Does Engine Smoke Tell Us Anything About the Condition of the Vehicle Engine?

What Does Colour of Engine Smoke Mean?

The exhaust emissions of a perfectly tuned engine should be invisible; if the smoke of the engine is visible then there may be some defect in the engine. The colour of the engine smoke gives a clue to the possible engine defects. Some of them are discussed below:-

    1.      Thin White Vapours

This is due to condensation of water vapours inside the exhaust system and may be accompanied by a slow drip of water. It is perfectly harmless and is often seen during the starting of the vehicle from cold, in the morning.

    2.      Thick Blue or Grey Smoke

This may be due to the lubricating oil in the crank case reaching and burning in the combustion chamber. Apart from loss of oil, it can result in fouled spark plugs, rough idle, hard starting and sluggish acceleration. On turbo charged engines, bluish- grey smoke may mean failure of the turbocharger.

    3.      Black Sooty Smoke

Such a smoke is usually due to the air- fuel mixture being excessively rich. This may be due to many factors, e.g. a clogged cleaner, the choke stuck closed, a faulty sensor, a clogged component in the fuel injection system. The exact cause will need systematic investigation by a trained mechanic.

    4.      Thick White Smoke

This type of smoke indicates serious trouble and needs immediate attention. It may be caused by the burning of the coolant in the engine, a damaged cylinder head gasket, crack in the cylinder block or a damaged cylinder head. Any of these would require the complete engine overhaul. It is better and safer in such a case to tow the vehicle to the garage.

Ways to Save Fuel While Driving the Vehicle.

Hints to Save Fuel

Everyone is concerned about the rising fuel prices now a days, so following are the some tips that may help everyone to reduce the fuel consumption with optimum power supply from the engine.

      1.   Keep the Engine properly tuned. A poorly tuned engine can increase the fuel consumption by up-to  50%

       2.      Get your vehicle serviced regularly by authorized person only.

      

       3.      Avoid excessive use of clutch while driving.

      

       4.      Switch off the engine if wait at the red signal is more than 30 seconds.

     

      5.      Drive in proper gear corresponding to the speed of the vehicle, for this engine RPM would be quite useful.

      

      6.      As far as possible drive the vehicle at medium speeds. Increasing speed from 80 km/h to 90 km/h may increase the fuel consumption by 10 %.

     

    7.      Maintain the steady speed. Fast acceleration and sudden braking results in increase of fuel consumption as well as damage the tires.

     

     8.      Always keep the tires properly inflated. Under inflated tires may increase the fuel consumption by 5%.

    

     9.      Do not use roof luggage rack unless absolutely necessary. A loaded roof rack may increase the fuel consumption on highway by 5%. Even an empty roof rack would increase the fuel consumption by 1%.

     

     10.  Minimize the use of air Conditioner at lower speeds.

     

     11.  Always drive the vehicle with all the window glasses rolled up.

Technologies to Improve Fuel Economy

Technologies to Improve Fuel Economy

    1.   Lightweight Materials:- reducing vehicle wave is an effective way to improve efficiency. However it must be done consistent with passenger safety. Newer vehicles are making extensive use of advanced materials for example composite body panels, high strength, light weight, aluminium structural components etc. Even conventional materials can improve safety while reducing wave if more sophisticated structural design are used.

    2.      Reduced Resistance:- Drag and the friction between road and wheels are the two main resistances to the vehicle motion, which if reduced can improve the efficiency. Improve aerodynamics design of the vehicle body along with slippery body panels can decreased drag. Improving the profile of components such as side view mirrors, radio antenna etc. can reduced the wing resistance further. Rolling friction can be reduced by using low resistance tyres.

   3.     Variable Valve Timing:- Valve opening and closing can be fine-tuned with the help of computer control, which would improve the engine efficiency enhanced improves fuel economy.

   4.     Regenerative Braking:- This causes some of the vehicle kinetic energy to be recaptured as electricity, when the brakes are applied. During breaking the motor acts as a generator taking kinetic energy from the wheels and converting the same to electrical energy that is used to charge the batteries.

  5.   Cylinder Deactivation:- When less power is required by the vehicle, one or more engine cylinders can be deactivated which can be reactivated whenever more power is required, thus producing only optimum power this method especially useful in case of heavy trucks , where eight or ten cylinders engine may be used for hauling a trailer carrying large pay loads, but the maximum engine power is not required when lighter loads are being carried.

  6.    Integrated Started Generator:- The use of integrated started generator in conventional vehicles reducing the fuel consumption and improved acceleration it is found that this may improve fuel economy of conventional vehicles by about 20% however due to heavy electrical power requirements for the integrated started generator the same is being developed preferably with 42 volt system.