Fumes in cab / Leaking Injector

[billslingo]

Hello all,
I've just bought my first Berlingo, a Mk2 08 with 95k on the clock. It drives well but I soon noticed a smell of exhaust fumes in the cab. I came across this forum and searched around for some advice and came across a post by Polar which described the leaking injector issue.

I got the bonnet up and had a listen and could clearly hear a loud chuffing around the area of injector No4. Lifting the plastic top cover I could see the tell tale wetness around the base of injecto No4. I disconnected the injector cables and lifted the wiring loom across the top of the injectors, I managed to get a 7mm ball ended hex key socket onto the front and rear injector nuts and got a good 3/4 of a turn on each one. I'm sure I felt a slight click, maybe the injector had partially lifted but I couldn't be sure.

Because I have only just got the van I had no idea how long this issue had gone on for so I followed other advice and removed the servo vacuum pump to check for signs of carbonised oil on the filter gauze (photo)     The filter looks remarkably clean so I'm confident that I've caught this before the oil has become contaminated.

Running the engine afterwards the chuffing had stopped and the tick over had improved, I hadn't thought it was that bad but it sounded even better. The smell of fumes in the cab has improved but I wouldn't say that they have gone completely. It may take time for the residue on the engine to burn off.

I would appreciate some advice on the following:
Should I also pull the turbo oil feed pipe and check it for evidence of carbonised oil etc?
Should I change the oil, the dealer claims to have done it but who knows what they used and whatever it was it already looks very black.
Should I remove the gauze filter from the turbo oil feed pipe for good measure?
Any recommendations on oil types, Total oil isn't that readily available around me so any advice on alternatives would be good.

I'm well aware, due to the posts on this forum, of the consequences for the turbo so I'm determined to get on top of this small issue before it turns into a disaster.

Any advice would be welcome and I will keep the forum posted of my progress with this.

Cheers
Bill

[homeruk]

I would advise changing and retorquing the injector bolts.

Change oil and filter (cheaper to get total 5w30 online from neilsencdq )
Change fuel filter (a leaking injector can contaminate this)
Change air filter
Remove gauge and clean turbo pipe
Remove and clean sump

Change oil and filter every 6000 miles

[billslingo]

Thanks homeruk.
I have ordered up the oil from neilsencdq and filters to do the sump clean etc. I'm going to change the injector seals for good measure, I dried No4 off and it's wet again so looks like it's weeping a bit.

Thanks again for the advice.

Bill.

[homeruk]

No problem.

When you change the seals use new bolts, and tighten to 4nm , then angle tighten a further 65 degrees.

Also check your three engine mounts , worn ones have been known to shake bolts loose

P.s. change the seals asap the longer you leave it the harder it is to change them, due to all the crap they spray all over your nice clean engine and which will make a lovely mess of your injectors and holes they sit in.

And that's from experience of having to clean carbonised gunk off everything, never again!

[JohnM]

How can leaking injectors have any effect on the fuel filter or the air filter?

[homeruk]

Air filter gets clogged due to exhaust fumes being ejected out of the leaking injector and sucked back into the air tract through the air filter.

Fuel filter gets full of oil due to the leaking injector seals letting oil get into the return fuel feed

Leave a leaky injector long enough and it will block your fuel filter with oil and cause the engine to become starved of fuel which at best case your berlingo won't start one day, and worst case you will break down in the middle of nowhere

[brodfather11]

Re fumes in the cab , make sure the rear door seals are sound and not letting fumes from the exhaust get sucked through the seals

Don't bother changing the air filter unless its blocked , leaking injector fumes are no worse than sitting in a traffic queue behind another diesel engine vehicle.

I'm still trying to figure out how oil gets into the fuel filter via the injectors. cratch:

[homeruk]

For a few quid its worth changing the air filter especially when you don't know when it was last changed

To stop the fumes from gassing you out for now don't turn on the blower fan when slow moving ( or remember to turn it off when slow moving)

[dumdum]

Air filter gets clogged due to exhaust fumes being ejected out of the leaking injector and sucked back into the air tract through the air filter.

Fuel filter gets full of oil due to the leaking injector seals letting oil get into the return fuel feed

Leave a leaky injector long enough and it will block your fuel filter with oil and cause the engine to become starved of fuel which at best case your berlingo won't start one day, and worst case you will break down in the middle of nowhere

That's the biggest load of internet scare mongering I've read, the air I take for the air filter is behind the passengers headlight and fed cool air from the front grill, so unless your driving in reverse your way off base, and that's assuming the heavier than air vapours don't just exit via every other opening under the bonnet

And as for the oil contaminating the fuel? The return line setup is a sealed system, and the gases leaking from the cylinder past the seals contain diesel and air, no oil at all, so how you work that out I have no clue

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Ps to stop the fumes set the interior fan to recirculate ;) sometimes a sharp hit from a punch to the injector clamp while maintaining tension on the clamp will set the injector down enough to reseat it ;)

[Jed Clampit]

Just a point is not diesel called diesel oil for a reason ?? :whistle: