Sorry for posting on here about a non Land Rover vehicle but I need some help & I know there are very knowledgeable people on here, My Freelander 2 is lovely & at this time running very well.

The problem I am having is with my VW Transporter 2004 T130. The van has covered 163000 miles & I have owned it for 13 years, its been very reliable & to be honest has not cost me much at all in the 13 years of ownership.

Start at the beginning, it was running absolutely fine, I started the van one morning to run the Mrs to work, it was making a thumping sound thru the airbox, I had an idea that it was the camshaft, took it to my local garage & they confirmed it.

Had the new camshaft fitted & thought that all would be ok, not a cheap job but had to get it fixed. Since then its seems to smoke a bit, black smoke so overfueling, took it back to the garage that did the cam & after several minutes looking over it it was decided that it was probably time to have a new turbo. I was not surprised as I had seen oil in the inter-cooler pipes when I had them off checking things & it had gone into limp mode several times & the code reader I have says overboost fault. I think the vanes were sticking & causing a problem & the engine seemed to lack a bit off go as well.

Turbo was done & at the same time had a new cast exhaust manifold fitted as the pressed type that was fitted to the van is known to crack & at 163000 I thought while its off get a new one on there. Real pig of a job but did get it done eventually.
Again not cheap but needed doing.

The problem I now have is the black smoke, I can't get rid of it & can't find whats wrong. I fitted a new MAF sensor also a new N75 valve & a new EGR valve, checked all the inter-cooler boost pipes (replaced one ) & Rad & it all seems good. Its been suggested it could be an injector faulty but thats another expensive job with no guarantee it will cure the smoke problem & I dont want to lay out another £1500 on something that may be faulty, there was no smoke before the van was fitted with the new cam so I assume the injectors were ok then.

The black smoke is on harder acceleration particularly when the turbo kicks in its really bad. I can hear a hissing noise when the engine is revved & it appears the hissing goes up & down with the engine speed but I cant find where it coming from, I have had the Mrs rev it lightly & I have pulled & pushed the inter-cooler hoses about in the hope it would stop or get worse but it does not so I really am screwed now on what to do next. The van is in lovely condition as have always looked after it. Now I have just retired I am thinking on converting it to a camper van for me & the Mrs to have the odd night out in it now & again. Cant afford the conversion tho at the mo as my money is being sucked away with cams turbos & now maybe injectors although I am doubtful that it would cure the smoke. No errors on the reader recorded so have no idea where to go from here. Any help gratefully received & sorry for a long read.

If you have a “new” hissing sound it’s not unreasonable to think there is an air leak (could be in or out) - why not try an aerosol leak detector spray, screwfix do them for around a fiver. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

Sounds like a good idea but not sure where I would spray it onto. All the boost hoses look to be in good condition & a good fit as well. I took the front end of the van off last week to have a look at the inter-cooler rad, as there is some residual oil in the inter-cooler system if there was a leak on the rad I think I would have seen the oil coming out of it. Could only see the front of it as the back was against the coolant rad but there is no sign of oil leaking out of it.

Maybe some coloured air dye in an aerosol sprayed into the air intake & revving may show up from somewhere

Stop going to a garage that is playing 'parts darts' with your car and take it to a Bosch service centre for a proper diagnosis. Past: FL2 TD4 HSE Auto
Evoque SD4 Dynamic Lux Auto
Present: Audi A3 S Line.

You just spray it into the inlet filter box, that will suck it into the pipework and if there is a leak it will come out between the turbo and the inlet manifold my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

sounds like a good idea, definitely have a hissing noise & cant remember hearing it before so hopefully thats my problem.

I took all the inter cooler hoses off again today, removed the seals to measure them for new ones. Wrapped some PTFE tape in the slot before putting the seals back in & re-assembling the pipe work.

The seals fitted well anyway without the PTFE tape but I have to say they really are firm now & I really cant see the hoses leaking any air at all. Only thing to look at is the Inter cooler rad on the inside against the cooling radiator, if that checks out ok which I think it will then I don't know where to go from there.

I did a little experiment while all the hoses were removed, I started the engine to see if the hissing had gone now the inter cooler hoses were disconnected, its still there so no idea where that can be coming from but it may be completely normal & I am clutching at straws trying to find something.

Van has been into the garage today & Inter Cooler all checked out ok, no leaks or problems. The garage has now recommended me to take it to an injector specialist to get the injectors checked out as they believe one or more are over-fueling because of the new camshaft which drives the injectors, they say that the injectors maybe should have been re-calibrated after fitting the new cam.

Nightmare goes on & its not going to be cheap either.

Steve D wrote:

Stop going to a garage that is playing 'parts darts' with your car and take it to a Bosch service centre for a proper diagnosis.

To be fair the Camshaft had to be done it was worn out. The turbo was chucking oil into the inter cooler pipes etc so really also needed doing.

I was hoping that this would be the end of the expense but the black smoke started & I have no idea why, it was not smoking before the cam & turbo.

I am now looking at trying to get the injectors tested & not just changing them hoping it will cure the smoke. I have spoken to one diesel injector garage this morning & it sounds like the only real way to check them is to take them out,

I live in Bedfordshire & if anyone knows of a reliable injector garage to take it I am all ears, a lot dont want to know.

What do you mean by " the turbo was done"? black smoke under power indicates over fueling, as it was ok before the cam change and turbo work I would suspect the turbo is not producing full boost, unless of course you have had black smoke before the work in which case either something was missed or the work wasn't done correctly. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

Not sure where in Bedfordshire you are but there is a Bosch Car centre at Biggleswade

http://asgbiggleswade.co.uk/

I have not used them my self but it may be worth giving them a call. MY13 HSE Lux Santorini Black Gone
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MY08 SE Blue, Gone
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Dartman the one wrote:

What do you mean by " the turbo was done"? black smoke under power indicates over fueling, as it was ok before the cam change and turbo work I would suspect the turbo is not producing full boost, unless of course you have had black smoke before the work in which case either something was missed or the work wasn't done correctly.

CJOver wrote:

Not sure where in Bedfordshire you are but there is a Bosch Car centre at Biggleswade

http://asgbiggleswade.co.uk/

I have not used them my self but it may be worth giving them a call.