Smokey Yeti

[NigOVO]

Hi folks, had my Yeti now for just over 7 months and I've notied on a few occasions that its quite smokey when pulling of say from a set of lights. The smoke is a greyish colour and theres quite a bit of it coming out. I serviced the car a few weeks back, changing the oil and filters and it went through the emmisions on the MOT fine so what could this be?

 

Thanks.

[Tedshred]

Which version and fuel

 

We used to have a diesel and this could just be the filter or burn off. The garage bought ours back as it kept going into limp as it would not regenerate the dpf on runs or forced 

 

I have a TSI and we do get a residual smoke sometimes more evident in cold and wet but so does all others I see passing. Like you we did not fail mot and not loosing oil or water and getting good mpg and keep a check vial fuelly 

Edited 14 May, 2018 by Tedshred

[weasley]

The ‘smoke’ you see from a TSi will be steam rather than smoke, perfectly normal, especially when cold.

 

Grey smoke could be steam or could be over-fuelling.  Really need to know what engine we’re talking about.

[muddyboots]

As the miles have increased on mine (170 TDI now at around 102k), I gradually started getting some smoke during DPF regens. It's greyish unburnt diesel smoke.

Only *ever* happens during a regen, and it's typically on light throttle or when idling in traffic. At times there can be thick clouds of it...

[Guest FurryFriend]

Glad you've just got your certificate.... But next year it will be a problem. 

 

As you probably already know, if it's a diesel, then as of May 20th this year, under the new MOT rules, ANY SMOKE of ANY COLOUR from a diesel car will result in an automatic fail. 

 

Seems very harsh. OK for people who can afford more modern, newer vehicles, but not much help to those on lower incomes who need to get around. 

 

Of course it wont affect politicians in taxpayer fuelled, chauffeur driven '18 plate limos..... And it doesn't matter what WE as drivers think about it either.  

 

Our headstrong daughter, against our advice not to, lease purchased a brand new Audi Diesel in 2017. Now that the first year of that lease is up, she wants rid, as her business needs have changed, but she can't give it away. Diesel is really not good news atm. 

 

Edited 14 May, 2018 by FurryFriend

[Tedshred]

It will be interesting to hear the failure stats and reasons.

 

Thats why we moved away to unleaded when we had the option on the buy back under garage warranty. 

 

I can live with the steam as its a known sight ☺

Edited 14 May, 2018 by Tedshred

[muddyjim]

5 hours ago, FurryFriend said:

ANY SMOKE of ANY COLOUR from a diesel car will result in an automatic fail. 

 

Just to be clear here, I understand this rule only applies if the car is fitted with a DPF. I believe all diesel Yetis do have a DPF, but some readers of this thread may have other earlier diesel cars which don't have a DPF, and different MOT rules apply.

 

Jim

Edited 14 May, 2018 by muddyjim

[Guest FurryFriend]

I was only talking about Skodas.

 

Here's what the Gov. Uk site says. 

 

A DPF captures and stores exhaust soot to reduce emissions from diesel cars.

Check your car’s handbook if you don’t know if your car has a DPF.

Your vehicle will get a major fault if the MOT tester:

• can see smoke of any colour coming from the exhaust
• finds evidence that the DPF has been tampered with

Edited 14 May, 2018 by FurryFriend

[Tedshred]

Mot  test guide

[muddyjim]

There are diesel Skodas that do not have a DPF; eg A 2010 Skoda Octavia 1.9 td. This particular new MOT rule will not apply to it.

 

This is what the new manual that comes into effect next week states:

 

Quote

Smoke opacity levels exceed the manufacturer’s specified limit.	Major
Smoke opacity levels exceed default limit	Major
Exhaust emits excessive smoke or vapour of any colour to an extent likely to obscure the vision of other road users	Dangerous
Exhaust on a vehicle fitted with a diesel particulate filter emits visible smoke of any colour	Major
Emissions test unable to be completed	Major
Emissions test aborted because smoke levels are significantly in excess of the specified limit values	Major
Engine MIL inoperative or indicating a malfunction	Major

 

 

[kenfowler3966]

That will catch out those who have removed their dpf from inside the housing!

[Guest FurryFriend]

They wouldn't do that would they.... 

 

[Sad555]

Not any more!!!!!!,!! When does the diesel scrappage scheme start?

[NigOVO]

Hey, sorry guys, just been reading the replies. It's a 2.0 tdi 140 bhp. Not smokey all the time but only now and then. 

[Tedshred]

FIngers crossed on the mot then as is a roll of the dice

[Ootohere]

The **** will really hit the fan if many under 10 year old Euro 5 Diesels or even just over 3 year olds can not pass a UK MOT because of visible smoke.

Be that those that have had The Fix or not had the fix but run on UK  / EU standard fuel and have had Main Dealer Servicing or are serviced to Manufacturers Schedule / Guidelines.

[gumdrop]

Premium Diesel and a long hard run before submitting for the MOT while still hot.

[muddyboots]

On 14/05/2018 at 21:43, NigOVO said:

Hey, sorry guys, just been reading the replies. It's a 2.0 tdi 140 bhp. Not smokey all the time but only now and then. 

 

Would be interesting to know if it's like mine - IE it only does it when there's a DPF regen occurring.

 

If so - then so long as it doesn't happen to be doing a regen at MOT time you should be OK (from an MOT point of view at least).

 

If you have an Android phone/tablet, then you can get yourself a cheap bluetooth OBD interface, plug it into the OBD port (tucked down below the driver's right knee) and use the "VAG DPF" app to see what's going on with the DPF. You can monitor soot levels, exhaust temps etc and know when a regen is going on.

 

Armed with this knowledge, I can - to a limited degree - "choose" when it's going to regen on my 40-mile commute. There are places where I don't want it to happen, for instance in the urban crawl near work, because it chucks out quite a bit of unburnt diesel smoke for the cars behind. If it looks like the soot levels are rising such that it will occur under those circumstances, I can give it some extra beans on the open rural stretches beforehand to cause the soot to rise enough for regen to be triggered, and get it out of the way during some steady-state driving on open roads.

 

I think the problem is that my DPF is near the end of life with a high ash volume, I should really look at swapping the DPF (I've found somewhere with a used low-mileage one, which I could probably get cleaned out to effectively zero ash prior to fitting). Reluctant to spend the money doing it though as I may not keep the car for too much longer.

[KenONeill]

And that poses another "interesting question" - Do the new MoT regulations actually provide that "in certain circumstances normal function of the vehicle shall cause it to fail testing"?

[muddyboots]

On 14/05/2018 at 16:02, kenfowler3966 said:

That will catch out those who have removed their dpf from inside the housing!

Maybe, maybe not.

 

I know a few people who've had their DPF gutted and there's no visible smoke until it's under heavy load at high RPM.

Given that the MOT test is done under zero load, and the ECU limits revs to 3k RPM when stood still, there's a very good chance of a pass from the smoke point of view.

If the cut/weld is done where it can't be seen when fitted to the car - and the DPF on these engines is tucked away in a very hard to see position down the back of the engine, with an undertray preventing viewing from underneath - it could still be a pass.

 

It'll probably make more people nervous of gutting DPFs, and reduce how many do it - but probably won't eradicate it.

 

I know if I chose to gut my DPF (I'm not, btw) then I know exactly where I could take it for an MOT and the tester wouldn't look too hard for evidence of tempering or a slight trace of "visible" smoke. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would have similarly amenable testers.

[muddyboots]

3 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

And that poses another "interesting question" - Do the new MoT regulations actually provide that "in certain circumstances normal function of the vehicle shall cause it to fail testing"?

I don't think the smoke from mine is "normal function" - it's the sign of a dying DPF....it shouldn't smoke!

[VAGCF]

3 hours ago, KenONeill said:

And that poses another "interesting question" - Do the new MoT regulations actually provide that "in certain circumstances normal function of the vehicle shall cause it to fail testing"?

One would hope that the testing stations would be clued up enough to know when modern diesels are doing a regen. and make allowances? Obviously, as well as visible smoke, the emissions readouts are going to be way off aren't they?

 

Shouldn't be a problem for me as for my cars I tie the MOT in with a main dealer service and they should definitely know (hopefully!) if it's doing a regen. and what to do.

 

The Yeti is due it's first MOT in a few weeks time so fingers crossed!

Edited 16 May, 2018 by VAGCF

[Sad555]

SMOKE???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? not a very technical term but an easy and cheap way to reduce the number of diesel cars.