nct fail for smoke

riverfiend

Story lads. My 2006 ford focus 1.6 td failed the nct for exhaust smoke. The reading was 5.8 I put dipetene in with the fuel. I went for a retest the next day and failed again with a reading of 4.3. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Tallon

When was it last serviced?

Have you had a mechanic look at it?

riverfiend

I had the car serviced about 10k ago. I have the car booked into ford on monday for an emissions test. Hope this will shed an inexpensive light on things.

sumo12

One day not enough for Dipetane to work. Get a full tank of diesel, the correct measure of dipetane, drive it hard (higher revs NOT faster - don't blame me for your penalty points!) Finish the tank, retest it, you'll be fine. If u really want to be sure, run it in to any dealer with a smoke tester after the tank is empty, should cost u no more than €20-€30 for a smoke test.

sumo12

riverfiend wrote: »

I had the car serviced about 10k ago. I have the car booked into ford on monday for an emissions test. Hope this will shed an inexpensive light on things.

Back off on that idea, what I suggest above is all they will do...

Nissan doctor

You would only consider the likes of Diptane when you have checked that there are no other faults with the engine.

High smoke on a diesel is a sign of either very high build up within the engine(caused by incorrect use of a diesel) or an issue with the air/fuel ratio, normally caused by a leak in the intake system.

On your particular engine, I'd be checking the pipe in the diagram below as its a very common failure.

SteveAdti

riverfiend wrote: »

Story lads. My 2006 ford focus 1.6 td failed the nct for exhaust smoke. The reading was 5.8 I put dipetene in with the fuel. I went for a retest the next day and failed again with a reading of 4.3. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Same happened me to my 08 focus tdci last week. Smoke of 7.8 limit was 3
Ford dealer advised dipetene and a hard days driving . Used a full tank of diesel in the next 3 days and dipetene and passed with smoke of 1.1 four days later

mullingar

SteveAdti wrote: »

Same happened me to my 08 focus tdci last week. Smoke of 7.8 limit was 3
Ford dealer advised dipetene and a hard days driving . Used a full tank of diesel in the next 3 days and dipetene and passed with smoke of 1.1 four days later

1.1 is still extremely high for that engine. My wife's 06 one passed with less than 0.3 and that's with the dpf filter removed.

JBokeh

Try accelerating with the accelerator flat to the floor a few times. It generally helps clear out the system,and wait for about 3500RPM to change gear when you're clearing it out. About 15 minutes of driving like you're a rally driver should do the trick. You'll see the smoke behind you in the mirror,and eventually see it clearing up.

A new air filter may help things too and is only a couple of quid

Swampy

Get a can of BG44k or BG diesel fuel conditioner. I have only ever used bg products do can't speak of others but the BG range are fantastic.

SteveAdti

SteveAdti wrote: »

Same happened me to my 08 focus tdci last week. Smoke of 7.8 limit was 3
Ford dealer advised dipetene and a hard days driving . Used a full tank of diesel in the next 3 days and dipetene and passed with smoke of 1.1 four days later

Should probably add that car has 169,000 kms on it done mostly at 50-60 kmh . Car was just choking with build up of carbon etc.. Ford Dealer smoke tested it and got 0.69 . Nct retest only revved the engine twice

LordSutch

riverfiend wrote: »

Story lads. My 2006 ford focus 1.6 td failed the nct for exhaust smoke. The reading was 5.8 I put dipetene in with the fuel. I went for a retest the next day and failed again with a reading of 4.3. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Different brand of 1.6 diesel, but same problem here, and the guy suggested having the exhaust looked at (maybe a buildup of soot in the Cat he said)?? but he wasn't too sure, and neither am I, but I am thinking more like having her plugged in and having a diagnostic done which should lead to the problem. There certainly is a lot of black soot round the end of my exhaust so something is amiss, no black puff though when I accelerate!

Funny the car passed though, because just as I took her away I noticed the rear wiper blade was in taters (when touched).

Due for a retest shortly.

Nissan doctor

LordSutch wrote: »

Different brand of 1.6 diesel, but same problem here, and the guy suggested having the exhaust looked at (maybe a buildup of soot in the Cat he said)?? but he wasn't too sure, and neither am I, but I am thinking more like having her plugged in and having a diagnostic done which should lead to the problem. There certainly is a lot of black soot round the end of my exhaust so something is amiss, no black puff though when I accelerate!

Funny the car passed though, because just as I took her away I noticed the rear wiper blade was in taters (when touched).

Due for a retest shortly.

What brand is it?

LordSutch

Peugeot 1.6 HDI 92bhp.

.... Same engine as the focus.

LordSutch

OK so whats the solution?

Getting a reading of 5.000/m instead of 3.00/m on the NCT 'FAIL' readout.

Nissan doctor

LordSutch wrote: »

Peugeot 1.6 HDI 92bhp.

Peugeot, citroen, ford, volvo all use the same 1.6 diesel engine.

All the same things listed above are best to check first.