I have a 190D that started have white smoke few months back; I actually ran out of Fuel once and I started to notice this since then; it is also hard to start in the morning without me keeping my foot on the pedal the first few seconds especially when it is cold; any ideas what this could be; and mentioning that I replaced the glow plugs a year ago.
Any Help would be really great.
thank you

Correct me if I am wrong but white smoke to me is a sure fire sign of a blown head gasket. The hard starting corroborates my diagnosis.

that is what I thought it could be; but the problem is that there is no beyond normal oil loss and not at all any water loss; temperature does not even go beyond the middle.

to follow it with another question could it be the injectors; or the injector pump; and if so how do you check.

I assume 190D 2.2?
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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yes it is; do you have any thoughts; or ideas?

White smoke just at start up, or constantly? If it's constant, I say you are leaking water somewhere. But the first tired old 220D I bought would put a hell of a cloud of white/grey smoke at start up, then clear up after a half a minute or so.
Also, if it's constant, see if you can detect the tell-tale sweet anti-freeze smell in the exhaust. May be hard to smell over the diesel smell tho'.

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past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

at startup especially when cold; there is a big cloud of smoke; but when idle there is smoke but in cases hard to detect.
See the problem started over two months ago; and I have been very closely watching my antifreeze; and since then never added any and since then it has stayed the same.
I should also mention that there is some hesitation associated at idle; also smoke goes away when I push on gas and keep the idle over 1000RPM; but when below it smokes.

I really appreciate the help.

This sounds exactly like what happened to my 190D 2.2 about 7 years ago. Blown head gasket. Between the #1 cylinder and the chain vault. The oil consumption WILL increase! It seems rather common with the early 601 engines (I know of at least 2 more cases of this among the dozen or so 601s I know of and see).

Marshall

check your glow plugs again!!!!! i bet you have one or more bad. good luck

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matt

any more ideas; this is going to be my weekend project; I need to do it while the weather is still some what decent.

IS there any way it could be the injectors or the injector pump??????

I have a 190DT (2.5) which smoked quite a bit on startup when I bought it. The smoke was white to light grey. I began adding a double dose of diesel injector cleaner/fuel conditioner to my tank at every fill up. After a few tanks the smoke at startup was visibly lighter and after 2,000 miles of this treatment there is a small puff of tranparent white smoke at startup and then the exhaust runs nearly clear unless I step on the go pedal hard before the engine is warm.

If I am depressing that pedal when I start the engine however I get a small cloud of white smoke..unburned fuel I think...at startup with a cold engine.

I have also seen white smoke from the exhaust on diesels that had air leaks in the fuel systems. Could this be the problem? If your fuel filters are restricting fuel flow much air can be drawn into the system. This is especially noticable on startup as the small amount of air accumulated can be quickly passed back to the tank via the retun line..once the engine is running. This MIGHT also be why you need to hold the trottle open a bit when cold starting now. The air present in the injector lines..even a small bubble prevents the IP from creating a quick rise in pressure to properly activate the injectors. The air acts like a shock absorber since it compresses and fuel does not. The spray of fine mist into the prechamber is more like a spurt of droplets..and may be slightly off optimal injection time. The result is unburned fuel passing out the exhuast pipe. Does it smell like raw fuel?

It is possible that when you ran out of fuel you sucked enough fine sediment from the bottom of your tank to plug up your filters just enough to create enough suction to draw air into the fuel lines at a connection. The low fuel sloshes around and tends to mix sediment up more than in a tank with even a few gallons of fuel in it. Don't ask me how I know.

Hope this helps.

Dana

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Dana Linscott
Vegoil converted truck...vegoil converted 1987 190DT, 300 series next.

http://vegoilconversions.netfirms.com/

White smoke can be a sign of a bad advance mech. or retarded timing.
If the timing is advanced too much the smoke will be black.
I have had this problem with my 240D and thought as you did about leaking head gasket. but no loss of oil or water changed my mind.

My 240D blew heavy white smoke I bumped the IP a touch toward the engine no more white cloud........
William Rogers........

White smoke that smells strongly of diesel when starting cold results from unburned fuel. ANYTHING that contributes to not burning fuel completely will result in white smoke. That can be from a bad plug or two, orm glow plugs on for too short a time (quick check is to allow the plugs to glow for an additional 15-20 sec AFTER the dash light goes out), excessive soot accumulation in the combustion chambers, incorrectly adjusted valves (if the engine has adjustable valve lash), incorrect spray pressure or pattern from the injectors, or incorrect injection timing.

If the white smoke remains after the engine warms up and if oil consumption increases significantly, that can be caused by a blown head gasket.

Marshall