White smoke at injector area?

jekl843

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Location
CT
TDI
2011 Golf TDI (sold), 2002 Jetta TDI 5spd, 2017 GTI SE 6spd
Thanks Wonneber, I didn't see any spidering and the lobes all seem to have the edge... here's a higher res pic http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/500/bettercampic.jpg

I think I solved my leaky injector problem though. I took my 17mm wrench and broke loose the fuel nut on top of injector four and tightened it by only 1/16 of a turn, if that. I also broke loose the bolt on the holder arm and tightened it by even less than 1/16 of a turn. Took it for a 30 min spin, and it was staying dry. SWEET SUCCESS!! No more smoke, no more mess from a leaky valve cover, life is good... for a minute

But of course, when one problem is solved, the TDI gods decide that another problem needs to be fixed.

And that problem is the oil leak on the bottom...I put the car on ramps, took two trusty cans of brake cleaner, my super degreaser and a roll of paper towels and just had at it all over the back of the engine, top of the bell housing (took off air box) and every damn piece of metal where I could see any wetness or grime . It took almost three hours, but damn I felt proud of myself when I was done and saw such a dry and relatively clean engine. Brake cleaner really is a miracle product.

I took it for a nice 40 mile spin, and put it back on ramps. Drip... Drip... Drip... ugh. Pop the hood, bell housing looks clean, around the vacuum pump is dry, injector areas still dry, everything looks dry from above, good. Go underneath, back of engine is dry, turbo area is dry... Annnd the area between the oil pan and transmission is wet dripping off the oil pan and my new dogbone mount. I took a look in the small holes where those hard to reach oil pan bolts are and I see the bolts are wet as shown in this bad pic


I'm pretty sure the oil pan had been replaced at one point in this car's life as some greyish gasket sealant is oozing out around the entire pan. But I've also heard that this sort of leak can occur due to the rear main seal. Removing the transmission is a bit outside of my league, but I think replacing an oil pan is something I can do.

The question, could this leak be caused by a poorly sealed oil pan and thus worth the effort to replace the oil pan? Thanks!
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
It could, but I think your worry about the rear main seal is more likely. Sometimes people seem to be able to mess that one up without even trying very hard. Thing is, you have to pull the transaxle to get to it, and nobody wants to do that until it is the only thing left to consider. Also, if you get that far, do you play with the clutch or anything else in there (new clutch, hint hint...) while you are there and all that.

Ugh, decisions decisions.

PH
 

jekl843

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Location
CT
TDI
2011 Golf TDI (sold), 2002 Jetta TDI 5spd, 2017 GTI SE 6spd
It could, but I think your worry about the rear main seal is more likely. Sometimes people seem to be able to mess that one up without even trying very hard. Thing is, you have to pull the transaxle to get to it, and nobody wants to do that until it is the only thing left to consider. Also, if you get that far, do you play with the clutch or anything else in there (new clutch, hint hint...) while you are there and all that.

Ugh, decisions decisions.

PH
Thanks PH, a new clutch and perhaps even a Single Mass Flywheel setup has been lingering in the back of my mind. If replacing/resealing the oil pan doesn't stop the leak then clutch work will jump to the top of the list!
 

wonneber

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Location
Monroe, NY, USA
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagon,2003 Jetta 261K Sold but not forgotten
Thanks Wonneber, I didn't see any spidering and the lobes all seem to have the edge...
The question, could this leak be caused by a poorly sealed oil pan and thus worth the effort to replace the oil pan? Thanks!
Picture looks OK to me also. :)

Is it worth a try with replacing the pan gasket first?
A lot easier then pulling the trans. :eek:
 

jekl843

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2014
Location
CT
TDI
2011 Golf TDI (sold), 2002 Jetta TDI 5spd, 2017 GTI SE 6spd
While severely off-topic from the original intention of this thread, I'm happy to report that replacing the oil pan fixed 95% of the bottom side leak. The old pan had a gasket on it and I installed a new one without the gasket (oddly it came with one) using VW silicone that my local indy shop let me borrow. Of course I cleaned the crap out of the surface with a wire brush, spent at least an hour. The tech drilled into my head that I had to set it and hand tighten within 5 minutes of applying the silicone so I felt a bit rushed but it worked! Torqued it about 30 minutes later and by then it was nightfall so I just let it sit overnight before filling with oil again.

When I had it off, I couldn't help noticing this aluminum gasket thing, what the heck is it? Mine was a bit bent and full of dirt, but I cleaned around it with brake cleaner and some towels to get as much dirt out without bending it any more.
 
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