Hi all, had my Octavia for just over a month now. 1.9tdi 90hp estate. 

 

Yesterday when I started it from cold I noticed some light greyish smoke which cleared after a couple of minutes. 

 

However today it was clean from the start.

 

Any ideas what it could be? 

 

I'm handy with the spanners but more familiar with 90s bmw :-) 

@Paddythedj It's most likely the glowplugs, particularly if the smoke smelt of diesel and/or ran like it had a bad misfire for the first few seconds.

 

The car will probably start properly and run for years like this since it's a direct injection engine.

Couldn't tell the smell but yeah it does run lumpy for a few seconds or till I blip the throttle a little. Just for reference, how long should the glow plug light stay on for on ignition? Cheers for the response, it's put my mind more at ease that it's nothing major. 

@Paddythedj - I've never timed the plug light properly, but if you switch on then put your seatbelt on, the light should be out, and it shouldn't normally stay on longer than the other BITE lights at switch on.

 

What you're feeling as rough is late combustion in one or more cold cylinders, which is also where the diesel smell and white smoke come from.