Peugeot 406 TD Black Smoke Burning Oil, 145k miles?

Question

Hi there!

I recently posted a question regarding my Peugeot 406TD. Fresh air standing; even with revs, once moving though, there is alot of black smoke. There is more black smoke when the turbo kicks in. The engine runs like new, but the fuel consumption is poor considering a desiel albeit TD, around 32mpg around the doors. The temperature gauge is fine and rarely goes over half way and when it does, it goes down quickly when the fan cuts in.

I have changed the oil filter and done oil change, changed air filter and fuel filter and used an injector additive.

anyway, the latest development is that i have noticed that the oil level on the dip stick has went from full (when the oil and filter change was done) to half way in the space of around 10 days.

The advice i am getting is that it is the piston ring(s). Is this the most likely cause? any other suggestions? My rev counter is very iffy and only works 20% of the time.. could the problem be electrically connected? Chris

Answer 1

There's a good chance it's not the rings. If you're pumping too much fuel into the cylinders it will wash the oil from the walls and make for high oil consumption. A compression test will tell you if the rings are bad.
An electrical problem could be the cause. It could be causing the injectors to not close fast enough. One common problem is a bad ground wire between the engine and the frame. Since the battery and alternator are grounded to the engine and most other stuff is grounded to the frame, if there isn't a good connection between the two, the electrical stuff all goes crazy.

Answer 2

Hi The broken cable will be the cold start fast idle cable. It should be connected to the fuel pump accelerator spindle at one end, and to the cold start thermo unit at the other end which in turn has coolant hoses attached to it in order that coolant passes through the unit. If the coolant is cold the thermal unit will pull the fast idle cable about 5mm, and gradually let it move back as the coolant gets hot. I would assume the car does not start very well which would explain the smoke and the first thing I would do is renew the borken cable and see if it helps matters. Otherwise the most likely cause of the smoke on start up is dripping injectors or faulty glow plugs. You do not tell us what colour the smoke is or whether or not the car starts okay, but the above will do you for starters. Cheers Geordie

Answer 3

I think your problem is that you are adding too much oil to your engine. And the black smoke is your engine burning it off find out the correct amount to add and do another oil change.

Answer 4

Black smoke is usually from fuel, not oil.
Blue/gray is from oil.
Sounds like you have a fuel problem.

Answer 5

Worn out turbo shaft bushing. Expect about $1,500 worth of repairs.