Skydvr
Veteran Member
My landlord asked me to check something out for him with his wife’s ‘04 wagon (4/4 vehicles are TDI).
He said he couldn’t get it to turn over, but it didn’t sound like a dead battery or a bad starter. When I got out there, it turned over first try, but as the engine got up to speed, there was some pretty bad knocking for a second and a half before it smothed out. It had a significant amount of white smoke on start-up, but it cleared fairly quick. If he held the accelerator it would start putting out bluish smoke and the longer he held it, the thicker the smoke got. The engine started back up fine several times.
We looked at a few things, I pulled the dipstick and smelled the oil. I thought it smelled pretty strong like gas, but it has been so long since either of us has pumped gas that we weren’t completely sure if that is what we were smelling in the oil. We tried to pull a sample of fuel, but he couldn’t seem to get the hose all the way into the tank. After the car sat for 5-10 minutes it had the rough start again, but restarted fine several times after that. It only seems to start hard after it sits for a few.
Once it gets past the rough start, the engine runs smooth. No check engine lights. Nothing noted with the ride home, but she isn’t really into cars and had two young kids with her (not like most of us here that would notice a tire being off by 2psi or a single misfire).
His wife recently filled the car and the tank is pretty much full.
1. Is there anything at the end of the fill hose that prevents siphoning?
2. Would this be indicative of contaminated diesel?
Anything else I should consider? I’d hate to go through the hassle of draining the tank and putting a new fuel filter in if it isn’t bad fuel. I haven’t dealt with bad diesel before. What would I be looking for with gas contaminated diesel other?
He said he couldn’t get it to turn over, but it didn’t sound like a dead battery or a bad starter. When I got out there, it turned over first try, but as the engine got up to speed, there was some pretty bad knocking for a second and a half before it smothed out. It had a significant amount of white smoke on start-up, but it cleared fairly quick. If he held the accelerator it would start putting out bluish smoke and the longer he held it, the thicker the smoke got. The engine started back up fine several times.
We looked at a few things, I pulled the dipstick and smelled the oil. I thought it smelled pretty strong like gas, but it has been so long since either of us has pumped gas that we weren’t completely sure if that is what we were smelling in the oil. We tried to pull a sample of fuel, but he couldn’t seem to get the hose all the way into the tank. After the car sat for 5-10 minutes it had the rough start again, but restarted fine several times after that. It only seems to start hard after it sits for a few.
Once it gets past the rough start, the engine runs smooth. No check engine lights. Nothing noted with the ride home, but she isn’t really into cars and had two young kids with her (not like most of us here that would notice a tire being off by 2psi or a single misfire).
His wife recently filled the car and the tank is pretty much full.
1. Is there anything at the end of the fill hose that prevents siphoning?
2. Would this be indicative of contaminated diesel?
Anything else I should consider? I’d hate to go through the hassle of draining the tank and putting a new fuel filter in if it isn’t bad fuel. I haven’t dealt with bad diesel before. What would I be looking for with gas contaminated diesel other?
