Help with exhaust leak

I have a stock 96 Passat with around 160K miles. I seem to have and exhaust leak. The leak seems to come from the rear of the engine, below the intake manifold and above the Turbo. When I start the engine, I see distinct smoke in the engine compartment. I am not familiar with where everything is back there, any ideas what might be causing this? Thanks.

Based on your description it sounds like you have an exhaust manifold that's leaking between the head and the manifold or between the manifold and the turbo. Both areas have their own gaskets to seal the connection. I don't think it's too common on TDI's but was fairly common on the Audi 5cyl's where the Exhaust Manifold would warp enough over time to leave a leak between the head and the manifold. Putting a new gasket on it might solve the problem only short term, the solution would be to have a machine shop take a small cut off the mating surface. Just hold up the exhaust manifold to a straight edge before reinstalling it with new gaskets, that way you'll know the manifold isn't the culprit and you won't have to do the job over again.

It's gonna be kind of a pain in the butt to take all that apart for a couple reasons, you'll have to take off the turbo, drop the downpipe, intake manifold too. All the while you'll be bent over the engine reaching back to the work area for extended times. Probably the least comfortable vehicle working position in my opinion.

Good luck, let us know what you find.

Hey Kneebull, hope you're taking care of "my " T-Red Passat!

Thanks for the advice. A leak in that position may also explain the "screaming" noise that comes with acceleration. I am thinking that the dealer may have missed a gasket or something when this car had the turbo replaced (due to a recall) very early in its life.
Jetter - Car is in good hands. I change the oil every 3000 miles with DuraLube (as seen on TV) and recently topped off the coolant with some new Prestone.

kneebull said:

I have a stock 96 Passat with around 160K miles. I seem to have and exhaust leak. The leak seems to come from the rear of the engine, below the intake manifold and above the Turbo. When I start the engine, I see distinct smoke in the engine compartment. I am not familiar with where everything is back there, any ideas what might be causing this? Thanks.

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I'm in the same boat.('97 Passat TDI) Looking at my downpipe,the bottom of the round (fiberglass?) part of the pipe appears to have some discoloration(it's black)
I'm going to jack up the car for a closer look.
Anybody know a source for this pipe/cat. other than the dealer?

I don't know where East Berne is but aftermarket two-piece replacement parts (separate downpipe and cat) are readily available in Toronto. If you are close to the border it would be worth the drive. The price would be about $325 for the pair. Alternately, the original flex joint can be cut out and an aftermarket joint welded in its place.

Rick

These cars have a tendency for the flex section of the downpipe to get stiff with carbon/crud over time, and causing all the vibration to be concentrated at one end of the flex(as well as vibration noises). Eventually the metal fatigues and breaks... this happened to a buddy's B4 wagon while we were on a road trip.

Rick P. said:

I don't know where East Berne is but aftermarket two-piece replacement parts (separate downpipe and cat) are readily available in Toronto. If you are close to the border it would be worth the drive. The price would be about $325 for the pair. Alternately, the original flex joint can be cut out and an aftermarket joint welded in its place.

Rick

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I'm about 600km from Toronto.
Do you know of an online source for those pipes by any chance?
I jacked up the car to take a closer look at the pipe and my findings were inconclusive.There was some fraying of the fiberglass(?) material surrounding the flex portion of the pipe.
I'm going to check it again with the engine running...

I'm afraid not. There are a couple stores locally that carry the replacement parts and neither will ship. However, my downpipe was brought in from Quebec so you might try asking in the Quebec users forum of this site if anyone knows of a firm there that will ship to you.

Rick

quartersaw said:

I'm about 600km from Toronto.
Do you know of an online source for those pipes by any chance?

Click to expand...

Rick P. said:

I'm afraid not. There are a couple stores locally that carry the replacement parts and neither will ship. However, my downpipe was brought in from Quebec so you might try asking in the Quebec users forum of this site if anyone knows of a firm there that will ship to you.

Rick

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Thanks!
it was 27ºF. here this morning,so I decided to wait until a warmer day to scrutinize the downpipe further.It looks like it would be a beast to get it out of the car if that in fact is the problem(?)...