Misfire cured... but still white smoke a'plenty

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
On Monday night I was almost home after a 40 mile round trip (gentle motorway driving around 80MPH), and pulled into the local Tesco Express garage. As I did I felt an unfamiliar vibration or two and knew something was wrong. Turned the car on after getting some shopping and it was idling really rough, with a kind of rhythmic vibration. To get it to drive I had to rev to 2000rpm+ and bring the clutch up. Problem was the white smoke coming out of the back... At this point I assumed the turbo had popped it's seal.

I drove the car round to the garage (thankfully very close) and went up there the next morning. They checked it over and did a diagnostics test and it came up as a faulty injector in the 2nd cylinder... No apparent problems with the turbo. They changed the injector today and it has cured the misfire, but not the white smoke. When they took the old injector out it was drenched in petrol... and apparently the oil, even tho it's only done around 6000 miles since the last change, was thick and syrupy.

Thankfully the garage has another car in with similar problems so they are trialing a few theories on that first, but does anyone have suggestions?

The Audi A4 Cabriolet 3.0 TDI's starting to look very tempting! ;o)

T
 

delaxm

Active Member
Nov 8, 2006
68
0
South West UK
I take it that you mean diesel not petrol in your first post, white smoke that came out the back of my car stank of oil & when it was hoisted on to the breakdown truck, oil dripped out the exhaust!
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
Yep yep... I meant Diesel - thankfully never made that mistake at the pumps!

My last turbo blew, and I had exactly the same problems - ie. loooooads of white smoke, oil pouring out the back, etc...

This time around however, there was a lot less smoke, and no evidence of oilly residue on the back. Tho, having said that I drove approx. 500m after it died, and didn't have it up on the truck.

T
 

shadowmaker

2.5TDI 228kW 587Nm@1,3bar
Feb 28, 2007
85
0
If that white smoke smells like diesel, it's unburned fuel. That means you have a hole in one piston, or bended rod. Also nozzles can be damaged to cause this.

If it smells like coolant, then you need to change head gasket.
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
Cheers for the replies. I'll pass on your comments to the garage tomorrow - didn't hear anything today.

Micky, the engine was originally a PD115.

All help muchos appreciated!

T
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
This would be the cause then... lovely big crack in the block!

DSC01005.jpg


New engine's the way forward... managed to track down a 60,000 mile PD150 complete engine for £600. Going to use the opportunity to change the steering rack (which is clearly on it's way out), get the wheels refurbed, and hunt down a nice leather interior! It was either that or £35K on an Audi A4 Cabriolet 3.0 TDI... spoke to Allard about tuning, and they're not sure how easily it can be done without bespoke (effectively one-off) manifolds, turbo, injectors, clutch, etc...

Give it a couple of weeks and the ol'Golf'll be better than ever - finger's crossed! ;o)

Shadowmaker - thank you particuarly for your advice.

Cheers,

T
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
221bhp was probably a bit much for a 115 block.

It had worked perfectly up until the moment it went pop... bear in mind that my car has done 160,000 miles in total... the last 30,000 of which was with 220BHP!

I can't wait to get it all sorted...

But in the meantime I have the garage owner's PD130 to keep me entertained / gamefully employed!

T
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
It runs along the red line...

DSC01005b.jpg


There's also some scoring if you run your finger round the edge.

Bring on the PD150!

T
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
Fair to say I'm still learning the 'bottom end' terminology... ;)

Turns out I can now get a complete block, pistons, rods, oil pump, etc.. for £350, and a steering rack for £75. Fingers crossed it should all be delivered by Friday. The garage are currently getting the wheels refurbed, hunting down some decent leather, and delocking it, after I found out how easy it is to break in!

Will keep you posted on the progress.

Cheers,

T
 

timbotdi

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
213
0
With regards to the delock, it's a must... Check out this thread:

http://www.r32oc.com/showthread.php?t=985

As far as the cracked piston / faulty injector is concerned, the feeling is that it was overfueling, and therefore overheating in the 2nd cylinder.

The 'scoring' is on the inner lip of the piston, and can only be felt by rubbing a nail over it.

Fingers crossed the new bottom end and steering rack will turn up today!

Struggling to find a decent leather interior... I'd be happy just with some decent black leather seats. Anybody know anyone breaking / selling?

Cheers,

T
 
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