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Engine & running faults

Blue smoke from the exhaust

Blue smoke points at oil reaching the combustion chamber or exhaust. When it appears — start-up, overrun or under boost — narrows the cause.

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Symptoms drivers describe

  • Blue-grey smoke, often on start-up or when lifting off
  • Oil consumption between services
  • Oily residue in the intake or intercooler pipework
  • Loss of power on turbo engines

Possible causes

  • Turbo shaft seal wear
  • Worn valve guides or stem seals
  • Worn piston rings or bore wear
  • A blocked or faulty crankcase breather system
  • Overfilled engine oil

What you can do

  • Check the oil level and note how much it uses between top-ups
  • Note when the smoke appears — cold, hot, or under acceleration
  • Avoid hard driving until the cause is known

How we check it in the workshop

We inspect the intake and turbo for oil, check breather operation and crankcase pressure, and carry out compression or leak-down testing where indicated.

Is it safe to keep driving?

Have it diagnosed. Oil burning can be a wearing turbo, and a turbo failure can send debris into the engine.

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How we can help

Turbo ReplacementTurbo failure often has an underlying cause. Oil supply, restriction and boost control are checked first — otherwise the new turbo goes the same way as the old one.Read more Engine DiagnosticsEngine faults are usually a chain of events rather than a single broken part. We test fuelling, ignition, air, compression and control signals to find where the chain breaks.Read more Engine Repairs in IverEngine faults are where guesswork gets expensive. We test, measure and read live data before anything is replaced.Read more

Engine & running faults

Other symptoms in this group

Car stuck in limp modeLimp mode is a protection strategy, not a fault in itself. The control unit has seen a reading it does not trust and has reduced power to keep things safe.Read more White smoke from the exhaustColour, smell and whether the smoke clears once warm are what separate normal condensation from a coolant or fuelling problem.Read more Black smoke from a diesel exhaustBlack smoke is unburnt fuel. On a modern diesel with a DPF it usually also means extra soot heading into the filter.Read more Car losing power when acceleratingLoss of power is either a fuelling, air or protection issue. Live data under load is what separates them rather than guesswork.Read more Car cutting out while drivingIntermittent cut-outs are among the most important faults to record properly, because the evidence disappears the moment the engine restarts.Read more Car overheating or temperature gauge risingOverheating is one of the few faults where what you do in the next few minutes decides whether it stays a small repair.Read more

Want this looked at properly?

Send us your registration and describe the symptoms — we will tell you what the next step is.

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