Help - mystery over car breaking down! Mechanics/car "people" please help!

fusar

HI,

I was wanting to ask for some advice ...... my Ford Galaxy TDI 1.9 (V Reg), started emitting HUGE amounts of cloudy smoke after visiting a local supermarket petrol station. At first, I didn't have any idea of what was wrong with it, so managed to drive it about 2 miles home - smoking all the way. At home, my father had a look at it, and the accelarator started "over-accellerating", to the point where we had to take the key out to stop it. This happened about 3 times, lasting for a couple of seconds before the key was taken out at great speed. The car starts and ticks over fine, it just starts emitting smoke when the accelarator is pressed.

I had a mechanic over, and he thought that I had put petrol into the diesel engine - he tested this by taking some diesel out of his van, and doing a sniff test in comparison to what he had taken out of my car. I too had a go, and there was a slight difference (even to my un-trained nose!). So I immediately called the garage that I had bought it from, and they checked their system, confirming that I had correctly put diesel into my car and not petrol. The mechanic did a diagnostic test and the car came up as having no faults. I am at a loss as what this could now be? Could the supermarket have put the wrong fuel in the storage tank, and if so why am I (apparently) the only one to have qestioned it? Is there a more scientific way for us to check the fuel or is there any other cause that may have the same symptons? Any help would be gratefully received - thank you

roswell

lots of smoke would tend to point to petrol instead of diesel is it a white coloured smoke ? the easiest fix would be drain the tank and fill up with fresh diesel.

Chippy_Minton_2

Turbo on the way out or gone.

sabretoothtigger

Try decoking the cylinders with some stuff you can spray in the airtake, might be on offer at a garage and easy to try

Basically check all the basics first, all the easy things and the fuel as suggested would be an easy one.
Also try an italian tune up

Bad turbo would make it sluggish, how does it perform. Too much smoke suggests the mixture is wrong on one of the elements but I'd expect the car to bring up a fault code if anything big was wrong

fusar

Many thanks for you suggestions..... yes, the smoke is white and cloudy. Someone did mention maybe it was over-fueling andthe injector needs mending?? If the turbo has gone (no idea, as I don't tend to drive over 60 lol!), how much would it normally cost to fix?

ANy other suggestions welcome!

verityboo

If you put petrol in a diesel car it will normally cause it to stop completely (the wife has been there an done that!). The symptoms do not really seem to fit and i think it may just be a coincidence you had just filled up

I think the most likely explanation would be that a sensor on the engine or exhaust system has failed? The car is overfuelling the engine because it doesn't think there is enough fuel going in and hence revvvving like crazy?

MX5huggy

What Roswell in post 2 is saying is did you put Petrol in it by mistake instead of diesel? Have a smell of the filler hole, and look at your receipt to see what that says you put in.

The turbo is not just used as high speeds its used at higher revs ie over 3000 RPM

ozvaldinho

You might do well to check to see if your coolant tank is still full. Water leaking from a cracked cylinder head or failed head gasket can get vented down the exhaust and give white clouds and erratic running. Another symptom might be a very strong vacuum when you undo the header tank cap.
Also, beware the over-running thing, if the turbo has failed, this can draw bits of metal into the engine block and can make the difference between replacing the turbo or wrecking the whole engine.

asbokid

Chippy_Minton wrote: »

Turbo on the way out or gone.

that is where i would put my money too...

the bearings in the turbo shaft have worn out. The pressure is sucking oil from the sump, past the worn bearing, and into the cylinders where it is burned, creating a lot of smoke..

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

I would agree with some kind of oil leak. I'm quite surprised that taking the key out actually stops the engine.

BTW if the engine refuses to stop, open the bonnet and shove a coat or a jumper into the air intake quickly.

fusar

Thanks all,

Just a couple of quick questions... if the turbo has gone, how muc would it probably cost to get it sorted?