Under heavy acceleration / going over 3,000 RPM, my 3.6 TDV8 releases a nice cloud of soot diesel smoke (it releases one cloud then, it stops). The smoke is dark grey to black in colour and looks and smells like your typical diesel fume / soot.



There is no smoke or soot In normal driving or idling.



I've only ever had diesels with DPFs and therefore, Euro 5 and Euro 6 engines before and, they never release a cloud of soot except when on a regeneration.



My mechanic says a cloud of soot enshrouding the car behind when you suddenly accelerate hard is entirely normal on an older Euro 4 engine but, never having had it on more modern diesels, I'm not sure if it is normal.



So, is it normal? If it's not normal, what could it be / what needs cleaning out?

Not normal-has it ever been chipped?

I only bought the car a few months ago so, no idea if it's been chipped.

It recently had an oil leak. This was caused by a minor leak from a turbo hose and the rocker cover gaskets however, this has been fixed and no further oil leaks.

It seems to be diesel soot opposed to oil so, I'm looking at the air/fuel system so, springing to mind is:
- air filter (changing tomorrow as part of service)
- fuel filter (changing tomorrow as part of service)
- intake manifold (unlikely, as this was checked when the rocker cover gaskets were done)
- EGR valves - might just be worth remapping and switching them off
- a/the turbos - there's no particular noises from the turbos though and visually they're clean. I would expect a black smoke at most RPMs if it was a turbo
- injectors - there's no misfires, rough running or rough RPM so, also unlikely.

BUT we are talking about a 15 year old diesel here with no DPF. A quick cloud of soot of improperly burnt fuel as the engine adjusts the mixture when you suddenly accelerate... Is entirely plausible and it may be normal.

Black smoke is mostly an air leak on the intake somewhere, though it would do it every time I would have thought, not just once.

General crud coming out just once might happen if it’s stood a bit or needing a clear out.

Don’t have specific advice. Could be what’s left from your leak coming through?

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

The cloud is pretty much each and every time I floor it. Just a quick puff of soot and then it goes clear again. If the revs stay below around 3,000, there is no soot/smoke.

Intake manifold is a highly unlikely. Both sides were taken off by the garage and checked as part of the oil leak job. They would have told me if they were in poor condition or any cracks.

Sounds like I'm best to ask a 2nd opinion of a different garage.

You’re right to try a different mechanic as a visible cloud is not normal. If new filters don’t sort it, it drives OK and has no fault codes stored then a poor quality remap could cause your problem as some just dump a bit extra fuel which is what yours sounds like it’s doing.

garyRR wrote:

I only bought the car a few months ago so, no idea if it's been chipped.

It recently had an oil leak. This was caused by a minor leak from a turbo hose and the rocker cover gaskets however, this has been fixed and no further oil leaks.

cass wrote:

You’re right to try a different mechanic as a visible cloud is not normal. If new filters don’t sort it, it drives OK and has no fault codes stored then a poor quality remap could cause your problem as some just dump a bit extra fuel which is what yours sounds like it’s doing.

Chris1573 wrote:

garyRR wrote:

I only bought the car a few months ago so, no idea if it's been chipped.

It recently had an oil leak. This was caused by a minor leak from a turbo hose and the rocker cover gaskets however, this has been fixed and no further oil leaks.

Which turbo hose leaked oil... ?

Very interesting that 3 people have now suggested the cause as a remap / tuning box.

I will ask the garage if they can look today to rule out any kind of mechanical failure and their view if it could be engine mapping.

If it is a poor re-map, I will take the car to a tuning house and have a proper custom map loaded.

May have had an ECU remap ? I assume that with a diagnostic tool they can see if it has... L322 2007 TDV8 3.6

Gary
Fellow Hampshire owner here...Alive Tuning have a local rep in the form of Paul Redding at Advanced Factors in Southampton. Give him a call. Alive and Bell Auto are the 2 "go-to" for LR and R remaps.
My work mate's 110 ran like a bag of until Paul found it had a poor remap on it. He erased, loaded the Alive Tuning one and it runs like a sewing machine (on acid!) now
Rob Gone to a good home: 2011 4.4 TDV8 Vogue SE Buckingham Blue with Ivory and clear glass = "Rory"
New Defender D300 90
1974 Series 3 Lightweight = "Millie"
My preferred specialist: www.glenrands.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------

i had this on a grand cherokee 2.7TD once tried everything including a new turbo!!
the cause turned out to be MAF and Air temp sensor (The one in the induction system) i replaced those with new ones the car barely started then ran rough stalled then re-started some loud clicks as it adjusted (frightened me half to death) then settled and purred like a kitten. and more importantly no more smoke

i was stabbing in the dark trying to cure the fault as there was no mil on and no codes. 2012 Vogue 4.4 TDV8 - Current
2014 Navara V6 - Gone
2004 Vogue TD6 - Gone
Grand Cherokee - Gone
Discovery V8 (LPG) - Gone
Discovery TD5 - Gone

2nd garage, 2nd opinion.

The 2nd garage says what's coming out the back is normal and emissions are fine. He said he'd be concerned if it was constant but, it really only appears when the revs are heading towards the limiter, which he would expect on a diesel with no DPF.

Whilst I have the 4.4 TDV8, it still doesn’t sound right to me.

Perhaps, it just needs a good clear out and will be ok?

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport