KCampbell wins the prize for correctly diagnosing the cause of all my black smoke. I checked the oil and it is down to the lower mark on the dipstick. Usually it doesn't consume any oil, and now it's managed to go through 2 quarts in a day!

So, does this mean that the seals in the turbo are shot? Could this be somehow related to my trap oxidizer? Perhaps the reason that boost was building slowly and jerkily is because the impeller was spinning in a pool of oil!

I intend to replace the trap with a pipe, and remove the EGR. Should I also consider going to a European intake setup at this time?

Thanks, Kevin, for the timely (47 minutes) and accurate reply,

Richard.