Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Ok

So I am driving around Mexico city and my Delica is smoking like a Petroleum Factory(ON FIRE). I was stopped twice by the federales (police) because they were concerned by the amount of pollution coming out of the backside of my delica. I have driven over 3100 meters above sea level. The delica smokes so much and is so slow that I am thinking about leaving it behind at the next roadside stop. I cannot (ethically) go on like this. Is there any way that I can easily adjust the injection pump on route? Imagine, I am polluting Mexico city...

ahhh man :( , i was wondering what happened to you, if you actually made it down there, you are scaring me!! :( i'm about two weeks away from taking my delica down to the southern tip of baja! why is your van smoking so much? (i guess if you would know you wouldn't be posting a thread about it duh!) any ideas as of to whats going on? bad mexican diesel? how about changing your fuel filter? i'm bringing a couple with me just in case, along with spare air filter and oil filter in case i decide to do an oil change down there.. keep me posted of your adventure, road blocks, problems with your van etc... maybe you are burning a lot of oil cause your rings are deteriorated? faulty egr valve? keep us posted man, don't give up, you must conquer and make it back with the deli, USE THE FORCE LUKE!!

yikes.. check all your filters especially air filter???? try putting some injector cleaner additive in it (diesel conditioner)

wish I could offer more ideas to your problem. dont be afraid to ask some Mexi-mechanics... some of them are the most amazing "mcguivers" one guy made me a rear sproket for my motor cycle by hand! luckly they use alot of diesel down there.. is it still half price of Gas?

Mitch

I am still here, using the force.
Diesel fuel here isnt cheap. Costs about 36 usd to fill up. Sometimes you have the option for low sulfur diesel, but it is still somewhat rare (at least where I am going). Generally diesel quality is mediocre.
I changed the fuel filter, and cleaned the air filter several weeks back, and will change again. My memories of travelling around the world by motorcycle are this. 3rd world diesel and hi altitude are a bad mix. not enough air to fuel and unspent diesel make for a nasty combination. I think if I could reduce the fuel to air mix I may be able to improve the smoke problem and fuel consumption (which isnt too good either)
Oh yeah the front bushings are wearing out from all the bumps, I guess the rubber was deteriorated anyway. Getting a bit rattly in front.
I have come across another guy from BC with the toyota version of the delica. He came over from Baja.

The mexican mechanics are very creative and I have used them on many other occasions. I just thought if I did adjust the fuel myself then I would be able to re-adjust it when I get home.

Hint, get your aircon recharged here, they will get rid of the nasty freon and replace it with the eco friendly stuff. They will need to aluminum weld a couple of valves to drain and inject the system. THe entire operation cost me 60 bucks. Try that in Canada...

Steel and labor is cheap here, if you have any metalwork ie racks, bumpers etc that you want to fabricate.
mag wheels and tires are also cheap. Sourcing delica parts isnt easy, get yours before you go

Driving has been a lot of fun here in Mexico. I did a fair bit of off road, driving on beaches, in the mountains, and remote places. No problem with police or military. The delica turns heads everywhere I go. Maybe it gets a bit too much attention, but all good.

I will be heading homewards in the coming weeks.

Lost,

Have you cleaned (or blanked out) the EGR? If you did either of those options they might fix the problem or at least they would significantly reduce the amount of smoke

Lost1 wrote:Sometimes you have the option for low sulfur diesel, but it is still somewhat rare (at least where I am going). Generally diesel quality is mediocre.

You should be happy that low sulphur diesel is rare.. you want the regular "mediocre diesel... the sulphur lubricates your fuel pump, and believe me you dont want you fuel pump seals to go in mexico!

Have a blast on the rest of the trip!

surferboy wrote:you are scaring me!! :( i'm about two weeks away from taking my delica down to the southern tip of baja! why is your van smoking so much?

Surferboy, don't worry so much man, there is less altitude in Baja, so your van shouldn't have the same smoking problems.

Josh

I'm afraid I can't give you any detailed instructions on this one, only an anecdote from a previous vehicle which may point you in the right direction...

on a previous diesel car of mine (1983 mercedes 300SD) I took a trip from calgary (just over 1000m) to halifax (sea level), no problem that way, but immediately on returning home my vehicle started smoking like anything, it was very embarrassing to drive it at that point.

the problem that the mechanic eventually solved (after 2 shops told me that "it's normal, all diesels smoke" (it hadn't smoked 3 weeks earlier before the trip!)) was what they described as an altitude compensator, basically a part that adjusts the air-fuel mixture depending on altitude, apparently mine had jammed at sea level, and as a result was not working so well at altitude...

so, I'm not sure what these vehicles use for this purpose, but there is probably some component seized that is causing this issue.... sorry I can't help more, but maybe that will give you or a mechanic something to think about...

my altimeter goes to red (like the red line of the tach) at 2000m. maybe where some form of adjustment stops?

EGR was blanked out months ago, but no gasket or sealer was used with the blanking plate, no real evidence of blow-by, so I assume this is correct.
I will try and see if I can find some sort of mechanism on the injection pump itself to see what can be done. THe amount of smoke is downright embarassing especially if I put my foot to the floor. I will also take out the injectors and have a look. Maybe they are all coked up...

Most of the driving that I have been doing in the interior of Mexico has been around 2000 meters, the problem starts at around a 1000 meters.

The Zexel pump that is in your Delica is similar to the injection pumps made by Bosch, and the Toyota 2CT is a rip off the Bosch design. I owned a Townace before and I messed with the Fuel adjustment srew, Left for Lean and Right for Rich. It is a screw within a nut on the back of the pump. It is very sensitive and if the mixture becomes too lean then you will loose power, too rich and you will get black smoke. Not sure this is the answer to your problem but maybe a bandaid solution for the moment.
Read this for more details:
http://www.elektro.com/charlie/vwdiesel/

Thank you very much for the info. I think that is what I am looking for. I will have a go at the pump in the next day or two.

if it helps any...I have no problem in my L300 at 1500m....

Black smoke or white smoke?

Black smoke.
I just replaced the diesel filter today, added a can of injector cleaner in the tank, and took off the air filter. No difference yet...
I took a look at the injection pump. The only place that resembles an adjustment screw is located on the right side of the pump between the 4 fuel lines. I am not sure if this is correct...
I tried to take out the injectors to check them, but I don`t have a deep socket. I may have to take it to a local garage.

You may want to have a look at your turbo. If the seals in the turbo are leaking you will burn lube oil, which can give you lots of black/blue smoke.

Black smoke is most likely too high a fuel to air ratio. Your pump meters the amount of fuel for each injection by varying the amount of time the inlet port is allowed to be open. This is also boost sensitive, so if for whatever reason your pump does not know what the turbo is doing it may meter more fuel than there is charge air to burn it cleanly.

I've yet to get deep into the system but there is surely some mechanism to compensate for turbo lag. Sometimes referred to as an anneroid, AFRC, or "puff limiter". These devices delay the throttle momentarily to allow boost pressure to build sufficiently to accomodate an increase in fuel,therby eliminating the "puff of black smoke when you stomp on the throttle. Often times these systems are all linked together with your EGR sytem.

On a cautionary note, probably not wise to have your air con serviced in mexico. A proper retrofit from R12 to R134a involves changing the reciever /drier,purging the system with dry nitrogen,and changing the oil in the compressor. The receiver drier alone is probably more than $60.

argo,

well copied on all aspects. Turbo lag is a big issue, and it takes quite some time before it spools up, but the motor will smoke throughout the rpm range on acceleration. The turbo seals are ok, I believe, and there is no noticeable oil consumption. THe engine has less than 50 000 klms.