Sludged Intake Manifold on Ford Fiesta 1.4TDCi - PLEASE HELP

[John506]

When changing the injector seals on my 1.4TDCi, my intake manifolds were choked up with sludgy black oily deposit.

The car has only done 23,000 miles, but since I last changed the oil, the oil level has dropped. (I over filled ever so slightly when I changed it by mistake)

Could there be a leak somewhere?

The Turbo also had a little puddle of like a black watery liquid sitting just inside were the pipe connects.

The symptoms this is giving off is my car is shuddering every now and again when I accelerate.

Could someone please give some advice, thanks!

 

[Burnerman]

At this point, I wouldn't worry too much about it.....turbo pipes and manifolds on diesels are remarkably dirty, where you could expect them to be clean.
This is often due to crankcase fumes being drawn into the combustion air, and condensing out. The EGR system adds to this as well.
Anyway, so long as your car isn't producing a constant stream of smoke from the exhaust, the turbo is likely to be ok, but change the oil and filter, get the level exactly correct and monitor its oil consumption for the next 6000 miles. Personally if it only uses between 1/2 and 1 litre of oil I wouldn't worry too much.
I have had issues with injector seals on these - usually all you need to change is the thick copper washer but just on occasion the well that the injector sits in fills up with diesel. Not good!
John

 

[John506]

I get a big blast of white smoke when I start it from cold, thanks, I will change the oil and filter asap.

I didn't clean the manifolds out too much as I was in the dark with a mate, with 2 halogen lights hanging from my bonnet and wanted to put the car back together to get home, would you recommend me taking to rocker cover back off and cleaning it all out?

I haven't looked yet, but do you suspect my EGR and EGR Pipe to be all sludged up too?

Thanks for the reply

 

[Burnerman]

I don't think its worth taking the rocker cover off really, but you will find grot in the EGR and its pipes so its worth giving them a clean - it could well be the cause of the white smoke too.
What an awful engine these are to work on!
John

 

[birkee]

I'm too wrinkly to be up to date on vehicle design these days, but.....

In the old days, overfilling with oil, would almost guarantee oil seal failures. Maybe several.
Clouds of smoke when starting? Oil in cylinders, quickly burnt off, but signs of worse to come. i.e. Oil getting on injectors and preventing starting.

Oil in manifolds? Blown out of cylinders?

Oil seal leaks never heal on their own, they just get worse.

 

[Burnerman]

As the oil traces are in the inlet manifolds (where theoretically you'd least expect them) the oil must come from the turbo seals, crankcase breathers or EGR systems. Indeed, you'd be surprised how grotty things get in there, even when the car is almost new. The turbo bearings are actually floating types which rely on high oil pressure. If you waggle the vanes on a dry turbo, there's so much movement that you'd think the thing was completely knackered.
The 1.4 Tdci actually tends to fill up the wells that the injectors are in with neat fuel, and new seals doesn't always give a cure.
We'll see if we get an update!
John

 

[pompeyal]

White smoke (steam) = Water
Blue smoke = Oil
Black smoke = Over fueling

Are you doing lots of short journeys..? If so it is probably a build up of condensation in the engine and exhaust system, during cold periods this is quite common. Try to take the vehicle on a long journey, this will evaporate this build up of condensation and clear you problem.