[dazmond]

sometimes when i start my van in the morning there is loads of black smoke coming out of the exhaust.a few revs of the engine clears it and then its fine for a few days.leaves a black spot on my drive!

is it because i hardly do any mileage?i average about 10-12 miles a day.a few stops and starts.thats it.then it gets left usually for a few days over the weekend.

ive got an 05 connect T230.its just done 100,000 miles.

often the van doesnt even get  up to operating temperature before im at my first job.

any thoughts guys from you ex mechanics?

[Mike #1]

Yup defo short runs causing issue blast it up and down the motorway once a month aand whack some Diesel cleaner in the tank .

[Dave Willis]

Put 100ml of VISION in the fuel tank 

[LWC]

Put 100ml of VISION in the fuel tank 

I was gonna say that lol 

[andyM]

Could be an injector issue?

[Don Kee]

Give it a good 30min run out, in relatively high rpm and it should be fine

[chris turner]

Serviced recently? That would be first thing to do.
Is it the original cat convertor? Chuck some cataclean in see if that helps, cat may be all chocked up.
As someone else mentioned stick some fuel cleaner in, not redex though that's junk, go for the more expensive stuff, wynnes maybe.
Clean out the egr valve, unless it's been blanked off. Egr are notorious for getting clogged up, I clean mine out once a year.
Does it start first time? If 1 or more glow plugs arnt working it can have these symptoms as engine isn't igniting fully.

[Michael Peterson]

good answer above, when did you service it? how hard are you revving it, because the turbo will shoot out black once and it would seem as though you have shot it out but its just the turbo. and some vans just give off soot especially in the cold !
believe it or not black smoke is generally not that bad :-) 

[Michael Peterson]

just a thought, quite an important one actually,

check if you have a dpf (diesel particulate filter) they came in around your vans age but you might have just missed it.

if you have short journeys like you are doing will clog it up you need to thrash it on a motorway for a few mins every week becuas ethey are expensive to fix

[dazmond]

starts first time since ive fitted a new alternator,starter motor and battery.had it since april last year,never serviced it.

i think ill get it booked in at the garage for a service once ive MOT d my car on monday.

it runs fine at the moment.

i put 4 new tyres on it when i bought it and had the cambelt changed.thats it and the above.

[Michael Peterson]

you need to drive that van a bit more mate, they are made to be worked, you will come across annoying running issues if you don't

[dazmond]

just a thought, quite an important one actually,

check if you have a dpf (diesel particulate filter) they came in around your vans age but you might have just missed it.

if you have short journeys like you are doing will clog it up you need to thrash it on a motorway for a few mins every week becuas ethey are expensive to fix

yeah its got a dpf mate

[duncan h]

Stick some redex in and give it a blast down motorway for a few hours. Then come back to us again

[Michael Peterson]

never serviced it, I would say that's your problem right there, diesels are not like petrols that will just run badly if you don't service them, if you don't service a van it will stop and never run again.

you need that oil changed at least asap keep good oil in the van it lubricates the engine and is the blood of the car, you will notice a lot of difference after a service, the soot is probably old oil burning poorly, cleaner newer oil should sort that problem, the fuel filter will help as well with cleaner running, and the nice new oil that you put in will flow smoothly through your new oil filter,
you are probably looking at around 200 for a decent garage to do a good service on it, you really need to do this

[Michael Peterson]

look up dpf dazmond, they cause problems driving like you are at the mo, you talking at least a grand if that clogs up mate,

[robert mitchell]

any vehicle with a dpf will have problems if you don't take it for a proper run and get it fully up to temp for a while , they are renowned for it .

[dazmond]

cheers guys.

michael i only serviced my last van once in 4 years!(kangoo)and it had 140,000 on the clock and it was 14 years old when i sold it last april!

hardly ever had a problem with it.

ill get this one booked in though at the end of the month.

[Mike #1]

Stick some redex in and give it a blast down motorway for a few hours. Then come back to us again

No No No Redex is so crap , So dpf can become an absolute nightmare last motor we had the light for dpf came on every 2wks had to drive around for about 30 mins got rid after 6 months .

[chris turner]

Service it yourself dazmond, I done my recently for under £40, new oil/filter, new fuel filter, air filter, cleaned egr, flushed water and topped up with freeze antifreeze.
Took around 3 hours and at least I know it's all been done, you never know with garages these days.
Check eurocarparts and halfords for the best deals and always use fully synthetic oil.

[duncan h]

Stick some redex in and give it a blast down motorway for a few hours. Then come back to us again

No No No Redex is so crap , So dpf can become an absolute nightmare last motor we had the light for dpf came on every 2wks had to drive around for about 30 mins got rid after 6 months .

It got my car through MOT and its filled garage with smoke. I think its great stuff. Vision in a bottle