EXTENSIVE black soot
 

My '84 300D Turbo emits alot more black soot than other 300D Turbos, as when I accelerate, most noticably at night time, I can see that clouds and clouds of thick black soot shoot out of my car, nearly blacking out headlights in my rearview mirror as the clouds hover into traffic behind me; im wondering if somthings wrong. I drive on average 50 miles a day, and use redline diesel fuel catalyst every thousand miles.
I have noticed that I also strangely dont have to add oil into my car as often as you would expect, maybe every 2 thousand miles I add a fourth of a quart of oil. Is this odd?

Instead of using Redline Diesel Catalyst every 1000 miles, use half a bottle every time you fill up the tank. Check fuel filters. Please note that at night, what you see as "smoke" in the headlights are particulates that are illuminated and it's totally normal. It's a problem however, if during the daytime, you notice excessive black smoke. Also, check the pressure line from the rear of the intake manifold and also the pressure line to the ALDA. Clean them out if necessary.

Speedy,
Those lines that you mentioned, are they the ones that go from the intake (passenger side near firewall) to the overboost switch, to the ALDA? By the way, I'm not sure what the alda is. Is it the unit that sits on top of the injection pump? It has a little nub on top of it that seems to have some kind of sheath on it.
Anyway, are those lines kind of translucent with circular couplers at the end? Thanks for the clarification.

Also, I have some smoke on my car (not so apparent during the day) but it doesn't seem dark, it's more white-ish. Do I have a problem here? I'll go out today and floor my car and see exactly what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's not dark dark smoke. I don't think it'd blue smoke, but I can't be positive. My car doesn't consume any oil though so I doubt the smoke is blue. Thanks

Alex

Yes you are correct! Check the plastic hoses and make sure they are clean. The ALDA is the unit that sits on top of the injection pump. It has a plastic line that runs from the overboost switch. To adjust the ALDA, you'll need to remove the small plastic cover with a small screwdriver. Then, use some cutters and chop away the black metal piece that surrounds the locknut. Once you have easy access to the locknut, remove it completely so you can pull off the black sleeve that you just destroyed. Make sure you replace the locknut too!

Fuel Type
 

My Volvo Diesel is infamous for its smoke. I think it'd put yours to shame. I have two problems. One is oil consumption which you don't have and the other is when I burn cheap fuel. There is a massive difference in how much smoke I blow between Amoco Premier Diesel and other cheaper stuff. Try some of the good stuff if you haven't yet (watch out for the word "premium" -- I'm talking about "premier")

Unfortunetely, I haven't really experienced the difference between cheap fuel and good fuel. I actually don't even know if I'm using the good stuff or bad stuff myself. Around here (lower NY), we only have mobil diesel and Hess diesel. I use both equally and can't really discern a huge difference. We have an Exxon with diesel but I haven't had a chance to try that out yet. Any ideas which of these is better? They're all about $1.75 a gallon. Thanks

Alex

Not sure about those brands, its just that my car simply won't run in the winter on anything but premier. I used to sell the stuff and listened to tons of stories from guys during the winter (michigan) about how it was the best. Used to watch a couple of guys with Isuzu diesels (300k+) and they convinced me.