car juddering and can smell diesel through vents??

[odydog]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this question but here goes! for a few days my car has been juddering as if its losing power especially in 3rd gear,quite sluggish going up hills and starts to blow smoke from exhaust! Any ideas of what this could be? sometimes you can smell fuel coming through the vents too.

[citizenkain]

your cars bust!!

[scaniaman]

It would be helpful if you could tell us the make and model of car. Is it a mechanical diesel or computer controled--traditional fuel system or common rail???

[odydog]

Its a Renault Scenice 2004 Reg.

[Dragons Dennis]

Well, it has a fuel leak which should always be taken seriously. When did you buy the car?

[heliosuk]

And how do you determine that exactly Dragon given your "law student" status you describe in previous threads????

[Dragons Dennis]

How do I determine that the smell of fuel, which would suggest a fuel leak? When I smell a fart, I assume someone has farted. It could be a fart impersonation machine concealed somewhere I didn't consider, and this could indeed be a pretend leak, but if I smell fuel when driving I assume the worst until proven otherwise. It is simple common sense and thought of safety.

[heliosuk]

how do i determine that the smell of fuel, which would suggest a fuel leak? When i smell a fart, i assume someone has farted. It could be a fart impersonation machine concealed somewhere i didn't consider, and this could indeed be a pretend leak, but if i smell fuel when driving i assume the worst until proven otherwise. It is simple common sense and thought of safety.

 

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[Dragons Dennis]

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Excuse me. At what point did you earn the right to insult me?

 

You are of course absolutely correct in that the smell of diesel does not mean that there IS a leak. I stand corrected. But that does not excuse you being highly offensive in your reply. If able to read? This is a public forum that I enjoy participating in. I don't feel that you have any right to post such an offensive remark at me for simply trying to help the OP.

[postggj]

Ime no mechanic but the evidence does point to fuel starvation

 

smoke from the exhaust can show fuel is not being burnt so it may be some sort ignition fault

 

may i ask how many miles the vehicle has done

[citizenkain]

heres my tuppence worth,Ive worked on diesel engined vehicles for last 30 years,usually if you are smelling diesel fuel through the vents it means that either an injector or the pipework to/from the injector pump is loose or leaking diesel on the hot engine,thats why you get the smell of fuel,either way I would stop and get it looked at,last thing ya want is a lot of fuel over a hot engine,it will eventually go on fire!!

[roger_37]

sounds like turbo trouble!!!!!

[citizenkain]

needs a fire extinguisher standing by!

[heliosuk]

Excuse me. At what point did you earn the right to insult me? .

 

In your somewhat crass post No. 7.

 

And if you think that my post is highly offensive then you have a problem yourself let alone that of the OP's car.

 

GGJ's post asks the right questions as does scania's. There are two diesel systems in use at the moment which both have very different fault characteristics. A leak prior to the pump will be obvious as it will drip and leave witness marks. Post high pressure pump it's not so obvious and can be caused by a multiple of things not easily apparent to the eye.

 

As GGJ points out smoke is usually caused by fuel not being burnt efficiently which generally means either too much or not being burnt efficiently. It is unlikely to be fuel starvation more a case of injectors dripping due to wear.An alternative is that the metering control has gone wrong. This unburnt fuel has to go somewhere and as in the majority of cars these days is re circulated.

 

So there are a host of things to look at other than saying "Well, it has a fuel leak which should always be taken seriously"!

 

You stick to your student law and I'll stick to my professional automotive engineer of 30 years status.

[rebel11]

Can I ask everyone to respect each other, your all intelligent people.

[Dragons Dennis]

Thank you.