EA288 Exhaust Leak

I was given a Passat loaner today with the EA288 TDI. It was my first time driving the new engine so I was looking around under the hood when I got home and noticed some soot staining back by the turbo. See picture below.

Started the motor and sure enough smelled diesel exhaust from behind the motor.

Anyone with an EA288 see this soot staining on their motors? I realize this is a loaner car but nonetheless only has 700 miles on it and appears to have a leak.

This is actually a nice feature if you miss that old timey diesel smell.

I had that on my 2013 CKRA after having the turbo replaced. Turned out the V-clamp was loose. Exhaust leaking by the firewall gets sucked right into your HVAC cowl inlet and you get bathed in raw diesel fumes in the cabin.

Do you smell "Greyhound bus" while driving the loaner?

Yes, only when the car is stationary obviously and then I back up or pull away.

Funny thing is, one of my TDIs is at the dealer for an exhaust leak for the ninth time. Yes ninth time. It is a CJAA engine though and had a leak at the VNT actuator. Many components replaced including new turbo and the leak is now worse then before.

VWoA stepped up and is replacing my vehicle with a new Mk7 Golf scheduled for March build.

I was just slightly shocked when I opened the hood and immediately saw the exhaust soot back by the turbo on a motor with less then 1000 miles.

Just started another new EA288 equipped car that had the same leak and could smell raw diesel exhaust from five feet away, anyone else seen this on their own vehicles?

Haven't noticed it on mine, only sitting at 700 miles though.

The car I looked at today had 35 miles on it. When I opened the hood, I noticed a very small amount of soot behind the turbo. Then when I started the car the raw exhaust was present.

Exhaust leak and egr fault

Matt927 said:

I was given a Passat loaner today with the EA288 TDI. It was my first time driving the new engine so I was looking around under the hood when I got home and noticed some soot staining back by the turbo. See picture below.
Started the motor and sure enough smelled diesel exhaust from behind the motor.
Anyone with an EA288 see this soot staining on their motors? I realize this is a loaner car but nonetheless only has 700 miles on it and appears to have a leak.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have a EA288 1.6 TDI and one day on the motorway it sounded a bit loud, when I got home the other day got on the ground and gave a few spikes of the throttle, sure enough could hear pressure escaping and had that normal exhaust leak sound. Looking at pictures on google Looks like there is a clamp just after the DPF. It also has a horrible EGR problem where so much exhaust gas is recirculated it chuggs or jolts between 100 and 2300 rpm and has horrible fuel economy. I must add that the turbo is really really laggy despite there being no eml light. I think it is a lemon in my opinion. Going to book it in and will report back with the results, in the meantime anyone else having this problem?

I've noticed diesel smell on the EA288 on various occasions. I make sure the recirculation button is engaged and this prevents the smell from entering the cabin. Guess I'll inspect the turbo area and see if there is any sign of exhaust leaks.