White smoke when on incline or travelling at high speeds

[jonimac33]

looking for some advice. a month ago i bought a 2011 rav4 with 41k miles and full service history.

ive noticed that when im travelling at high speed (especially on an incline) or when i accelerate hard that i get a noticeable amount of white looking smoke out the exhaust that i can see in my rear view. it doesnt do it when idling or when driving at slower speeds, or when my foot is not on the accelerator pedal. so it seems to be when my car needs a boost. i do not lose power, and my temperature guage is normal.

my mechanic seems to think its just the turbo kicking in and its more noticeable in the current colder weather. another friend thinks it could be the turbo vanes clogged/dirty and that i should clean out the fuel system and turbo with a cleaner.

any suggestions?

[philip42h]

It could well be nothing more than signs of a DPF regen (which is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about) - see: toyota: understanding your diesel particulate filter

Exactly which model / engine do you have? Does it continue to occur after you have taken the car on a good long drive?

[jonimac33]

its the 2.2 diesel Automatic 2011 model. i dont really know much more than that about what type engine it is. i took it to the lake district over christmas. 2hr drive there, and 2hrs back. including motorway driving. it still does it after that. but as i say, it only seems to do it when i really put my foot down, or if im on a slight incline, or when im travelling around 70mph. doesnt usually last for more than a minute or two. and stops instantly when i take my foot off the accelerator. 

[Cyker]

If it is quite dense like airshow smoke, it's probably DPF regen. If it starts and stops randomly while you're driving at a constant speed, almost certainly DPF regen.

If it's wispier, like petrol exhaust, it's probably just steam being produced from the extra fuel burned. If it only does it under load and when it's cold, and stops very quickly once you lift off, it's probably this.


Unlike my Mk2 petrol Yaris, which just steams all the time when it's cold, my old diesel one produced no visible exhaust most of the time. The exception was if I was giving it the beans in winter - it would produce visible steam like petrol exhaust when I was accelerating!

[jonimac33]

27 minutes ago, Cyker said:

If it is quite dense like airshow smoke, it's probably DPF regen. If it starts and stops randomly while you're driving at a constant speed, almost certainly DPF regen.

If it's wispier, like petrol exhaust, it's probably just steam being produced from the extra fuel burned. If it only does it under load and when it's cold, and stops very quickly once you lift off, it's probably this.


Unlike my Mk2 petrol Yaris, which just steams all the time when it's cold, my old diesel one produced no visible exhaust most of the time. The exception was if I was giving it the beans in winter - it would produce visible steam like petrol exhaust when I was accelerating!

 

it does seem to start and stop randomly when driving at constant speeds (usually faster speeds, never slower speeds). so perhaps it is DPF regen. 

however the second suggestion also sounds very possible, as it does seem to stop very quickly when i lift my foot off the pedal. so it could be that too.

thanks for the suggestions!

[philip42h]

 

1 hour ago, jonimac33 said:

its the 2.2 diesel Automatic 2011 model. i dont really know much more than that about what type engine it is. i took it to the lake district over christmas. 2hr drive there, and 2hrs back. including motorway driving. it still does it after that. but as i say, it only seems to do it when i really put my foot down, or if im on a slight incline, or when im travelling around 70mph. doesnt usually last for more than a minute or two. and stops instantly when i take my foot off the accelerator. 

If it's an auto, its almost certainly a 2.2 D-CAT as opposed to the 2.2 D4D engine - the D-CAT includes the 5th injector and DPNR system to reduces the emissions from diesel auto to acceptable Euro 5 levels. But it does mean the system works harder at the cleaning task and has more to do when the regen is required.

41,000 miles isn't a lot for a 6 or 7 year old car and suggests that it may have been used for shorter journeys. If a diesel RAV is taken for regular, longer journeys (e.g. half an hour up the motorway at least once a week) you may never actually notice the regen process - it'll just happen quietly as you go along. If the majority of the driving is on shorter journeys around town you may detect a 'hot smell' when parking up (the regen having been started but interrupted) and/or the clouds of white 'smoke'.

It is well worth using premium diesel fuel (e.g. Shell V-Power Nitro) as the additives do help. Many will suggest that you avoid unbranded fuel altogether.

With regular use and good quality fuel the 'smoke' problem should reduce / go away altogether but it probably wouldn't hurt to put through a tankful with a suitable treatment / cleaner (I believe that Archoil AR6400-D MAX has been recommended by others).

[jonimac33]

10 minutes ago, philip42h said:

 

If it's an auto, its almost certainly a 2.2 D-CAT as opposed to the 2.2 D4D engine - the D-CAT includes the 5th injector and DPNR system to reduces the emissions from diesel auto to acceptable Euro 5 levels. But it does mean the system works harder at the cleaning task and has more to do when the regen is required.

41,000 miles isn't a lot for a 6 or 7 year old car and suggests that it may have been used for shorter journeys. If a diesel RAV is taken for regular, longer journeys (e.g. half an hour up the motorway at least once a week) you may never actually notice the regen process - it'll just happen quietly as you go along. If the majority of the driving is on shorter journeys around town you may detect a 'hot smell' when parking up (the regen having been started but interrupted) and/or the clouds of white 'smoke'.

It is well worth using premium diesel fuel (e.g. Shell V-Power Nitro) as the additives do help. Many will suggest that you avoid unbranded fuel altogether.

With regular use and good quality fuel the 'smoke' problem should reduce / go away altogether but it probably wouldn't hurt to put through a tankful with a suitable treatment / cleaner (I believe that Archoil AR6400-D MAX has been recommended by others).

thanks for the advice, yes i think you are probably right, since it has such low miles for a 2011 car, it probably was used for short trips. i have been recommended by a friend to buy a set of 3 cleaners made by Forté. 

one is DPF cleaner, 2nd is Turbo cleaner, and 3rd is Diesel cleaner. 

this is a link to the set, they seem to have very good reviews:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00I0930MI/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1515257792&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=forte+diesel+cleaner

 

[152bobby]

Mine is the 2.2 D-Cat Auto 2011 and mine does this every so often and it is indeed the "auto regen" doing what it should do.

It worried me at first until I learned about it

[jonimac33]

1 hour ago, BobbyMcLeish said:

Mine is the 2.2 D-Cat Auto 2011 and mine does this every so often and it is indeed the "auto regen" doing what it should do.

It worried me at first until I learned about it

hi bobby

thanks for responding. was there any pattern as to when it was happening? e.g at higher speeds only.

as i say, mine only does it when im travelling at higher speeds once the engine has warmed up. never does it at lower speeds. and normally only lasts a minute or so. sometimes less. 

[152bobby]

Mine is the 2.2 D-Cat Auto 2011 and mine does this every so often and it is indeed the "auto regen" doing what it should do.

It worried me at first until I learned about it

 

The auto regen should only happen when the the engine/inside of the exhaust system is at a certain temperature, because it burns off all the build up of crap and blows it out of the exhaust.

As it only happens for a very quick period, I guess I don't always see it unless I am look in my rearview mirror at the exact same time as it happens.  However, when I have noticed it, it's been after I have been driving a while and everything is hot, never when cold.  It's happened when I have pulled away at a junction or just coasting along the motorway.

This is my simple interpretation of what I have learned with mine and the Toyota technicians.

Hope it helps.