D4D Powerloss And Black Smoke

[Scotsman]

Hi,

I've had my Corolla E12 2.0 D4D for four years now. About three years ago I had a week where at random the car would not accelerate and would kick out a load of black smoke. It almost always happened pulling onto a roundabout or away from a junction. the were no light and no stored codes. The garage replaced the maf and also at my request the fuel filter. Problem gone.

A year later while on a dual carriageway it happened again. I eased of the throttle as I came up behind a car and when I went to reapply there was no response and black smoke was again being kicked out. I pulled over turned the car off then after a few minute I started the engine and pulled away fine. In the next five miles I had to do the same thing another two times.

I took it to my garage and they hooked up the diagnostics but could find nothing they test drove it and it was fine. Its been fine for the last 15 months until Tuesday when I did it again while I was driving homes.

I had to slow to pass a fallen tree and the car wouldn't pick up after for about half a mile. It was fine for the rest of the journey and was fine for my wife. The next morning it did it again just as I pulled onto a dual carriageway. It cleared itself until I got to the other end and had to pull onto a roundabout. It only just pulled away and limped all the way to the garage throwing black smoke out the whole way. This time the garage experienced it. Still no codes are stored and no dash lights. The car is still with the garage but hasn't did it since.

Sorry for the 'war and peace' post but has anyone any ideas as to what may cause this?

[mr-p]

id say it could be the SCV but it would normally bring on the EML light, as theres black smoke it could be the egr, turbo, not enough fuel pressure, faulty pump, injectors or something simple like a blocked air filter but would need to rule each of these out in turn

[dervdave]

Change the fuel filter again its a year since it was changed, it may be blocked again if you had a lot of *******/water in the tank.

Run some BG244 through it ?

[Scotsman]

Garage just been on the phone - They took it out again with diagnostics and got a spike in the MAF sensor reading when the power dropped. They ran the car with MAF disconnected and there was no occurrence power loss. They reconnected and the power loss happened again.

Its looking like a new MAF again.

[dervdave]

Garage just been on the phone - They took it out again with diagnostics and got a spike in the MAF sensor reading when the power dropped. They ran the car with MAF disconnected and there was no occurrence power loss. They reconnected and the power loss happened again.

Its looking like a new MAF again.

Why do they think the MAF should need replacing again after a year ?

[Scotsman]

They said when the problem occurred the only thing they noticed on the diagnostics when a big change in the MAF reading.

The MAF was changed three years ago.

[dervdave]

The MAF was changed three years ago.

Beg ya pudden I hadn`t read your post properly :)

Change the fiter and have a go at cleaning the MAF ?

Thats where I got it from, you said in the post title`Intermittant with a year in between`

[Uber_Luke]

I'm sure the loss of power and black smoke is down to the engine...

The fact it's a dirty diesel and not petrol

Oh no not this again ;(

[mr-p]

someones on fire tonight

[reidy]

The 2.0 D4D Corolla is a pants car

*waits for the **** to hit the fan

[CorollaD4D]

haha i agree the corolla 2.0d4d is a pants car, it's an honest car and to be if looked after properly the owner will probably die before that engine does. please for heavens sake lets not hijack this thread too! ;)

that problem is not being caused by the maf, and no i don't care what the diagnostic says. it's a combo of ****ty quality diesel, fuel filter needs changing, needs strong injector cleaner and a hard drive on the motorway to clear it out and burn the cr*p up. maybe worst case scenario change the SCV but deffo no way the MAF will give problems. unless you used a copy MAF if such a thing exists?

[Uber_Luke]

Yes, cheaper Maf sensors are available and people have had trouble with them before.

Definitely try corollad4d's 'clear out' drive before you invest any money into sorting it.

Are the fuel filters on diesels in the same location as the petrol (woop) model? Might be a mechanics job to change it if so.

[Scott Wiggins]

There are a lot of posts on here relating to loss of power and black smoke, indeed my own issue is still unresolved.

The main issue appears to be related to fuel quality. If you regularly fill up at cheaper stations or supermarkets apparently the poor fuel quality doesn't help. I was told to ensure I filled up with at least a regular grade fuel from a main stream company, e.g. Shell, Esso, BP, Texaco etc. not necessarily with V Power or Ultimate etc and that would prevent most problems.

I tried using the Forte Advanced Diesel Treatment but that didn't help as my car was too far gone, although it may help in your case as a follow up action; alternatively a tank of V power or ultimate.

I've had a replacement SCV now but it also looks like my ECU is playing up as the car is still showing high fuel pressure. The high pressure pump has been checked and ok.

The common themes and indeed those in the Toyota Trouble Shooting Guide I found on the internet are:

Fuel Filter

EGR

Injectors

MAF

SCV (Surge Control Valve)

Fuel Filter

High Pressure Pump

ECU

[Scotsman]

Since I've had the car I regularly use a diesel treatment. At least twice a year I treat with forte diesel treatment. I used BG244 earlier this year. The car passed it MOT two months ago and the week prior to it I ran some wurth diesel treatment. I often use Millers additive also.

In the 80K I've put on the car its had 4 fuel filters and two or three time a month I stay in the lower gears for extended periods to burn out the crud in the exhaust.

I do use ASDA fuel but that is because the car seems to drive better on it. Where I live there are a Morrisons, ASDA and a Shell garage all within throwing distance of each other and the price is the same for diesel but like I say the car seems to prefer ASDA.

[Rash@R.A.Motors]

May be a coincidence but i had a similar probelm literally 5 mins after 1/2 filling my Corolla 1.4 Diesel with Morrisons diesel. The car lost power and loads of black smoke. Had just got onto the motorway so rang my mechanic who said it muct have been some cr4p diesel so either keep driving or take fuel out. On hard shoulder car swithced off then back on and was good for 10 mins or so then same problem again.

I drove the car from Leeds to Luton where i was headed but noticed the lack of power come and go depending on the rev range. Anyway by time i did about 100 miles or so it was sorted. Filled up with VPOWER diesel on way back up and 200 miles return were trouble free..

Rash

[cabcurtains]

V-Power FTW, 5% more expensive and 5% better fuel economy (in my experience), so it costs the same and makes your car feel/drive better as Fifth Gear confirmed a couple of years ago. They also confirmed an additional 7BHP on a 150BHP Citroen C5 IIRC.

[CorollaD4D]

no way hose the car cannot feel better on asda diesel. and i wouldn't class texaco in the same league as Shell or bp because i just read somewhere someone posted "Shell, bp, texaco" texaco isn't in the same league. indeed when i use to work at tesco petrol station we were told morissons buy from texaco making morissons fuel the best of a bad bunch. use normal Shell diesel, v-power is not needed unless you have really deep pockets and care about your car loads and loads and loads!

and for whoever asked i think petrol filters are in the tank and don't usually need changing? but the diesel filter is a service item and so it in located under the bonnet, on the firewall directly inline with the Battery...

[Cyker]

I dunno, I know when I go back from V-Power to Sainsburys diesel the car feels like it has a bit more pull, but runs out of said pull earlier up the rev range than if I was using V-Power. Also, the engine tends to vibrate a lot more and is much noisier when cold

I find I prefer the higher low-end torque from my local Sainsburys diesel when I'm driving around town, but the V-Power is really nice on A-roads and motorways :D

If it is the MAF, it may be the airfilter is not doing its job properly or there is a crack somewhere that's letting in dirty air (And the OP sits behind busses and vans a lot like I do )

I'd try the V-Power + 'italian tune-up' option first tho'

[CorollaD4D]

personally i think that any sort of difference we feel in the drive of our cars through the fuel is in our minds...but knowing that good quality fuel or v-power/bp ultimate is better for the long term health of the engine is enough to make me use it.

[dervdave]

personally i think that any sort of difference we feel in the drive of our cars through the fuel is in our minds...but knowing that good quality fuel or v-power/bp ultimate is better for the long term health of the engine is enough to make me use it.

I`ve been driving long enough to disagree about noticing `differences in the feel` bearing in mind at only 7or 8p a litre more you not paying for rocket fuel and isn`t feasible to expect a huge difference. :)

My Verso is positively quieter, smoother and a touch more flexible.

When I had the Jag diesel things weren`t so noticable because the car was naturally so much quieter and powerful but there just the same and the DPF didn`t regenerate as often.

[CorollaD4D]

you may be right but my logic is there are so many variables, many out of our control to conduct a proper test though. i mean humidity, temperature, the condition/maintenance record of the car all influence the feel of it. my car is 54 plate with over 100K on the clock yet drives much better than my neighbours 2006 with around 80K on the clock.

one thing i do notice is that if i rarely put in supermarket fuel the car seems to drink it down whereas with branded fuels they seem to go on forever. i think i'm going to switch to v-power diesel fulltime for a bit see if i can notice any difference in my car.

another thing i have noticed is my engine sounds like a bag of nails if i use copy oil filters, it's much quieter and smoother with a toyota oil filter in.

[dervdave]

I forget to add that I also believe those who can`t tell any difference, it probably not only depends on the person but also the car

You have of course seen the 5th Gear diesel test that revealed premium diesels gave an extra 6 bhp ?

Oil filters ? I remember some pattern filters didn`t have a non return valve in the bottom and caused a few cold start oil issues.

[CorollaD4D]

i filled up with v-power yesterday so i'll see how it goes. due to working fulltime and running a business on the side i hardly drive my car now, the amount i'm now driving i can probably afford to run a m5 lol! she gets valeted every sunday and it's usually friday before she comes out of her garage again.

[dervdave]

i hardly drive my car now, the amount i'm now driving i can probably afford to run a m5 lol!

Same here :)

[Mistermena]

I forget to add that I also believe those who can`t tell any difference, it probably not only depends on the person but also the car

You have of course seen the 5th Gear diesel test that revealed premium diesels gave an extra 6 bhp ?

Oil filters ? I remember some pattern filters didn`t have a non return valve in the bottom and caused a few cold start oil issues.

Great post mate with the 5th gear crowd. What most of us have been saying all along that fuels Like V-Power really does work. And when you join the V-Power club you get money off vouchers so the cost isn't that far from "Normal" derv plus you get more mpg out of the Super Fuels.I know what I'll continue to use!