random bursts of smoke and loss of power.

My 240 has started with an odd problem. It happens on steep hills, with my foot down but all so if im just cruising along the flat. I get a brief mechanical noise from my engine then tons of grey smoke from my exhaust, and a dramatic loss of power, but only lasts a second, sometimes a bit londer for the power to come back even after smoke has gone. The main problem is it covers both lanes instantly, causing traffic in both directions to stop its that bad. I checked my air intake, and it was like the exon valdez! About half a cup of oil came out of the short lenth of pipe and throttle. Thinking maybe oil trap? when setting off i can get a lot of judder, which some people think is oil on the clutch, maybe from hich crankcase pressure, again from oil trap, or am i jibbering. any help? its injection by the way. The worse thing is it happend just as the forums whent down, i've been lost!

Smoke 

Smoke 

Thanks for that, will try and pick one up this week.

would this explain the oil in the air intake?

Hi traveller...not a nice issue you have there...as the other members have suggested the crankcase/engine ventilation system would be your first port of call....Does the engine start from cold alright?...check all the usual...oil level...too much engine oil will give you the same result..you mentioned a mechanical noise when the smoke starts...this could be the oil igniting in the cylinder head..i"m not too familiar with injection models as mine is carb..and about oil in the intake its very possible the pressure could force the oil out of every possible direction...this happened on my 360gls and blew out the camshaft seal forcing oil onto the exhaust manifold..a lot of smoke but thankfully no fire...clutch judder could be oil related by forcing oil out of crankshaft seal?...best of luck sorting this..its no fun driving a motor with these symptons..regards hj.

pretty sure its oil pressure now, just a shame i have a vectra in pieces at the bottom of the drive at the moment so i dont have much space cant do all i want to but will do what i can over next few days. The engine definatly sounds more tappety after it, i'm a bit concerned about oil starvation will sort it out. oil levels are good, and it started happening as soon as i topped up the oil, but it didnt go over max. Its dangerous and needs to be sorted, but some speeding boy racer with his one litre fiesta with halford neons dried intimidating me into going faster, flashing his lights till i flooded the road with smoke. Kept his distance then, I think its a self defence mechanism.

Having been through similar (although not as dramatic as yours sounds) I have to agree on the PCV being blocked. As mentioned the rocker cover gasket 'letting-by' is a classic sign, oil does drip onto the exhaust manifold & gets 'pongy' to be polite. With the pipes, they may look clear at each end (as mine did) but on inserting a screwdriver they were solid from about 3" in! Good Luck.