2011 Dcat White smoke problem

[threepot]

I ran all the pilot injector calibration routine in the Utility part of techstream after it had warmed up after a little drive, the corrections have come right down to -0.1 and +0.1 across all 4 cylinders.

It runs better than ever, ticks over smoother, less noise, and it drives better than ever. Picks up quicker and has more power than ever before!

[lilpopjim]

Oh that's interesting. Would you think it's a good idea for me to run something like that?

What does that utility do? Reset the short term AND long term fuel trims? 

I think I'll do this as well. My corrections sit around .4 to .8

[threepot]

It adjusts the pilot values. It goes into a learn mode where the glow plug light flashes.

You have to rev it up to 3000rpm over and over again until the light stops flashing.

It adjusts the pre injector values to reduce knock, and make the cylinders balance each other power wise by adjusting the trim values.

[lilpopjim]

Ahhh that's interesting. I'll have to poke around for it then. Be interesting to see what it does to my car.

Tha is for letting me know

[lilpopjim]

Well... 250 miles later My issues seems to have solved itself.. A slight puff here and there but only a puff and thats all.. No James bond smoke screen as someone said on this forum once.

It seems to be getting better and better. It's clearing up and i'm glad.. Was it the bottle of Reddex or the resetting of the ECU? Maybe both but who cares, the engine seems fine!

Millage is coming back to where it was before as well. I done a run a couple weeks ago and managed 84 miles before the first notch dropped on the fuel level (constant speed at 5am on a Saturday morning). Before it would drop 1 notch at around 120-150 depending on my driving.  This time it dropped a notch at 114 miles so its getting better. On that same 300 mile run a few weeks ago, somehow it managed 350 miles to a tank. Last time I done a run like that I got 450+ miles to a tank..  So i'm glad fuel consumption seems to be restored. 

I also couldn't find the function in the utility section of techstream that you mentioned. Maybe you can't initiate it through this version or my ECU version simply doesn't support the function?

Either way the cars back to how it was. Whoopie!  (touches everything made of wood around me).

[lilpopjim]

Small update. I still get smoke here and there but it's more due to a rough start. Car will fire up in two turns like usual but will have a lumpy idle for a few seconds. I pulled the glow plugs out and checked them on a jump pack, they're absolutely fine. I checked the fuse in the engine bay and that's fine, though i'll double check that.. I still get a bit of smoke when its warming up though.. Absolutely fine once up to temp. Never smokes. Is there a glow plug relay? Tried searching but can't find anything.

I'll do a 3 mile trip to the gym and its fine, but on the way back it'll start smoking, as some heat gets into the engine. Whether this is because of possible failed glow plugs (as I understand it they stay on whilst the engine is heating up in cold weather to aid combustion and heating for a few minutes) or maybe the 5th injector is leaking I don't know. I was thinking it was smoking a little bit once the manifold got hot enough to start burning off the excess diesel, left over from combustion or the leaking 5th injector. I'll clamp off the injector like you did and see if it smokes in the mornings.

I investigated further and found that, well... from what I can tell my injector codes are all completely wrong. Take a look. No idea why its like this. I'm going to upload the actual codes as per the injectors themselves say, and see what happens. I'll double check before I do of course.

[lilpopjim]

Well the proper codes have been injected into the ECU. The car fired up dead cold without any puff of smoke or any lumpy idle, like it usually does. Absolutely no smoke whilst driving during warm up and nothing at all whilst full throttle. Sometimes it puffed smoke on pull away. Thats gone too..

Injection volume correction is now:

#1 -1.6
#2 1.5#

#3 0.1

#4 0.1

Before, number 1 was 0.8 and number 2 was 0.3 is memory serves me right. So glad everything is okay. 

For future readers, spec is +/- 3.0 for the injection volume so anything over that means your injectors are out of spec and should be replaced.

[threepot]

To take +/-3 as out of spec is not good practice. Fixed rules are not that simple! Correction values show cylinder balance or unbalance as I prefer to think of it.

If you have plus 1.5 on one cylinder, then negative 1.5 on another cylinder this shows quite a large difference between those cylinders.

If you listen to the injectors with a stethoscope you can hear the ping/ting of the nozzle, and you can listen to all four to see how they compare. If one sounds "duller" then the nozzle is not opening and closing crisply.

Cylinder balance values are calculated from the crank sensor readings, the ECU can see how much acceleration is cause by each cylinder combustion. So when there is a +1 value, it is having to increase injector opening time to make that cylinder respond the same, likewise if its a -1 then its having to reduce the opening time to correct that cylinder.

Ensure that the learn procedure is carried out correctly with a nice warm engine, you need to trigger it with the diagnostic tool, which makes the glow plug light flash, then you have to rev it to something like 3000rpm and back to tickover about 30 times till the light goes out. This also changes the correction values significantly.

Also mine is running better than ever before, the engine is quieter, smoother, less tractor diesel knock noise, better acceleration and more power - I never would have thought 4 new injectors would have made such a difference to be honest!

[lilpopjim]

I got the spec values from here http://avensis.info/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=17825 which apparently says the injection volume can very within +/- 3.0mm^3 per cylinder. If any more than that then its recommended to replace the Injector. 

Engine is running sweet as a pea now. Far less vibration when the engine is idleing compared to the incorrect compensation codes. And sounds a lot less less "tractory" It wasnt exactly rough but there was a lot of vibration at idle coming through the wheel. Sounded rough too. Now it's as quiete as any diesel engine.

I'd expect to get better mileage as well. The engine is even smoother going through the gears as well. Beforehand it would hesitate for a split second. Not it just pulls when I ask it too.

[threepot]

To put it in perspective, I would look at a difference of about 2.5mm between the highs and lows.

For example +1 on one pot, and -1 on another pot is the max difference I would expect to see on any diesel running nicely. Thus a spread of 2 between the highs and lows.

VAG group show a max of 6mm is within spec, but they run like a bag of spanners beyond 2 or 3mm.

Not to say that something isn't running OK with 3 between the highs and lows, but if you read the Toyota spec, then you can say 1 cylinder could be +3 and another -3, which 6mm is a serious amount of unbalance that needs further investigation.

Catch my drift?

[lilpopjim]

Yeah I got it from the start. All engines are different and now that mine is configured correctly (no idea why it wasnt from the start..) everything is running smoother than ever. Can here the injectors ticking rather than knocking. Smooth as silk as far as diesels go.

[Dippy]

Gentlemen I've no idea what you're talking about, its Chinese to me, but wish you were closer! I'm in Lisbon, Portugal.  My 2008 DCAT is being troublesome since I replaced the DPF (with trusted but non-Toyota part), I get bursts of white and sometimes blue smoke.  It's been to Toyota twice if not three times, they can't find anything wrong with it, they say all readings are correct.  I can get clouds sometimes and have been flashed by cars following, other times it's fine. The only thing I can start to work out is that most of the clouds are at varied speed and more often than not in suburban environment; at constant speed on motorways it seems OK, and particularly over 2500rpm (4th at 120kmh); at 2000 (ie 6th, 120 kmh) I get a regular white puff every five seconds, which I assume is DPF regeneration.

[lilpopjim]

Yeah those bursts would be the DPF regen. 

The ECU in a way, keeps track of the degradation of the DPF and will adjust values (pressure and possibly fuel injected to make certain the DPF has been regenerated.) accordingly to not be affected by the degradation of the DPF. I think what has happened is that your DPF has been replaced with a fresh one and the learning values haven't been set. 

I think the ECU may think the DPF is partially blocked all the time so keeps regenerating as it doesn't know there's a brand new one which is clearer than the old one.

There's a utility in Toyotas Techstream to do this. You can set the ECU to know that the DPF is brand new so the values it has for the old one will be cleared and will learn when the new DPF is clear and blocked.

I'm not saying resetting the DPF degradation to new would fix your problems but should certainly help i'd imagine and of course take what i've said with a grain of salt.

edit: regarding Toyota, all the values would come up fine when its being read hence why they would see it as being fine. 

The DPF traditionally will regenerate whilst on the motorway which is why you see it more at a constant speed. The DPF will only regen through town when it's gotten to the point of failure where it MUST REGEN or suffer failure of the entire DPF/ DPNR system.

[Heidfirst]

bear in mind that a DPF accumulates both soot & ash. Regen. will burn off soot but doesn't get rid of ash - eventually they fill with ash & either need cleaned or replaced.

[Dippy]

Many thanks. Both the garage who fitted the aftermarket DPF (recommended by a trusted friend, I believe he was also part of those working on it) and Toyota since have said the DPF values have been reset, so it shouldn't be that 😞

[lilpopjim]

This will be a long post

Well all my smoking issues are long behind me. Problem I have now is a fuel consumption issue. I'm 99% sure its because of the DPF. I used to get over 400 miles to a tank. Now i'm struggling to get 340/50 miles to a tank.

I fitted a new 5th injector the other day in the hopes the original one was possibly leaking, causing the increased consumption and that it may not be able to get the DPF hot enough. I thought this because the lambda sensor reads a dip whilst driving along with a reduction on the MPG readout from 44mpg to 29 ish during this period. Tell tale of a DPF regen.

Now, looking at the image below. Looking at the second from the top graph you can see a jump towards the end. That's the ECU carrying out a DPF Regen to saying completed. 

Now straight after that, looking at the orange line in the middle. That's the lambda sensor. It's used for feedback on during regeneration. As you can see, towards the end AFTER the ECU has completed the regeneration, it starts carrying out, another regeneration, or something..? See how the lambda sensor reading dips every so often. That's a tell tale sign the DPF is regenerating. Also note how the exhaust temperature stays really high.

Looking at the second image is after I fitted the new 5th Injector. (genuine Denso etc). Before fitting the new injector the exhaust temperature wouldn't as high as it does now with the new one. You can see how it peaks at 671 degrees Celsius during regeneration. When I carried out a manual regeneration it would never get this how. So that's good! The Fuel Addition feedback value is also lower which is also better. (1.32 vs 1.45).

I can't understand what the car is doing. I can easily achieve 38-41mpg in TOWN! where on the motorway, cruise set the 70mph I get 34/35mpg.

Every-time I drive the car, the DPF starts doing a mild regeneration of sorts. Looking at the last image you can see a dip in the Lambda sensor, and look how high the exhaust temprature is.. It shouldn't be this high whilst cruising and not carrying out a Rgeneration.. Also, look on the left hand side... The DPF soot and sulphor regen are BOTH on standby... The preasure sensor reads it as unblocked. On another data value, "DPF NO ACTIVATE" IS active. Meaning its not allowing it to regen yet it does this?

I'm going to try another ECU and see where that gets me. Good thing I have one spare from when I broke another SR180.

[lilpopjim]

Just an update.

I disconnected the plug to the 5th injector. lo and behold the issue has disappeared. First of all my MPG was up to 45mpg throughout my 26 miles to work and 26 miles back, includes the 8 mile return trip to and from the gym in the morning too. The car responds better to pulling away at the lights and doesn't hesitate when under 2000 rpm, probably as there's more fuel flowing to the common rail rather than the 5th injector but all is good! Exhaust temperature never went above 350 (until I gave it some welly towards the end as you can see). Differential pressure sensor isn't showing any increase in pressure between the two sensor before and after the DPF either after the drive.

Here's the whole data log of my trip back from work

I'm going to reconnect it tomorrow for the same journey and see how it is. 

[Benwil36]

Hi chaps, 

I'm having the same problem on My 2006 Rav4 T180, smokes when upto temperature and has an acrid smell like unburnt diesel? 

I think it may be the 5th injector (at least that's where I'm going to start.) A diesel specialist I spoke to said they have seen a few problems like this and suggested I checked the 5th injector as they can start to leak 🙈 I was quoted £450 for the injector from Toyota 😔

Did you cure the problem on yours? 

[flash22]

The injector is £60-100 for a Denso unit (oem supplier), £450 is very expensive assuming that includes labour

[Dippy]

My fifth injector was goosed. Indie coded it out (also EGR to my surprise) and I have no more smoking - which I guess should correctly be called unburnt fuel vapour. 

[threepot]

On my Rav4, after I did that set of injectors its been great ever since. I actually sold it not so long ago to a friend of a friend, who has done loads of trouble free miles in it.

[Fredbosi]

Hello. I too have a rav4 2011, 2.2 diesel and have that intermittent smoke and unpleasant smell. I know that my injectors dont spray correctly but i dont know about the 5th injector? Can any of you explain where it is positioned and can it be cleaned manually? Maybe that helps to solve the prob

[ChristopherToyota]

I took the 5th injector out and checked if it was in good condition. It looked brand new. When I bought the car the car's egr was completely blocked with black burnt fuel, which made me think "the black death" has reached to the 5th injector that could block the injector from spraying fuel. Is was wrong. It looked perfectly fine. As illustrated on the picture I could only get a tinny black stuff out, but that is normal, because you have to bare in mind it is fresh burnt fuel from the engine.
The smoke immediately got worse after I took the 5th injector out to inspect it by looks.

So my thoughts went towards the normal injector as I had read if the coding of the injectors is not correct it will cause smoke.
Keep in mind that the smoke was getting worse with time. In every single trip around the city, it would leave a cloud behind me. But I was still skeptical about the 5th injector that either spray too much fuel or it is completely locked. As shown in the picture, I tried to block the fuel that goes to the 5th injector.

I drove 4-5 days with this mounted and there was no sign of smoke coming from the exhaust. There was sometimes some little buffs when I really press the throttle to the floor, but at least it was much better. The 5th injector also keep the exhaust temperatur high by spraying fuel, which helps the DPF regen. That means the 5th injecor didn't have the oportunity to get the exhaust temperatur high enough to help the DPF regen, which didn't lead to big clouds of smoke in the city and highway. It makes me think maybe the smoke is caused by the ECU not knowing when the DPF regen actually have to take place. 

Anyway, I took the clamp off today and the car did not smoke for the first few kilometers, but suddenly it smoked as it did before installing the clamp.

What do you think? Is the problem the 5th injector that sprays too much or too little fuel? Or is it the ECU that is planning the DPF regeneration in the city, which it not should do, because the DPF traditionally will regenerate whilst on the motorway?

[Stivino]

The ECU will do the regeneration wherever you are, it doesn't know if you are on a motorway.  I'm hardly ever out of the city and my car does it all the time. 

[ChristopherToyota]

Will the regeneration cause a big cloud of smoke? How do you know the regeneration takes place?