Best Ways To Fix Black Smoke From Exhaust Issue!

Smoke from the car’s exhaust speaks a lot about the present status of the vehicle. Things may seem to be running fine but black smoke from exhaust clearly indicates poor health of the engine.

To know what exactly the reasons for black smoke from cars are, look at the causes stated below by our experts so that the maintenance tips for the same can be followed later.

6 Most Common Causes Of Black Smoke From Exhaust

Before heading towards the reasons related to this problem, let’s first understand what exactly black smoke is. To commence, it is mainly the fumes consisting of dirt, which blow out of the car’s exhaust system. So, if there are thick and black colored vapors, this means that the fuel burns with less amount of air in the engine.

Now the question is what causes the formation of black smoke out of exhaust? Well, the answer to this lies with the faulty car’s components like the air filter and the fuel injectors.

1. Clogged air filters

With dust blocking the air filter, there are chances that sufficient air amount is not reaching the cylinder. As a result, more fuel is being burnt. And, ultimately this causes black smoke from exhaust irrespective of the fact that the fuel injectors are working properly.

Besides this, due to the heavy load or during hard acceleration also black smoke can be found, as the fuel is not injected at the right time.

2. Damaged fuel injectors

In the case of a good fuel injector, the fuel is properly atomized, which means the fine droplets of fuel are spreading equally in the cylinder. However, if the injectors don’t close on time or they are clogged, there are chances that more fuel is injected in a certain area called as rich mixture area of the car. In this situation, even the amount of air is insufficient for the combustion of fuel due to blocked injectors (and the few opened ones inject only fuel).

As a result, solid carbon is formed from the fuel not burnt, which is emitted as a black smoke from the tailpipe of the car.

3. Faulty MAF sensors

The work of the Mass Airflow sensor is to determine the volume of air entering the engine, which in turn, helps in measuring the amount of fuel to be injected inside the cylinder. This entire functioning is important for the complete combustion of fuel in the engine. Otherwise, a malfunctioning MAF sensor can lead to a poor-performing engine.

4. Bad EGR valve

The EGR reduces the emission of nitrogen oxides by re-circulating a portion of an engine’s exhaust gas to the internal combustion engine. If this component is damaged, it emits all the black smoke out of exhaust.

5. Damaged piston rings

One possible reason behind the black smoke from exhaust pipes is damaged piston rings. Piston Rings are designed to prevent the infiltration of engine oil inside the combustion chamber. If there is any problem with the piston rings, the engine oil starts flowing into the combustion chamber. The combustion of the mixture of this engine oil and the fuel delivers black smoke.

6. Engine deposits

Engine deposits are another reason causing black smoke from tailpipe. When the engine is new, it will run fluently without any problems. But after a long period of use, the engine conditions get worse and worse and this consists of getting accumulations of combustion products in important areas like combustion chambers and injectors. And these interfere with the best functioning.

>> Check out how to fix white smoke from exhaust <<

How To Get Rid Of Black Smoke From Exhaust Pipe?

If you observe black smoke coming out of exhaust pipe, here are ways you can do to fix this problem.

1. Clean air system

The internal combustion process requires the correct amount of air intake to burn the fuel completely. If there is a lack of air coming into the engine, the fuel will be burnt partially then leads to black smoke from tailpipe. Fuel needs to be burnt fully as it will only emit CO2 and water, which do not cause black smoke. That is why the correct combination of fuel and air is so important if you want to avoid black smoke. Thus, check your air cleaner system to see if it is dirty or clogged as this might prevent air from coming inside. If your air cleaner system is dirty or clogged, you will need to clean it or replace it if necessary.

2. Use a common -rail fuel injection system

All the newest diesel-powered vehicles use a common rail fuel injection system which is a high-pressure injection system feeding fuel directly to the solenoid valves. By using this high-tech injection system, there will be hard for any emissions or black smoke to come out at all. So when you want to buy a diesel vehicle, pick the one that uses the common rail fuel injection. Then you don’t have to worry about black smoke from exhaust anymore.

3. Use fuel additives

Combustion debris and deposits will gradually build in the fuel injectors and cylinder chambers. The mixture of fuel and these deposits will reduce the fuel economy and lower the performance of the engine, causing black smoke emitted from the exhaust pipe. Luckily, you can mix the diesel fuel with a detergent additive to get rid of these harmful deposits. The black smoke will disappear after a few days after you do that.

4. Get the engine rings checked and replaced If damaged

A damaged piston ring can cause black smoke from exhaust when accelerating so you should check them and replace them if necessary to get rid of black exhaust smoke.

Besides it will be better if you regularly maintain your vehicle. When driving for a long, you should give your vehicle some rest. Resume the trip when the engine cools down.

Watch the video below to see more reasons causing smoke in car: 

Hopefully, after reading this article, you will get useful knowledge about what causes black smoke and how to get rid of it. If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to leave them in our comment section, and our car experts will answer them for you sooner.