Hi All

My 2002 Octavia 110 bhp tdi (174000 miles) has become smokey lately, If i accelerate hard it will leave black soot lines on the road and cloud behind it, Otherwise it runs and drives fine, i am thinking of having the engine cleaned maybe terraclean as i wonder if the injectors are going bad or the egr valve playing up ? The egr valve will stick open after a run and i have to push it closed then it starts fine, the turbo is also sticky with the vanes, unfortunately these days i drive round town more than i used which doesnt help.

Any thoughts on what maybe the problem ?

Edited 17 July, 20178 yr by imperial21

Well, if it's black smoking then it's running rich, which strongly suggests low boost (the exact opposite of sticky vanes) and/or leaky injectors.

I think the "egr"  you are pushing is actually the antishudder "flap" and not the egr part of the valve  if the flap is sticking then the throat of the egr portion will be badly choked up and maybe the inlet too,   whilst injector cleaner would be good --it really needs the egr VALVE and maybe the manifold off and cleaning  out,   wouldn't bother mr muscle etc 

Thanks for the replies, I did clean out what i was calling the egr area with a tooth brush and brake clean which made it run a bit better, as i said i am thinking of having the engine chemically cleaned.

Mr Muscle treatment?

I stripped the egress and inlet manifold off the car, cleaned it as the egress in particular was manky! But no improvement, I also repaired a bad vacuum pipe.