look at this pic and give me your opinion

Ok when I was changing my Dad's oil today, by the way there were icecles on the car, thats how cold it was. But anyway I noticed what appeared to be Diesel all gooked up on the head, by cylinder 2 I think. This happened once before and the dealer fixed it under warranty after I pointed it out to them. The car is out of warranty and I have become its mechanic for the msot part. What part is leaking? The vacume hose feels moist and smells of diesel, but I don't think that holds fuel, actually I am almost positive of this. Can someone give me some pointers. Sorry for the length.


Thanks alot
Mike

A loose #2 Glow Plug or leaking #2 Injector, providing the valve cover has not leaked in the past or fresh oil was not spilled in that area.

I wouldn't be so sure about that hose. I think diesel does flow through there. Like excess fuel flow return back to the fuel filter. I think if you trace them you'll see they daisy chain back to the filter. They shouldn't be a big deal to replace and are probably a maintenance item for a higher mileage car. How many miles on the car?

I wonder if the fitting to the injector might be leaking though. Maybe you could keep the cover off, and somehow observe to see where the fuel is coming from.

Thanks for the suggestion, keep em coming, the car currently has 72k miles, the leak happened in the same exact spot at about 40k. I had the car running and couldn't see anything visibly leaking, I'll have to get someone to give it some revs to see if anything happens then. I'm changing the fuel filter and tranny fluid tomorrow so I will check it out then
Mike

Bear with me as I am playing dumb:

What are those things that look like rocker arms under the injectors?

Glow plug wires?

Those things hold the glowplugs down so that the tremendous pressure of ignition does not send the glowplugs into low-earth orbit.

Those braided hoses carry excess fuel back to the pump. They are prone to leakage. I'd be real money that's the source of the fuel mess.

The long black plastic tube under the injector pipes carries the electricity to the glow plugs.

The glow plugs themselves like very skinny little spark plugs. They thread into the head next to the injectors. See those clamps with the bolt heads on them? Those clamps hold the injectors in place.

This engine either has a leaking fuel return hose or a fuel leak in or around the #2 injector. Get a metric brake line wrench and tighten the #2 fitting. Tighten the injector clamp bolt. And replace those braided hoses. When replacing the hoses just kind of eyeball the length and cut off as much as you need. Precision isn't important. The easiest way to remove the old ones is the simply rip them off without any ceremony and then tear off the residue with needle-nose pliers. The hoses are simply pressed onto barbed fittings. (Pull the old ones more or less straight out so you don't risk damaging the fittings by bending them.)

-mickey

send an e-mail to hienz57 and ask him what his syptom where when he had leaky golw plugs or injectors or something. he should be able to help you trouble shoot a bit more.

garrett P.

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2000 JEDI TDI Silver
Full Commander, Prime Minister of Power and all that is good
assistant to President Valois in the UPsolute territory

Karl & mickey are spot on. Those braided rubber hoses are the spill return pipes which take excess fuel from the injectors back to the tank or filter, at low pressure. They are prone to thermal cracking on the nipple and leakage after a while, but are cheaply & easily replaced. Get the right size, though, there are several which look much the same size but which aren't!

My Dasher had the same problem, I had to replace all that braided rubber. I went to VW and bought a few feet of the stuff and replaced every inch of it and it stopped the leak.

On mine it wasnt a huge leak, just an occasional drip, drip. BUt it was enough I suppose to cause a fire in the right conditions? I first noticed it by the smell of diesel fuel under the hood.

Basically, our high-performance TDI engine needs high-performance fuel with a cetane value of 49 to run at peak efficiency.

While your engine will still run on 40 cetane fuel, low-quality home heating oil, or even contaminated 20 year old tractor fuel, keep in mind that using lower-quality diesel than the ORIGINALLY INTENDED 49 will make your engine run less efficiently than what was originally calculated by our TDI's Founding Fathers, who anticipated the availability of high-quality fuels like that found in Europe.

Lesser quality fuel of any kind (i.e. cetane ratings below 49) will cause noisier idling, increase the visual presence of smoke, and usually results in poorer fuel economy.

In short, ignition timing lag is the reason why VW recommends that optimum fuel used in their high performance TDI be at 49. A higher rated fuel is not necessary and a lower rating can make your engine run less efficient and possibly add more unnecessary stress to it.

The only solution we have in the U.S. is to find the highest quality fuel available in our area (i.e. Amoco Premier or PowerBlend) and use additives with a cetane booster because our high-performance TDI engine needs high-performance fuel with a cetane value of 49 to run at peak efficiency.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/NonCGI/Forum5/HTML/001653.html

What's the feasiblity of replacing that fragile braided line with braided stainless steel or something similar?

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1999 New Jetta GL TDI
Atlantic Blue/Gray studio

Mein auto wurde von den stolzen arbeitern der Fabrik Volkswagen in Puebla, Mexiko aufgebaut.

The braiding doesn't make any real difference, in fact on some cars there's no braiding. It's the rubber that degrades and it's the elasticity of the rubber that seals the pipes on the nipples - they're only pushed on.

There's no real reason that they are braided line cause there isn't a lot of pressure on these hoses. It is probably a longevity issue and VW has always used this braided type hose, even for washer fluid hose.

I think the braid makes it easier to handle and probably does make it last longer.

Wow thanks for all the responces guys, I appreciate it. I will titen down that fitting and replace all the hoses, and try and clean the diesel off with simple green, I like a nice clean engine. Thanks again
Mike

VWMike,

You can take comfort in that the leak, wherever its source is very slow. If it were not, the fuel would be washing a run off trail rather than sticking around long enough to oxidize and collect dirt.

The fire hazard is low, too. Ric tried to burn himself down several times and has yet to be successful.

Be sure you use another wrench to hold the injector body when you tighten the line from the injector pump. And, as has been stated, be sure you get the right kind of wrench for that fitting on top!

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"I love the smell of [burning diesel] in the morning. It smells like ... victory!"

I went today and bought the fuel filter and the braided hose, so I'll try that first and see if that cures it. Hopefully it will. I also bought somne simple green so I can clean the area, this way I'll be able to tell when it leaks again. thanks for the favice though
Mike

AHHHH A DIRTY ENGINE!!! CLEAN THAT ENGINE

Castrol Degreaser (purple bottle) spray on undiluted and hose off with cold water. If you don't have any use simple green. The reason is to get off the residual diesel to keep it from softening the rubber any more than it has been.

Spot on guys I bet on the leaking fuel return line.

DB

I'm with JeffT on this one. Replace the rubber fuel returns lines first and clean the engine. If fuel is still leaking, then and only then would I mess with the swage nuts on the injector lines. Those swage nuts sould never be torqued tighter than spec, which is only 18 ft-lbs (25Nm). One can easily damage the injector line or a very expensive injector if the swage nut is overtightened.

Another common mistake: People use rubber vacuum hose for the fuel return hose. I only recommend this in an emergency. The rubber used in vacuum hose is not made to stand up to fuels and it will react, usually by going soft and mushy eventually. Use small diameter fuel hose for the fuel return lines. It doesn't matter if the hose has a cloth braid on it or not, just make sure it is fuel hose and not vacuum hose.

Brian, 97 Passat TDI

I'm pretty sure I got fuel line, well I better have, I even brought my digital camera and should the guys at the dealer which hoses I needed. Thanks again for the advise.
Mike

VWMike81:

I woulldn't touch the injector and/or metal line and fitting before I first ascertained whether it was the rubber hose which was leaking--which is an easy fix--as opposed to playing with the injector and fitings which could open a whole can of worms. Tackle the easy stuff first!