Hi all,
I recently bought a used Mito 1.3 diesel car with 216,000 km on the dashboard, with a refurbished engine. All checks have been made to the car prior buying it, and in general it runs really smoothly, apart a blown oil refrigerator that happened a couple months ago (on about 219,000kms). Since i bought is, about 6 months ago, I have driven about 6,000 on the car and mainly use it for motorway. I fuel my Mito only with the Avin Action Diesel, and from the same petrol station. So far, i made twice oil changes, in when i bought it and another about 1,000 km ago cause of that malfunction.
The reason for starting this thread is that i have noticed a "stranger" engine operation than normal, which my mechanic, nor the Alfa Romeo official service in my city has diagnosed anything. Here is what is happening:
Where i live, it takes me about 5-8 min to get to the motorway, which is about 10km of low speed driving. I never rev it up or push the car while cold, and usually by the time i reach the motorway, the temp indication is already and steady on the 90 degrees point. I drive on the motorway for about a 15 min ride (approx. 15 km) and when i reach my exit, i hear the fan radiator to be on the high scale. The temp indication is steady on 90 degrees, no movement of what so ever. Note, that motorway drive has some uphill driving of about 10% inclination and i drive (or try to) with a steady speed of 100-120 km/hr. Now, once i turn to the exit, there is a traffic light where i usually stop (always getting that red light) and i hear the radiator fan on high speed and the car to tremble a bit. I keep the engine running on idle (as i always switch off the start/stop when driving - hate this) and once i place the 1st gear and rev up to start moving, i see a smoke cloud coming out of the exhaust. The color of that smoke looks to be kinda whitish to blueish, and stops once the car is rolling. The fan keeps operating on high speed and i can sense that the car is not pulling as it should. No further smoke is coming out, or at least i cannot see that from my mirrors. I drive a further 5 km without pushing the car (changing gears on about 2500-2700 rps), but the fan keeps on high speed. I pull to a stop, keep the car running, open the hood, but all looks normal! The engine does not feels to be hot or anything like that, no water boiling or anything else. As soon as i switch off the engine and switch it on again, strangely the fan speed drops to normal (low). After that...no smoke or any other strange engine operations. The next day, i check the water level, no drop or any signs of any particles or change of color. I check the oil level...no drop. I check the oil cap, nothing but oil there.
I don't know if this is something to be expected of a diesel engine car, as this is the first time i have one, or this is a sign of a major malfunction.
This is actually my 4th Alfa Romeo, which i hope to keep a bit longer that the others. Any tips or suggestions you could provide, i would really appreciate it! Please let me know if you would want more information about the car service history.
I recently bought a used Mito 1.3 diesel car with 216,000 km on the dashboard, with a refurbished engine. All checks have been made to the car prior buying it, and in general it runs really smoothly, apart a blown oil refrigerator that happened a couple months ago (on about 219,000kms). Since i bought is, about 6 months ago, I have driven about 6,000 on the car and mainly use it for motorway. I fuel my Mito only with the Avin Action Diesel, and from the same petrol station. So far, i made twice oil changes, in when i bought it and another about 1,000 km ago cause of that malfunction.
The reason for starting this thread is that i have noticed a "stranger" engine operation than normal, which my mechanic, nor the Alfa Romeo official service in my city has diagnosed anything. Here is what is happening:
Where i live, it takes me about 5-8 min to get to the motorway, which is about 10km of low speed driving. I never rev it up or push the car while cold, and usually by the time i reach the motorway, the temp indication is already and steady on the 90 degrees point. I drive on the motorway for about a 15 min ride (approx. 15 km) and when i reach my exit, i hear the fan radiator to be on the high scale. The temp indication is steady on 90 degrees, no movement of what so ever. Note, that motorway drive has some uphill driving of about 10% inclination and i drive (or try to) with a steady speed of 100-120 km/hr. Now, once i turn to the exit, there is a traffic light where i usually stop (always getting that red light) and i hear the radiator fan on high speed and the car to tremble a bit. I keep the engine running on idle (as i always switch off the start/stop when driving - hate this) and once i place the 1st gear and rev up to start moving, i see a smoke cloud coming out of the exhaust. The color of that smoke looks to be kinda whitish to blueish, and stops once the car is rolling. The fan keeps operating on high speed and i can sense that the car is not pulling as it should. No further smoke is coming out, or at least i cannot see that from my mirrors. I drive a further 5 km without pushing the car (changing gears on about 2500-2700 rps), but the fan keeps on high speed. I pull to a stop, keep the car running, open the hood, but all looks normal! The engine does not feels to be hot or anything like that, no water boiling or anything else. As soon as i switch off the engine and switch it on again, strangely the fan speed drops to normal (low). After that...no smoke or any other strange engine operations. The next day, i check the water level, no drop or any signs of any particles or change of color. I check the oil level...no drop. I check the oil cap, nothing but oil there.
I don't know if this is something to be expected of a diesel engine car, as this is the first time i have one, or this is a sign of a major malfunction.
This is actually my 4th Alfa Romeo, which i hope to keep a bit longer that the others. Any tips or suggestions you could provide, i would really appreciate it! Please let me know if you would want more information about the car service history.
