Hello everyone, new to the forum. New to VW and even diesels! I have been into cars for a long time, just never had a diesel. But its time to learn! So i Just got this 1984 Rabbit, 1.6 diesel and a 4 speed manual. The car shows 157,000 miles. No rust. I bought the car from an older guy (im 3rd owner) And it seems to run great. Only problem i have so far is that under heavy acceleration im getting lots of White smoke (could be a little blue but not certain) Now, i was reading on here that its possible to be the oil breather that goes from the valve cover to the air box? Could that maybe be why? If so, i was reading that you can buy the splash sheild for it that goes under the valve cover. Well, why cant i just buy one of the mini valve cover breather filter things, then theres no way oil would get in the intake anyway? Also any other ideas of what it could be? And last question. The air filter is the tube then box with filter. Now, could i take out the filter in the box, and put a high flow "Cold air" cone filter on the end of the tube? And would that help with milage? Sorry for all the confusion and the long post! But any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks
Jordan
White smoke means you have coolant burn going on.
This is sign of damaged head gasket.
Not uncommon for people to overheat these cars, and blow head gaskets. Quite often after people get the repair quote from Bubba's Garage, they decide to just sell their cars. They go out and by one of the many liquid head gasket sealers. These liquids will temporarily seal the head gasket and do a whole lot of damage to the rest of the engine and cooling system. Under high revolution (at higher speeds) it is very common for the seals to blow and release coolant again. This new coolant withe sealer in it will blow out of your exhaust and do some damage to your pistons. After this happens a few times, you won't have enough compression to even start the car. Now this may not be the issue with your vehicle. You may just have a bad head gasket - hopefully.
Plan on an all day project to replace your head gasket. You may also want to do a complete overhaul while you have the head off.
This is a good time to check glow plugs, injectors, belts, filters, hoses, engine mounts, radiator, heater core, etc.
Don't forget - check the head for cracks and warped. Get anew set of head bolts. Get the right size gasket replacement.
Good luck!
Wow wait up, first off he said under acceleration.
So lets take the time to get a proper diagnosis by taking it slow and methodical?
Since it is under acceleration, it could be oil, or unburnt diesel that is smoking in the exhaust from a improperly timed car.
As he didn't mention the mpg, we need to eliminate a few things first.
Test1 general looking about with the engine cold. Do the hoses look swollen or ballooned? Does the a/f res have oil in it or black crud? Yes/No. Yes go to test2, no go to test2.
Test2
After you get the car running for a bit temp gauge in the middle, do the engine hoses look swollen, and they are hard to compress (squeeze)? Yes/No. No can't tell, proceed to test 3, Yes proceed to test 3.
Test3
When the car is cold (not started overnight) take the res cap off, and tie a latex glove or balloon tightly over the opening be sure to get it air tight. Start the car and immediately get it to about 3000 rpm. Does the Glove inflate within 30 seconds? Yes/No. Yes bad head gasket. No, timing is off.
Remove the glove, and replace the cap. If you wait for a minute the heat from the antifreeze will inflate the glove.
Test4 is to take your car to a Mechanic, and have them pressure test the cooling system, and check the antifreeze for oil.
These critters do blow gaskets, and produce white smoke, but under certain circumstances they can do it under load but it isn't a head gasket.
When the car is idling does the exhaust smell sweet? That is one indication that you are burning a/f.
What usually happens and I have seen it myself is that the head gasket fails and usually it will allow the oil pressure to enter the cooling system, a lot of time it doesn't intermix a/f with oil of vice versa as the Oil Pressure is more than the cooling system. You also usually see oil pooling out between 1 and 2 cylinders or 3/4 cylinders in the front of the block.
Now a blown head gasket takes a wee bit of teardown, and we can address that with what you have to do after you answer the above questions.
If the Tests above pass, then you probably need to have your injection pump timed to the engine, and to do that you have to have a dial gauge in the back of the manifold. I have also see where one cylinder isn't burning the fuel correctly as the injector is malfunctioning, or a leaking valve can cause weak compression and unburnt fuel will enter the exhaust manifold and smoke. A badly timed ip can do the same as if you aren't burning cleanly.
There is a oil deflector that you can buy to put under the valve cover and on top of the cam to assist with the splashing of oil back in to the head instead of being siphoned up to the intake plenum or air box.
Using a K&N filter will help you as it will pass more air, but until you have it timed and other things eliminated, it is a placebo.
With 150K on the odo, I would bet it is time for a timing belt, tensioner, water pump, motor mounts, new battery cables and other things that we can address as you tell us the status.
Let us know.
What do Divorces, Great Coffee and Cars all have in common?
They all Start with good GROUNDS.
Replace all of them that you can, 99 percent of flakiness will disappear.
92, 93 Cabriolet.... 89, and 90 are Deceased.
amesghali (08-10-2012)
Originally Posted by briano1234
Agreed Brian. Unburnt diesel would definitely do this.
Thanks guys, the whole head was redone at 100,000 miles so i doubt its headgasket (could be wrong) and the timing belt and all that was redone also, and im pretty tsure the injection pump was also done. Ill take a look at some of the other things you have said.
Even with a brand new head, if you over heat you can blow the head gasket. If you are getting "white" smoke, then do the checks that Brian mentioned to be sure.
You're going to get Gray/Black smoke out of these old diesels anyway. You can minimize it by getting timing as close as possible. You should invest in a dial gauge and learn to time these.
100K ago, the timing belts are only goof for 60, and you can push that to 70K so I would suspect that you should get it replaced, as with one skipped tooth, and you ruin the whole engine. They aren't a interference engine for nothing....
What do Divorces, Great Coffee and Cars all have in common?
They all Start with good GROUNDS.
Replace all of them that you can, 99 percent of flakiness will disappear.
92, 93 Cabriolet.... 89, and 90 are Deceased.
amesghali (08-10-2012)
If my headgasket is bad, could i be running hot? What is your guys needle pointing at after you have driving for a 15-20 minutes? And instead of the splash sheild for the valve cover/intake. can i just put a filter on the valve cover and a filter on the intake side, then there wouldnt be a hose going from the valve cover to the intake. This way i could see if it is just the oil getting into intake? thanks for your help.
Yes, one of the symptoms of overheating is a bad head gasket.
Assuming your thermostat and gauge are working properly, your temp needle should be pointing vertical or thereabouts. If you're pointing at 1-2 o'clock, I would think something is wrong. If you're near red-line then something definitely is wrong.
second question - sure, don't see why not.
Alright thanks amesghali. Its ponting to about the 1 o clock position. But it stays there, and doesnt go any farther. Im hoping its not a headgasket but, we shall see!
It maybe just a bad thermostat or gauge.
If you do end up having to take the head off, prolly a good idea to replace the thermostat anyway.
You will be taking off so much shiet off you block and everything will never be easier to get to. so check everything. You will save a ton of headaches and time in the future by doing a good job and spending a little extra money during a head job.
This is a good time to check the passenger side engine mount. This mount is hell to get to get to - but easily accessible with the head off. might want to replace it anyway.
How is the engine burning oil? do a compression test. If you need new rings, this is the time. When I had my head off, I replaced my pistons. The truck gained a lot more power and burns hardly any oil now.
Good luck Pal.
thnks again for your reply. I just done beleive i have a bad head gasket to be honest. Shouldnt there be some sign of antifreeze in the oil if i do have a bad headgasket? And i dont know if this could possibly have anything to do with it, but the guy i bought it from said that its a hard starter cause theres a vacuum leak somewhere? Could that maybe have something to do with it? Also attached i have a picture of where im running temperature wise... this is after 30 minutes of town driving. It doesnt go past that mark. Thanks for any input.
That doesn't look too bad. Maybe just a hot thermostat.
lol. I don't think vacuums have anything to do with starting a diesel. To start a diesel you need just fuel, compression and timing... (oh and good glow plugs).
Right now I would say:
Get yourself the Bentley manual.
Do the tests that Brian listed
Make sure that the timing is right (Follow the guide in the link below)
http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?opt...d=24&Itemid=28
Sounds good! Ill do all the tests tonight. And would it help if i post a video of the smoke? If so ill also do that!
That is Normal.
What do Divorces, Great Coffee and Cars all have in common?
They all Start with good GROUNDS.
Replace all of them that you can, 99 percent of flakiness will disappear.
92, 93 Cabriolet.... 89, and 90 are Deceased.
Well I did some of the tests today. With the car sitting overnight I put a glove over the Res. And started it.up and held it at 3000 for 30 seconds. It.did not inflate. After I let it warm up I squeezed the hoses and they felt and looked fine... I'm guessing its fuel or rings... is there anyway can tell Wich one it is? Any other.tests? Thanks.again
So now we know that you probably don't have a issue with the head gasket.
Now you will need to get a Bentley Manual or a Haynes.
You will be buying a Dial gauge, so that you can measure the IP (injection pump) and its timing in relation to the base time.
The Bentley/Haynes spells it out exactly. You screw the gauge in zero it, then rotate the engine back and forth to get the "drop and Rise".
You then loosen the 3 bolts on the IP bracket and turn the IP left or right to get the desired reading.
remove the gauge, put the plug in it.
tighten the bolts on the ip, then give it a go. better worse.
better your done.
Worse, then we can look at the injectors, and or the rings and valves, but I think it will be in the injection personally.
You can do a compression test but you need a gauge that can go up to 500psi.
What do Divorces, Great Coffee and Cars all have in common?
They all Start with good GROUNDS.
Replace all of them that you can, 99 percent of flakiness will disappear.
92, 93 Cabriolet.... 89, and 90 are Deceased.
Alright will do, I am kinda guessing its rings cause it uses quite a bit of oil... but the thing that gets me is, if im doing lik 10 mph and put it in 3rd and floor it and bog it down alot, it really poors out the white smoke, so that to me sounds like unburnt diesel cause the engine barely works when its bogged like that so it wouldnt be smoking that much cause of rings... correct?
Get the ip timing to the right position with the dial gauge. Then you can look at other things like compression, that will tell you alot, just be sure that your compression gauge goes up to 500 psi.
What do Divorces, Great Coffee and Cars all have in common?
They all Start with good GROUNDS.
Replace all of them that you can, 99 percent of flakiness will disappear.
92, 93 Cabriolet.... 89, and 90 are Deceased.
Get the Bentley
Always follow the instruction completely. You can use posts like the link below as guide. But Bentley instructions supersede anything else.
Make sure that the timing is right (Follow the Bentley and the guide in the link below)
http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?opt...d=24&Itemid=28
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