Hi,

Can you please give me some directions what actions to take on the smoking issue I have with my 07 plate 1.8 Ford focus tdi, which has done about 90K. I am not very mechanical so please bare with me.
When starting the car in the morning winter or summer it stalls once or twice, every time that happens very dark smoke blows out. I can also now see loads of smoke when on 1, 2 and 3 gear. When AC is used it smells of exhaust. Not sure how to fix the problem economically.

Thanks

MB

What colour is the dark smoke ?

The colour makes a difference as to what could be wrong

Mine does this too, as soon as you start it when it's cold it will cut out once or twice and then it's fine. Mine kicks out some black smoke too, I'm going to check for a boost leak as black smoke is normally poor air fuel mix. If I give mine abit of stick it normally clears for abit though

Hi welcome :)

Dirty air filter

Thanks for replying. It is a very dark colour. I have changed the air filter but no change.

If it's black, the smoke is being caused by over fuelling - there's too much fuel & not enough air - there are various causes - you may a have a leak in the intercooler hose as these are notorious for splitting

Yes, It is black. If I actually rev it a bit first thing in the morning it could make a black line on the ground. Is the intercooler hose easy to change? Or even can it be changed?

Thanks Kyle, The surrounding area smells of exhast if I stick mine a bit. It currently averages 45mpg which I think is low.

Yes it can be changed & it's fairly easy - check it microscopically for splits before buying a new one as it may or may not be the cause

A new fuel filter would be good idea too if not recently done

Thanks, I've just went out to the car park to see the hose and it seems loose. I will tighten it up and see if that makes any difference. Car is due for service so I will also make sure the fuel filter is changed. I will let you know the out come of it.

Thanks very much!!

MB

No worries :)