Smoking Merc E320 Owner

[rirhill]

Just like to say what a great site.
I have bought a E320 2 weeks ago and when its not raining it smokes when I use the kickdown. Under heavy acc it smokes more. Please could someone tell me is this normal, what might it be and am I harming my car?
E320 1998 43000 miles

Many Thanks
Ian

 

[sunil sood]

smoking from a car which has only done 43,000 miles is abnormal.
has it been regularly serviced?
have you checked the oil level?has it been overfilled with oil?
?wrong grade of oil
?worn valve stem guides.

i am no expert but just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[rirhill]

Believe it or not full MB Dealer service history. I just bought from a Stealership. Just been service and apparently check pior to collection. Its a great car but I am very dissapointed in this. Thanks for your advice if anyone else has any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks
Ian

 

[sunil sood]

i would go backto the stealership and seek an explanation for the smoking engine.

is it blue smoke you see?if so,this would be an indication of oil burning.

 

[rirhill]

I don t know what colour the smoke is cause I have only noticed it in the evenings showing up in the lights of the cars behind. I am very worried as I don t want the engine to blow up or be perm damaged.

Thanks

 

[Tony]

Are you sure it's smoke and not just condensation ?

If you've only seen it in your mirror it could be difficult to tell. The engine certainly shouldn't be burning any oil yet.

 

[NormanB]

Hi

I would suggest you get your partner/friend/neighbour to drive close behind you (caution) you with their vent on full as you accelerate - they will soon tell if it is steam, fuel or oil by the smell!

Happy New Year

 

[kid-jensen]

E320 smoking on Kickdown

Ian,

If it's not oil (blue) smoke there's nothing to worry about. Probably just sheer quantity of fuel, or condensation (or just general crap) coming out.

If the smoke is blue, give the car a "Jag Service" and see if things improve.

Remember, most cars will blue-smoke when given the thrashing that they don't normally get..........when the rings get freed-up by consistant hard-driving (a track day, say) chances are the blue smoke will stop.

It goes without saying that you need to use top-quality oil, low-rent stuff will give more smoke and generally cost you more in the long run........

 

[rirhill]

Thanks for all your comments. What is a JAG SERVICE?

Regards
Ian

 

[kid-jensen]

Jag Service

I guess I'm showing my age here...........

The term "Jag Service" stems from the days when all managers and people who had "arrived" bought a Jaguar.

With complete disregard for the racing heritage, they then proceded to drive around at "old man" speeds (because they generally were old men!) and sit in stationary traffic all day. They wanted the status of a sporty car, but they didn't actually want the downsides of a sporty car. The poor old engine would soon get coked-up, leading to misfires, smoke and general rough running.

The owner would then take it down to the dealer who would wait until he was out of sight and give it to the apprentice for a ****** good thrashing down the by-pass. (Apprentices were always expendable)

After a bit of smoking and clattering, the Jag generally came back good-as-new and the owner received a big bill with no other work being carried out..............

Couldn't happen these days, obviously :wink:

 

[Swazi280]

You're right; the bypass would be too busy. You'd have to go steaming down some unpainted B-road to the Slaughtered Lamb and back..