Smelly A4 1.9 diesel

[GrahamF]

My brother-in-law has a fairly old (about 7 or 8 years) A4 1.9 diesel and I think there is something not quite right with it but he has had it checked out by the guy who does his servicing who I think is a small indy general garage and he says everything seems to check out OK. I've noticed that when he drives off there is a distinct plume of smoke from the exhaust - not clouds of it but it is there.

The worst thing though is the smell (which he doesn't seem to be able to smell) of a kind of 'sooty' smell, almost like the smell of the old steam engines make. I can just about smell it when I'm sitting in the back but when he stops the car and I get out then for a brief second, the smell is quite strong but goes very quickly once the engine is off.

The reason I'm querying this is because I've just picked up an A6 diesel and that doesn't smell at all which kind of convinces me even more that there is something wrong with his.

Any ideas chaps?

Graham

[Cuprabob]

Coolant has a distinctive smell, is it losing any?

[GrahamF]

I don't think he's loosing any coolant, well at least he hasn't said so. I think the smell is definitely connected with the exhaust or fumes from the exhaust, not the bad eggs smell you get from a blown cat but a very sooty smell.

Graham

[benjie]

Hmmm... would a sooty smell mean unburnt diesel? Assuming it drives ok, I would guess coolant temp sender as this screws up the fuelling.

Another thing, does it start ok and idle smoothly? Is the engine bay clear of excessive gunk/grease/oil?

[GrahamF]

Hmmm... would a sooty smell mean unburnt diesel? Assuming it drives ok, I would guess coolant temp sender as this screws up the fuelling.

Another thing, does it start ok and idle smoothly? Is the engine bay clear of excessive gunk/grease/oil?

Mmm, you've made some interesting comments there, thanks. I will ask him about the coolant temp. sensor and see what he has to say.

Graham

[benjie]

Good luck!