My 2010 TDV8 is smoking awfully from cold. Blueish smoke both exhausts. As soon as the temp needle hits the middle, it stops. I had a nightmare this morning very dangerous until it warmed up.

Also my oil warning light has started randomly coming on when idling. Goes out when you pull away or rev. Then doesn't come back.

It has recent new turbos. I didn't use it much after purchasing, but it did not smoke at all. I blanked the EGR's and changed the oil as pictured. I am at a loss as to what it is. No loss of power it flies along. No faults on dash or code reader, apart from the odd EGR code when it does not move correctly but they are blanked.

I am at the point of putting it on WBAC!

Any ideas? No funny smells or noises. I took it to my local mechanic who looked at it when warm and not smoking and said it was fine and the oil I used was OK. 2009 TDV8 3.6

Blue smoke is burning oil, and I wouldn't ignore an oil warning light. Problem with oil warning lights is that they don't tend to come on until oil pressure is dangerously low, around 5psi or so. Actual oil pressure can be read at a main dealer using diag, or perhaps some decent generic diag tool. But I would strongly advise against driving it until you know what the problem is.
Low oil pressure could be something as simple as the oil pick up in the sump is clogged with carbon deposits, which is not uncommon in a diesel, at the other end it could be worn main bearings, or anything in between.
Problem is, until you know, every time you drive it you could be risking terminal engine failure. Either way, the blue smoke is indicative of it burning oil so the oil pressure light could merely be due to very little oil in the sump because its burned it all away.
But get it properly checked from cold.

Thanks Sam. I am good with most stuff and the rest of the car is fine, but engines are not my thing. I took the oil filler cap off when the engine was hot, anyone tell me if this is normal?

 2009 TDV8 3.6

Yes that's perfectly normal. However you have stumbled on a good way of telling if your piston rings are shot and that is why you're burning oil; if you start the engine with the cap off (Wrap a bit of rag around the filler neck), and just rest your fingers across the top of the filler neck where the cap would normally be. You should feel a light fluttering between your fingers which is normal, but if it seems to be blowing quite hard , or 'breathing heavily' in technical parlance, then it's a good indication of worn rings. What happens is that with every combustion cycle, some of the pressure caused by each of the explosions bleeds past the piston rings and over-pressurises the crankcase, and that pressure then tries to escape wherever it can, hence the term 'heavy breathing'. What also happens is the piston rings don't scrape all the oil back down the bores, and some of it gets past the rings, which then gets burnt on the next combustion cycle and you get blue smoke and an ever reducing amount of oil in your sump.
Keep in mind though that this is only one of many diagnostic steps you could take to determine the issue with yours, so if you don't feel the engine is breathing too heavy, that doesn't mean there's not something else wrong with it.

The saga continues, still getting the oil light on when idling. Read that it is probably the oil filter seal. This is what I found the locating lug of the filter hadn't fitted home and the filter was crushed when I fitted it. It is possible this has starved the turbos of oil and that is why there is smoke. I am getting a new filter today.

Kicking myself but it was the first TDV8 filter I had fitted, I didn't realise that it had not gone in correctly.

WBAC later today in all possibility.

Click image to enlarge

New Bosch filter has been fitted, seems much more robust that the ebay special. I still get the odd puff of smoke on starting, but the car is fine plenty of power. Still need to get my egr's mapped out. Just leaving this here for anyone else who screws up an oil filter install.

Went to look at a Model S that I was thinking about replacing the Range Rover with if I had killed the engine. When I got back in the RR I just thought, luxury. Hopefully my engine will hold out and a replacement is not necessary. 2009 TDV8 3.6

Is there just a puff of blue smoke initially on start up then goes back to normal? From experience I’ve found that that is valve stem seals passing oil into the cylinders. If you leave it for longer between start ups it generally gets a larger amount of smoke as more oil has seeped into the cylinder.
From what I understand if you leave it get worse you will eventually develop a miss fire as the engine will start to burn the oil between the intended ignition strokes of the engine.
Perhaps worth a google of the symptoms to see if they match what you have? Best of luck because it may be a top on rebuild just to replace £30 of valve stem seals.. 2011 RR Vogue 4.4 TDV8

Yes it does sound like it Bandit. I can live with the puff of smoke as the car doesn't get used a lot, is this going to be a terminal issue or can I just live with it do you think? Worse if left longer as you say. Thanks very much for the post! 2009 TDV8 3.6

I honestly couldn’t comment on if it would be a terminal issue. From what I understand of the issue it causes misfires especially as it’s a diesel. If it is your valve stem seals then there is cheap solutions such as valve stem seal conditioner. From what I understand the issue is caused by the seals going hard due to excessive heat so on your next oil change you could try replacing 1 litre of your oil with the conditioner and running it. The should soften the seals and remedy the issue.
I wouldn’t discount your turbo seals but puff of smoke on start up usually is stem seals especially as it seems to stop once the car is warm. I would get a few videos and show it to a specialist or any professional mechanic and see what they have to say.
In all honesty I would cut it loose with RR prices being how they are today. Let someone else have the headache... but there is cheap/ temporary solutions you could use in the mean time! 2011 RR Vogue 4.4 TDV8

Thanks really appreciated the input!

Just to add, because the oil light kept coming on I had overfilled it with oil. The dipstick is pretty rubbish and there is no digital gauge on a 3.6. Anyway sucked out about a litre, and it no longer smokes. So no surprise there then. All because of a cheap ebay filter, which kept illuminating the oil light.

I am still mulling over keeping it. We went to look at a Tesla Model S, got back in the L322 and went bloody hell this feels five times nicer than the S. And the boot is much bigger. Or I might be tempted by a T5. Hopefully the L322 will keep going and I will just keep it, but I do get the feeling of doom everytime I drive it. 2009 TDV8 3.6

Last edited by lostinespace on 31st May 2021 11:46am. Edited 1 time in total

Best of luck and hope you get sorted 👍
If you do find out what the issue was make sure you put it in a post for others in the future! If it’s happened to you I imagine others will follow..

All the best 2011 RR Vogue 4.4 TDV8

The RR Bandit wrote:

Is there just a puff of blue smoke initially on start up then goes back to normal? From experience I’ve found that that is valve stem seals passing oil into the cylinders. If you leave it for longer between start ups it generally gets a larger amount of smoke as more oil has seeped into the cylinder.
From what I understand if you leave it get worse you will eventually develop a miss fire as the engine will start to burn the oil between the intended ignition strokes of the engine.
Perhaps worth a google of the symptoms to see if they match what you have? Best of luck because it may be a top on rebuild just to replace £30 of valve stem seals..

My air filter was exactly the same and that’s why my turbos gave up on the motorway- £3k later fixed but painful experience- only had the car 2months prior 😂 2007 TDV8 Vogue SE
2005 BMW E63 645ci
2009 5.0 SC fatty
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