V70: Engine D5: Puff of blue smoke upon cold start with Video

[Daim]

Hey guys,

my D5 (D5244T10, 205 hp, 2010 built) gives off a puff of blue smoke upon a cold start and then ONLY on the cold start. Warm starts are clear as well as when you floor it and ease off the pedal.

Here a video showing it be blue for a few seconds and clearing up really quickly just to turn into soot (obviously soot on a -5°C engine when cold).

+ YouTube Video

As said, it is only upon cold starts and the engine "rumbles" a bit rough for like 2-3 seconds before it fully clears up.

According to the paperwork I got with the car, the glow plugs were replaced in 2022 in October and since then, the car has been driven about ~7.000 km (3.000 km from me). So barely any wear... As the car had the recall regarding the belt tensioner done according to Volvos service system but not done according to what was visible, I wouldn't be surprised if it was not done.

Before I start to take the engine apart and buy new glow plugs (which are probably a PITA to change): what else could be the issue?

As said, no blue smoke at any other time apart for upon a cold start. Otherwise it is totally fine... I also have no issues with oil consumption - at least as far as I can monitor without a dipstick.

Cheers

Damien

[Simmy]

make sure to get the correct glow plugs as i believe there are different voltages available. do a leak off test on the injectors when your in there . dont for get diesel fuel is oil and a little smoke on start up in cooler weather is expected/ aceptable.

[Simmy]

make sure to get the correct glow plugs as i believe there are different voltages available. do a leak off test on the injectors when your in there . don't for get diesel fuel is oil and a little smoke on start up in cooler weather is expected/ acceptable.

[Daim]

Hey Simmy,

cheers for your answer(s)

Diesel being a fuel oil is obviously one of the reasons it can be a tad blue upon start.

Is there a way to check the glow plugs? I know they're glow plugs, so they will have a certain resistance, so that would obviously have to be considered but I guess a resistance of "infinity" would suggest that the plug is dead, correct?

As written and can be seen: the engine starts right up, doesn't take for ever to fire and then runs fine. It's also only done ~97.000 miles (153.000 km) so that can't be an issue...

According to Skandix, the correct partnumber for glow plugs would be 32290415... Although I am a bit worried, if I change them, about snapping them off...

[Simmy]

si robb has a youtube channel which has lots of volvo repair videos including one on how to test glow plug resistance and shows what it should be . d5 glow plugs normally come out fairly easily

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Daim

Hey Simmy,

cheers for your answer(s)

Diesel being a fuel oil is obviously one of the reasons it can be a tad blue upon start.

Is there a way to check the glow plugs? I know they're glow plugs, so they will have a certain resistance, so that would obviously have to be considered but I guess a resistance of "infinity" would suggest that the plug is dead, correct?

As written and can be seen: the engine starts right up, doesn't take for ever to fire and then runs fine. It's also only done ~97.000 miles (153.000 km) so that can't be an issue...

According to Skandix, the correct partnumber for glow plugs would be 32290415... Although I am a bit worried, if I change them, about snapping them off...

I'd be suspicious of the glow plugs. It seems a bit lumpy at cold start.

Make sure you change the glow plugs when the engine is warm, don't attempt it on a cold engine. Add some penetrating fluid to each glow plug before you remove them and when installing make sure you don't overtighten them too much. They aren't hard to change and aren't expensive either. Here a set of Bosch glow plugs is around £100 (that's for 5 of them).

A standard glow plug socket won't work, as it catches on the fuel rail. You need a deep socket that has no edges or lips on the inside to grip the glow plugs properly.

I'm not sure what tools you have available, but if you have a glow plug socket. see does it fit first. If it doesn't, stop what you're doing and buy the right one or bring it to a garage. A socket that doesn't fit snugly on the glow plug will increase the risk of snapping, so be careful.

To test the glow plugs, you need a multimeter.

Here's some videos that may help;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Po_1pNHE1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVPfBgDoY8Y

Note, this is an older car, but the principle is more or less the same.

[Simmy]

thanks for posting the links Kev. iv met Simon personally he is a top guy its shame he left the forum im fairly sure i know why he left but that's his business. i hope he comes back one day

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Simmy

thanks for posting the links Kev. iv met Simon personally he is a top guy its shame he left the forum im fairly sure i know why he left but that's his business. i hope he comes back one day

No problem.

It sure is a shame that he left, and, its his business as you say.

I hope he's still tinkering with his Volvo and may share some more footage on youtube with us one day.

I've never met him personally, but I've watched loads of his videos. He's a very helpful guy with a wealth of knowledge.

[Daim]

Okay guys, the results are in.

I first checked the glow plugs. My results were that two didn't work. So I was assuming, that the car had 2 dead glow plugs. Then again, I couldn't check the OBD so I couldn't see if the car had stored any issues/fault codes.

My next step was to replace the exhaust anyway. In this moment I found out, that the DPF had broken. That would explain the soot and black smoke out of the exhaust. The DPF had deiced to break into several pieces and the result was it didn't work - oddly the regeneration of the DPF was still triggered but it didn't ever tell me do do so.

As I needed a new DPF and wasn't prepared to do it myself, I went to Volvo and also told the tech expert (long long time in the Volvo trade) about the blue smoke upon coldstart and that I seem to have found dead glow plugs.

I picked the old bugger up half a day later and was told: the blue smoke thing is easily solved with an update, which was missing on my V70. Seems the previous owners didn't even bother getting updates. In the end, a new DPF was required - I knew that - and the glow plugs are all good. Cold starts are now totally smooth and it doesn't stink of unburnt fuel nor is there any blue smoke. He basically said it would probably just be an update thing... and seemingly was right.

So sometimes going to the experts from the brand is the best thing to do. Especially if they have all that experience of working on D5s.