mesh at either end so it does look like you're right nicam49  about it being something othere than a cat?, I'll let you know about the fun and games with the injectors later, I do have another centre in mind if the smoke improves a bit, cheers all,

[nicam49]

You'll also need to buy a special injector removal socket tool. 

You HAVE ordered the correct model of injector...? Some are  long nozzle and some are short nozzle.... Mustn't mix 'em! 

 

 

[Robert Terry]

Hi, oooops!!, I took some great photos like you said and used the numbers on there to order(R00504Z), do know if there are other numbers for the nozzle length) I have the special socket somewhere because I was half expecting to have issues with them when I bought the car four years ago, they sounded a bit rattly? but have been ok so far, I just need to find it(is it 22mm) 

[nicam49]

Relax! Was just checking that you didn't think that anyold injector would do! (you'd be surprised.....) 

[Robert Terry]

Thanks, everything is appreciated, I received the injectors and got them installed yesterday and the car seems to be running well although the smoke is still there, maybe the other two need to be done, maybe as mentioned before, a compression test although it has bags of power and really wants to shift with the foot down, It's just the black smoke, I'll look at where i've been and check that all is ok before anything else, cheers all

[nicam49]

Did you manage to program in the new injector codes? 

Expect SOME black smoke! 

It might now be worth trying an mot test to see what the smoke test results are.. Also some of that additive. 

[Robert Terry]

Hi Nicam!! Yes it was OK and I treble checked the values but didn't recode the two other injectors, It was a real bonus having the Robert Proof picture guide for cylinders to firing order on forscan. Things look ok but I removed the oil filler cap and there is puffing there suggestting back pressure, why I haven't done it before now I don't know(just not thinking). Any idea how much tolerence there is for these engines. Another thing which I noticed is there is a slight vacuum at the EGR tube on idle and when re connected, the engine tone chacges slightly, I did try a temporary blanking plate earlier with no change.

Do you think the car needs to be driven a lot to clear the build up of soot, I had an Iveco which needed that, however it was a lot worse than the Mondeo, (Sorry to keep the thread going so long, you'll get e rest from me shortly as I will be away for a few months at the end of the month and I dare say that won't do the Mondeo much good)                                                                                                                   

 

[Robert Terry]

Hi Again, Sorry I hadn't seen all of the comments in your last post, It's still smoking quite bad and the car is now off the road but I'll get some of that additive and just keep revving it hard to produce it and watch to see if it gets any better and if it does i'll be straight round to the centre. Meanwhile I'll so some other bits and bobs on the car as well, Thanks Nicam

[Robert Terry]

Hi again all, yet another quick question(or two!!) I have ordered another two injectors which should come early next week and have removed the old ones. Number 4 (nearest the gearbox) had an obstruction which wouldn't allow the socket to drop right down. I could undo it as it(and number 1)were not too tight🤔. Any ideas on this. I've tried to photograph it. Also while I am on could anyone recommend a compression tester to use on this engine, thanks for any help, 

[nicam49]

Hi! So, is it something inside the rocker cover that's stopping the socket from dropping right down... can see some things in the pic but can't make anything out....                                             Also, re a compression tester... a petrol engine one won't do as it needs to be able to measure a higher reading than for petrol engines. Trouble is,  it's best to unscrew the glowplugs and attach the tester there, BUT that raises another issue, that of snapping glowplugs and/or stripping the threads in the head if you're not so very careful. Don't go there for the time being! 

Did a quick search on Talkford,  and here's someone's compression test results. 

https://www.talkford.com/threads/compression-test-results-mondeo-mk3.141223/

 

and another.... Looks like 400psi is what you'd get on a new engine. 

https://www.talkford.com/threads/2-0-tdci-130-compression-test-readings.296089/