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2016 NP300 YS23DDTT White Smoke (result - DPF/Fuel Injectors)

16K views 94 replies 6 participants last post by  NAT990 
#1 · (Edited)
Afternoon,

Been having an issue on and off for a while now, white smoke (over last three weeks) and a strong diesel smell when standing beside car/idling for the last few months.
Vehicle is a 2016 Nissan Navara D23 NP300, running a YS23DDTT with 148,000kms.

The moment that started it all, going by the days happenings:
  • Accidentally used Low Sulfur Diesel, but didn't think anything of it
  • Used a trailer that may have had dodgy wiring
First issue was the following morning, large plumes of white smoke on acceleration up an incline shortly after starting.
On scanning with scanning tool, found P0380 Glow Plug/Heater Circuit A code.


64329


Over the last few weeks, I have checked/fixed/replaced the following:
  • Checked glow plug relay with test light, three of the four plugs were not lighting up
  • Checked actual glow plugs, three out of four were indeed not glowing at all
  • Purchased and replaced with genuine Nissan replacements (this made the issue better, less smoke but still present, less strong diesel smell)
  • Used down to 1/8 remaining of the full low sulfur diesel, then filled with premium diesel from reputable station
  • Fuel cleaners through fuel system to try and clear the junk (turbocharger cleaner, and complete fuel system cleaner)
  • Run that tank down to 1/2, and replaced the fuel filter (running better, but still white plumes on acceleration and diesel smell)
This is where I am currently, sitting at half tank still and going to try in the morning as it is Winter here in Australia currently, down to about 6 degrees celsius over last week.

Have checked glow plug relay/module, is receiving input on ignition, earthed well, plugs still lighting on test light.
Have checked air filter and wiring, nil issues. Have checked fuel filter, and wiring, nil issues there.
My only other concern is that the glow plug indicator coil on the dash doesn't light up at all, but it looks as though in the manual this is an optional extra? It is there in the instrument cluster, but I have never seen it light up.


Thoughts?
 

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#2 ·
Seems you have done all the right things. Is the code clear now?

My other thought is perhaps it could be a faulty injector. Taking them out and getting them treated and ultrasonic cleaned might be worthwhile.

Just checking that you are sure that it is out of warranty?
 
#3 ·
Code is clear, erased and hasn't returned. Unsure if the glow plug was part of the issue, and not the actual issue itself if that makes sense.
Definitely out of warranty unfortunately.

Injector wise, is there a way to test at least partially myself at home? And would there be a code for the injector if it was faulty?

It is hard to describe the colour of the smoke, it's not strictly milky white but again not dark grey/black.
 
#8 ·
Not entirely sure, the D23 usually does the regeneration itself when driven for a certain time period at the speeds suggested, and if it isn't able to do this usually illuminates the DPF warning light, but hasn't done so as yet. In saying that though, with COVID-19 it hasn't really been driven for longer periods of time, and usually not at the speed it usually uses for regeneration (80km/hr).

In terms of intake system leaks, what should I focus on in regards to this?
 
#7 ·
Good shout re. DPF regen. Quite possible and could last for much longer than expected if the truck isn't happy with conditions.

Also, I would be keen to do as Landmannnn suggests. Check all intake air system next.
 
#12 ·
I think elimination of the slightest boost loss in pipework/intercooler should be ruled out first. It costs nothing to do, and is a very common cause of excessive smoke.
How does the truck feel, does it still pull the same, any sign at all of lack of power, or change?
 
#13 ·
Black smoke if lack of air ,white smoke is unburnt fuel usually a faulty injector not spraying the correct pattern. If it was mine the injectors would be checked before wasting any more time . At the end of the day if you keerp pumping unburnt fuel through the DPF it will be damaged beyond regeneration + the CAT.
 
#29 ·
I think you have located your problem. According to the pictures of the dip stick, looks like the engine was way over filled. Be careful running any engine with too much oil.

1mm or so above the max is OK, but just 10mm above could destroy your engine. You want to maintain the level in the middle of the marks.
 
#30 ·
Latest oil change and filter change was done by the local garage as the filter cap had been destroyed by previous owner trying to get the cap off, so I didn’t even think to check it until you mentioned it.

Oil looks to be within the limits of the dipstick now, but like I said I’ll double check once I have done this afternoons run to see where it is at after that. Would the oil level as it was explain the smoke? And now that it has all been corrected, what do I need to watch for/do?
 
#41 ·
Everyone suitably surprised, yes?!

The vehicle will be fine to drive. But, as I mentioned yesterday - when others were running circles on defining smoke colour - monitor engine oil level!!

I may be wrong, but I also disagree with Pops above, I highly doubt this is anything to do with injectors. I think this vehicle has been overfilled with oil, simple as. Why search for another fault? Do you really trust someone never to make a mistake in a dimly lit garage, with new/clean oil being difficult to view on the dip stick.....? I personally measure mine, so mistakes on oil fill is not possible.

Look for issues later. We have no symptoms, so why search for a fault which may not be there. Just sort the issue you do know about.
 
#42 ·
Definitely not something I even considered at all when having the issues, so thanks for pointing out to check engine oil levels.

From this point, any smoke would likely be related to the vehicle burning off any extra, yeah? Once that’s all burnt off, given I’ve dumped a fair bit it should gradually lose the smoke back to clear? As there is still smoke to a degree, so that’s the only issue I can think of, as beyond that there isn’t anything else that I can think of.
 
#43 ·
The oil will be sitting absolutely everywhere, but as you say, should burn off from hot areas or dissipate from other locations, in time.

An over filled engine is an extremely unhealthy and seriously unstable one, at that time. There is absolutely nothing you can do right now to prove/disprove any other faults. Unless you fancy wasting some money ripping out and testing injectors. I would personally wait until there was a sign that you had an injector issue in the first place!

You have done what should have been done. Allow the truck to run gently, and closely monitor everything.
 
#44 ·
Okay no worries, will let it do it’s thing and see what happens over coming days in terms of oil levels. Will try the cold level in the morning, as I hadn’t captured that as yet.

I will leave the injector side for now, as I have put fuel cleaner through post low Sulfur fuel, and today put the diesel purge directly into the fuel filter so will give the remainder of this tank as is, then monitor that side when I put a fresh batch of good quality fuel through, minus the fuel cleaners which will throw out usage.

As a side note, does the oil overfill explain in some way the increase in smoke at idle/acceleration up incline? Or is the amount of smoke in the videos just a diesel thing? This is personally my first diesel.
 
#45 ·
I think it seems like all smoke was blue, is oil being burnt off which could easily be the cause of all your smoke issues. The lower the revs, the more chance the excess oil has to "pool" in certain areas.
 
#46 ·
Okay, sounds about right.
I would say the 3/4 failed glow plugs were a separate coincidental finding, or maybe they too were stuffed but were part of the overall problem but not the problem itself, as they were definite dead.

I will monitor oil levels the next week or so, see how it all goes with improving smoke wise, and go from there. At this stage it looks like I can’t do much more than wait and see what happens, and going by what you’ve said there isn’t anything particularly catastrophic that would mean the vehicle is inoperable whilst I am away for work, and the family is using the vehicle.
 
#47 ·
Indeed, you may have existing or previous glow plug issues, but there is no connection to smoke with this. Dead glow plugs will only cause starting issues. They come on briefly before start up, and never come on again until next time they are needed for heating during a start cycle.

Yes, closely monitor and check everything.
 
#49 ·
Given that the glow plugs have all been replaced after initially finding three out of four were not showing any readings via multimeter, with nil lighting of the test light on testing, this should have eliminated that potential? The circuit, module, and wiring was all checked then too, and there is a video from a previous reply that showed no smoke at all on cold start, so could this still be occurring?
 
#54 ·
Hopefully so , I think a long trip and getting up to a decent temperature would help get the remaining oil sorted sooner rather than later . Not good for DPF to have oil sitting in it and only slowly burning off. We had a ride on mower overturn a couple of weeks ago it took two hours before you could see it cutting grass again due to the smoke.
 
#57 ·
Just a thought but have you checked the turbo, a slight leak will cause the white smoke and the diesel smell, just a thought
Good luck with it and looking forward to the reason and the fix
At the moment, it only happens when leaving the ferry at an incline as per the video in one of the earlier comments, or at idle for longer periods of time on the decline. As per other videos on other comments, no smoke on acceleration at speed on either incline or decline.

Findings so far have been three out of four dead glow plugs (since replaced), and an extra ~2.7L of oil put in at last service by the local mechanic shop (see images in previous comments, which has since been rectified).

At the moment I’m waiting to see what happens, and have been checking the oil level an no movement as yet. Next ferry run is in three days.
 
#60 ·
All good news really then.

I would think that oil is still burning off, and yes, idle is always better for allowing it to pool/gather.

The biggest problems when over filling a diesel engine with oil, is that whilst the crank is submerged in oil, beating through the oil as the engine runs, causes bubbles in the oil. This aerated oil can't be pumped efficiently, or lubricated efficiently. This causes extremely concentrated hot spots at various locations, roasting parts.

The fact that oil is still burning, is a very slight concern, but we need more time to see how it progresses. It still seems like you may have got away with it.
 
#61 ·
Thanks for your input and time on it all, I definitely understand the issues with it, found my self in the depths of YouTube for a while there looking at similar situations. Oil still seems to be burning, though the car has done barely any driving at all in the last week, other than one or two very local shop runs and one run to the airport and back.

Will keep monitoring, and see how it is over the next week whilst I am home.
 
#62 ·
That's exactly it. You have done all you can for now, so we can wait until you have covered a few more hundred miles and see where you're at.

If you had a VAG diesel, the engine would have probably seized solid! So far all good!!
 
#63 ·
Had a bit of a drive today, not sure whether it is to do with now having new oil, or whether I am listening too intensely now that I am paranoid. Had taken the power off the car for a few hours to do an ECU reset as it suggested doing do after having made considerable changes in the car, not sure if it was pointless or not.

Took a video of the engine at start-up, as well as a quick reverse down the driveway and drive off video.
Would appreciate if you could listen to these, and let me know if you hear anything off?



 
#64 ·
Seems to sound ok.

There was some strange creaking/clicking noises on start up, but I think they are not related, nor do they sound serious.

It can take 600 miles or more for all ECUs to learn and adjust all transducers and sensors after a reset.

Sounds ok for now!
 
#65 ·
It's the first start up I have had a issue with, which was bizarre.
It has been starting easily prior to this, so unsure on that one.

Gave the MAF sensor, and electrical sensor a clean this morning.
Changed the air filter over also, to a good quality Ryco one.

Will keep an eye on it all then, sounds like ECU may need to learn again.
 
#67 ·
Just did a longer run today, to see if I could get some of the potential excess oil burnt off. Drive went well, no smoke visible and no issues on mountain climb and then highway 80km/hr +. Drove above 80km/hr for roughly twenty to twenty five minutes so should have been ample time for a DPF regen if it wanted to do one.

Pulled into a store to grab some lunch, turned the car off, grabbed some food and then jumped back into car. Sat on idle briefly (five minutes or so) noticed the ?smoke again from the rear through the side mirror, in video as below:



Decided now would be the time to capture the smoke from another angle, straight from the tailpipe. Video is as below, but really can’t see any smoke at all:



Confused as all buggery, can see from side mirror but can’t see straight on at the tailpipe. However, in looking back at video can see reflection of rainbow streaks on the bitumen of the car park. Will post image shortly.
 
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