Intermittent White Smoke S60 D5 185 Engine

[definethelight]

Hi, This is my first post on a forum - so I apologise in advance if I've made any mistakes. I have searched other threads for an answer to this problem but have become confused and could not find anything specific. I have a 2005 S60 D5 with 148,000 miles on the clock. Always main dealer serviced. With the exception of a few electrical niggles it's generally been a reliable car. A recent repair by my local main dealer was coupled with a free of charge 'software update' something to do with fuel re-generation... Not sure what that's all about - anyway, All was well for a few days, then having travelled for around 20 minutes on the motorway (not fast as the traffic was terrible - probably around 50-60 mph) I noticed a plume of white smoke in the rear view mirror. Initially I thought that the car behind had locked up it's brakes! I pressed on, and then felt a judder, and a strange almost rasping sound that lasted a second. At that point another cloud of white smoke was ejected. I pulled into the services and inspected. The smoke was coming from the exhaust. Not taking any chances I got relayed to the Volvo dealer. They started the car the next day and couldn't replicate the problem. The AA chappy thought that I had either blown a head gasket (but the coolant level was normal) or the EGR valve could be faulty. Volvo said that the diagnostic equipment had not detailed any errors - and all is normal. I had the oil changed - just to be sure and went away thinking it was another niggle. A day later (prob 150 miles later) the same thing happened. I tried to make it to the Volvo garage before the symptoms stopped - but after 10 miles or so (driving gently) I could not make it misbehave. It's so bad that other motorists flash me - an point to the car as they pass - Embarrassing or what! Volvo kept the car for 3 more days, and tested (occasionally) and still claim it's perfectly ok. The car goes to an independent tomorrow - to see if he can shed some light on it. I was wondering if anyone here had experienced anything similar? Could this be DPF? or is that black smoke? Sorry to ramble on - Thanking you in advance, Scott.

[Bernard333]

If its not your head gasket the only thing I can imagine is your turbo is sticking possibly its on the way out . Have had recent experience of a turbo failing completely on a diesel Galaxy , it made large billowing clouds of white smoke at the end even though the engine would still run and restart ok . The turbo impellor had so much play that it was scraping the alloy outer casing and the ends of the blades were worn down . Your mechanic can easily check for play in the turbo shaft by removing the air inlet pipe coming from the air filter to the turbo and waggling the rotor although this may not reveal a turbo with just failed oil seals .

[definethelight]

Thank you Bernard3333. I'll let you know if we find anything today. I'm just off to the independent Volvo specialist. I'll tell him your suggestion about the Turbo. I feel disappointed in the main dealers approach to this. I guess they become quite reliant on the diagnostic equipment these days. Probably saves us time and money overall. Thanks again, Scott.

[definethelight]

Right, The independent has had a look (finally) and has deduced that the EGR valve needs a good clean out. In addition he has found that an injector is suffering from excessive leak off - whatever that means... To top all that the Clutch Slave Cylinder is leaking oil - all in all £1300 to put right! Nice. Let's see if this stops the clouds of white smoke.

[Bill_56]

The 'software upgrade' was probably the fix for rising oil-levels with DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) equipped cars, Euro 4, from mid '05 onwards.

Many of us suspected that this software mod (which volvo call an 'upgrade) would spell trouble, especially perhaps for for high mileage vehicles, and your story does merit a raising of eyebrows.

You could ask your specialist to check the DPF as well as EGR. If the DPF did indeed fail within a few miles of the upgrade, it would confirm many of our suspicions. EGR failure is not something we'd really anticipated, but it's not entirely unrelated (all part of the emissions control) and failure soon after the update could be more than co-incidence.

To be honest though, it's pure speculation, I may be barking up a different tree. Can I suggest you read the extremely long thread below. Arm yourself with a good supply of caffeine/alcohol/antidepressants, in a combination that befits your personal preferences and time of day...

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=95323

Should you wish to continue this line of exploration, you may get more interest by submitting the story to the above thread.

Oh, and welcome to the forums. You made no mistakes, you've nothing to apologise for. But even when one does make mistakes (I speak from experience) they are forgiven, it's a friendly forum.

[definethelight]

Good evening Bill_56 I'm not the only one burning the midnight oil! I shall have a good read about the DPF. Like you say, does raise a few eyebrows! I'll contact the garage in the morning. I'm guessing software (or firmware) on these cars could be restored to a previous version... bit like on a pc? The investigation continues, does indeed seem like a coincidence though. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks again for your help and kind words.

[Bill_56]

My thinking is basically along the following lines...

Volvo appear to have changed the software, with an expectation to reduce the side-effects of DPF regeneration (diesel getting into the oil). They have refused to explain what they have changed, but it is possible they may have reduced the fuel used for, or duration of, DPF regeneration.

Now, a high mileage engine may be more taxing on the DPF by producing more soot, or the DPF itself may have accumulation of deposits that make it less efficient. Under those circumstances, if the new regen' algorithm is less aggressive in some way, it is entirely credible that the balance could be tipped such that a car that was fine with the old algorithm would struggle with the new algorithm.

I'd be very surprised if you can persuade the dealer to roll-back the software, but it's worth asking. I suspect you'll also have your work cut out persuading the dealer (or Volvo) to take any interest at all, as I strongly suspect they have their head in the sands over the while issue, but good luck anyway and please do keep us up to date.

- Bill

[definethelight]

Hi Bill, Right - The independent has striped out the EGR valve and found it was badly choked up. He said that a rubber diaphragm could be the cause of the smoke issue. I will know more when I pick up the car later this morning. I have a 260 mile trip to West Pembrokeshire ahead of me today. That should be a sufficient test drive! I'll keep you informed. You are right - Volvo are playing their cards very close to their chest on the whole 'Software Update' issue. My local dealer claims no knowledge of the actual function other than a change to the 'Regeneration cycle'.

[definethelight]

OK, The car has been to the independent and had the following done:

Inspected and cleaned EGR system, found breather unit diaphragm split. Renewed housing, reassembled and tested. Checked engine timing. Found leaking Master cylinder on clutch - renewed parts. Found injector three had 'excessive leak off' Not related but will cause future problems.

Now, having paid just over a grand for this little lot I was quietly optimistic when I picked up the car for my trip to Wales. I only got around 20 miles before I heard the fateful rattle, and white/blueish smoke filled the carriageway. I gently drove back to the garage, but by the time I got there the problem had stopped. I could not make it happen again. I left it with them for a few more days with a full tank of Diesel so that they could give it a thorough testing. I called them yesterday to see if there was any progress. The mechanic there said that having driven the car at different speeds, they only saw it 'puff smoke' once, and they feel it is a little oil left in the system after the clean out. Fine. I picked it up tonight, travelled about 8-10 miles, and it started again. VERY frustrated now, and am at a loss as to what to try next. I can replicate the problem freely within a few miles of driving. The trick is, to drive gently - then in a reasonably high gear, use the engines torque to accelerate. This is when - or very shortly afterwards, the car rattles and puffs a dense cloud of blue/white smoke for a further mile of three. (only when the accelerator is pressed - even gently). This is becoming a bit of a nightmare to say the least. I may not give the independent another chance. The car came back in a terrible state. Muddy footprints both front and back, and oil/scuff marks on the upholstery and dashboard trim. Not at all happy with that.

[Bill_56]

In fairness to the independent dealer, leaking clutch cylinder is a known weakness on these cars and that alone would account for several hundred pounds. I'm not sure why he thought it related to the white smoke, but maybe there's a connection I'm not aware of.

Based upon some googling I did when you posted your problem, there seems to be a consensus that white smoke is often indicative of unburned diesel fuel in the exhaust.

Cars with DPFs are meant, every few hundred miles, to deliberately inject unburned diesel into the cylinders after the combustion cycle to be expelled by through the exhaust valves. The unburned diesel is then is meant to find it's way through exhaust system and thus to the DPF where it effectively fuels a small furnace, burning off the accumulated deposits in the DPF.

The software upgrade that preceded this problem was apparently (Volvo won't comment) to modify the algorithm, ie timing and quantity of fuel, with which surplus diesel gets injected. It seems all too much of a co-incidence to me that ...

(a) your problems may be related to unburned diesel in the exhaust
and
(b) the problems began immediately after Volvo modified the process by which unburned diesel is added to the exhaust.

I hasten to add I am no expert in this technology, I'm not a fuel systems engineer or anything like that. A couple of months ago I knew diddly squat about DPFs, and what little I do know has been gleaned from the web, so could be total b*ll*cks. But I am a professional engineer (electronics & software, actually) with an analytical mind and although I accept the possibility I'm barking up the wrong tree, I feel reasonably confident in my barking.

My prediction, for what it's worth, is that any Volvo dealer who wants to keep his franchise will dismiss (a) and (b) as pure co-incidence. They may even suggest replacing the DPF, but I suspect even that may not necessarily help, if the problem is simply that the new regeneration algorithm doesn't work for higher mileage cars. But I may be wrong, and I genuinely hope that's the case.