Rav4 2.2 Diesel - Lack Of Power / Black Smoke / Misfiring Feeling

[PumaWestie]

Long story but bought a 2006 2.2 diesel RAV4 at end of last year, Soon discovered that it didn't go very well. Felt like misfiring and low on power plus lots of black smoke and hesitancy on acceleration- no dash warning lights though.

Cleaned EGR valve but made no difference. Ran for a few days and checked EGR again and it was choked again

Took it back to dealer (not main dealer) and they replaced turbo which improved things but still hesitant on acceleration. However, they then had inlet manifold cleaned and it improved further

Got car back after 4 weeks without and within 50 miles it was back to how it was at start with black smoke, lack of power, misfiring feeling, hesitancy but now got dash warning lights on saying "Check Engine System" and "Check 4WD system"

Anyone got any ideas?

[Awebb180]

First step is get the codes read and start tracing back from there.

As other people will say, change the fuel filter first. Could be anything from fuel pump through scv kit.

Alex

[gjnorthall]

Fouling of the EGR within a few days of cleaning is concerning. Does the engine consume much oil. As already pointed out - the fault codes will give some pointers. How many miles on the clock and has the engine been replaced under warranty (a Toyota dealer will tell you from the VIN)

[PumaWestie]

Thanks for the replies

The car has 104k on the clock which I thought was nothing for a largish capacity diesel these days?

The fuel filter has been changed

Before the turbo was replaced, the car did use a lot of oil but that seems to have stemmed since the turbo was changed as I suspect an oil seal had gone on it causing blow by into the exhaust. I am aware of the engine replacement policy but it was over the 7 years and did not have full service history (it stopped at 60k) so Toyota weren't interested.

Will get fault codes read as a matter of course as soon as I can

3 main questions

1) Can EGR valve fail to an extent that it will cause these symptoms?

2) Can the fuel pump cause fuel to get into the crankcase oil? (for some reason my senses are telling me that the oil is dirtying and thinning as if diluting with fuel)

3) Would the engine just being in limp mode cause the 4WD warning to come on or is it likely that that is unrelated and there's another fault?

Thanks so far

[gjnorthall]

- The EGR (+ manifold fouling etc) might be contributing but wouldn't be wholly responsible for all the issues.

- Oil dilution usually occurs with over-fuelling / engine wear. These factors may also cause black smoke

- The various warning messages usually come up with a fault code so I wouldn't be concerned. Important you get the code.

[PumaWestie]

Thank you for replying. I have spent a couple of hours on it again this morning myself. I have removed and cleaned the EGR valve again but this time made a blanking plate and blanked it off at the head end of the feed pipe. Whilst I was doing that I had the Battery disconnected and now the car runs without the warning lights on and revs cleanly. I'm just having lunch and will then go for a ride to see if it behaves. I have also just put some Forte diesel treatment in the fuel to try and clean the engine internally a bit

I suspect deep down that the engine is badly carboned up and was just feeding itself dirty air and getting worse and worse in a viscous circle.

Will let you know later after a run.out. Fingers crossed

[PumaWestie]

Took it for a run out this afternoon and did around 40 miles. MPG is up to around 38.5 average (from 31 prior to the limp mode episode) and power / torque seems the best its ever been. Obviously need to keep an eye on things but so far so good and no repeat of warning lights and lack of power. Thanks for the replies.

[gjnorthall]

You've probably picked it up elsewhere on the forum but supermarket diesel can cause issues and it's best to stick to top brands such as Shell, Esso, BP

[blackcts]

Are you using low ash engine oil? 5w30 or 0w30 C2 oil? This may help reduce the carbon build up.

[PumaWestie]

Thanks for the suggestions - yes using low ash oil but who knows what the previous owner used.

[the fox]

sounds like it needs a good hammering down the motorway, I would give it a good oil change and keep the EGR blanked sounds like it's burning a bit and causing sooting, if the old owner did short runs it may clean itself, good luck

[bigend]

nought wrong with supermarket diesel.

Keith

[kencat]

Unfortunate the soot gets hammered into the head and pushes the head gasket out off place , so driving it Hard maybe worse 4 it , sorry thay do seam 2 have big problems with the older 2.2 d4d ,( if any of you got indicators in the mirrors your ok, later engine )