My turbo diesel master ace is bellowing out white smoke on idle , but only if I am in gear ,if I put it in park it stops. I have recently changed my engine oil and filter and a friend of mine seems to think I have over filled with engine oil and oil is being dragged up by the turbo . Is this possible it hardly smoked at all before the oil change , but I only filled the engine spot on the top level of the dipstick.

- (#5306) Trev, 29 Aug 02

Is the new oil thicker or thinner than the old?
If it really is WHITE smoke, it would indicate the timing being really retarded or an injector leaking. Otherwise, it could be valve stem seals, turbo, etc.

- (#5307) david miller, 29 Aug 02

Its more of a grey smoke I suppose not sure if the oil is thinner or thicker as the old oil was not originally put in by myself.The oil I used was a semi-synthetic diesel engine oil of a total brand.

- (#5346) Trev, 30 Aug 02

Hard to say- the engine is loaded up in gear at idle, but the revs are so low that I don't think it's likely to be bores/ blowby. Turbo is possible, as are injectors. Best pull the turbo out to check- you don't want the engine to run away on oil and hydrolock. Really bad news!

- (#5347) david miller, 31 Aug 02

It is possible that the old oil was more voscous than the new oil, most oils, particularly semi & fully synthetics are now quite thin, no more than 40 grade, old oil might have been up to 50 grade, but I suspect your problem lies elsewhere.It could be the crankcase pressurising, try running it with the dipstick removed, then put your thumb over the hole & see if it 'gets blown off', if so the crancase is pressurised & it could blow oil past the rings. Are you sure it's smoke, could it be steam, does your coolant level drop at all? Other problems David has touched on, such as turbo seals, & as he says, if it decides to run on sump oil after you switch off, then you've got real problems. Regards Rob.

- (#5348) Rob Drinkwater, 31 Aug 02