I removed the cylinder head today to investigate the cause of the engine trouble 🔧
This is not something I usually open,
but issues only reveal themselves when you take things apart.
First, I checked the cylinder condition.
The crosshatch pattern is still visible and there are no major scratches.
So mechanically, it looks healthy — that’s a relief.
However, there is a noticeable amount of black carbon on the piston crown and in the combustion chamber,
which suggests the combustion is not very good.
At this point,
incomplete combustion seems to be the most likely cause of the white smoke.
Then I had a bit of a scary moment 👇
One of the cylinder head studs came out from the base.
Thankfully it didn’t break — it just loosened.
The threads still seem usable,
so I’ll carefully reinstall it tomorrow using the double-nut method.
This kind of issue can directly affect compression and combustion,
so it’s definitely something you don’t want to overlook.
I also lightly cleaned the pre-combustion chamber (pre-chamber),
which is a key part of the combustion system.
No aggressive cleaning —
just a gentle wash with parts cleaner.
Tomorrow’s plan:
Replace the cylinder head
Repair the stud
Install a brand new injector
After this, I should be much closer to identifying the root cause.
Looking forward to seeing how the white smoke changes 🔥