Oil Leak TDI FR150

[APNess]

Hi, have searched about, found a few posts on this but varying answers and I think maybe I have another problem.

Got my cam belt and water pump done in last two weeks and have had an oil leak since. It's coming from the back of the engine at the top I believe, and may be something to do with either:

1) the egr - its very oily under the round disc thing that sits on top, and the back of the rocker cover gets misted with oil

or

2) the intake system. Maybe oil is coming from the breather pipe into the air intake and (I'm guessing) there is a hole in the back of that somewhere where oil is coming out and running down the pipe then collecting on the exhaust

When the car warms up there's smoke from the right hand side of the bonnet every time I come to a stop, it stinks of burning oil, and every night there is a small pool of collected oil to clean up in two spots, a large one and a small one. I've got pictures I can post up. When you lift the bonnet and pull the engine cover off the smoke is pouring from the back of the engine.

Oil is ok, changed last month, level ok. Not had any leaks or bother with the car in the 10 years I've had since new. Was starting to get itchy feet about another motor (never owned anything as long as this) but it does a job, is reliable, reasonably nippy and cheap to run with 50+mpg average. Mileage is 108k, have owned since new, so no one else has ragged it.

Anyone had an oil leak on the back of the engine and have somewhere I can look/something I can test, or point to a thread where I can read up? I'll get it back in the garage who did the cam belt but they are an hours drive away and probably have to book in. Already been back once and the breather pipe clip wasn't on right, but it is now and still the same problem.

Have (about an hour ago) jet washed and dried the engine, wiped what oil I could see from every surface so I will try and track this down, but there's no mayo in the oil, egr is clean as a whistle inside (no built up **** at all, just a fine layer of oil).

Have ordered an egr delete kit but may have been a bit hasty. Thought the oil was coming from the hole under the round disc on the egr where it was all sludged up and oily, but not so sure now. I suppose if I do the egr delete I will have to get the car mapped to remove the error codes/eml. Don't want to remap for more power as have done that in the past and all it does it slip the clutch. Unmapped its fine.

Bit frustrating. The wife's car (fiesta diesel) plays up as well but she's got a brand new car turning up on Thursday so she's sorted. I suppose I can use her shed whilst mine is in bits trying to track this down...

 

[APNess]

Hope this doesn't come out massive

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It's been jet washed since the pic, then blown dry with compressor.

And this:

Is what I mop up every day At some point low oil will be an issue am sure, but carrying spare and will top up as needed.

My gut feeling says its to do with the oil breather/air intake and some kind of leak running down the back. Why this should arise after getting the cam belt/water pump done is a mystery but the leak wasn't present before then (done 2 weeks ago). Aside from the leak the fumes in the car mean I need to drive with windows open unless at mway speeds and every time I stop a cloud of smoke from the bonnet.

 

[APNess]

Oh, forgot to mention the turbo went bang at 70k, replaced with a new one. It's done 38k on that, boosts fine, no problems.

Anyone used a catch tank on their tdi (between rocker and intake I presume) and suggest a kit to use?

 

[Muttley]

When the cambelt is done they have to take the engine mounting off as it goes through the cambelt, so the engine has to be supported by a hoist or by a special brace that stands in the bonnet gutters and holds the engine up. The inlet duct section from the hard pipe across the engine to the EGR is also removed. It's possible that the wiggling about that the engine has suffered during the last change was enough to split a pipe somewhere, or that the inlet pipe hasn't been clipped back on properly and is only secured by one ear, and is leaking a bit of oil from the inlet charge.

I'd try using a mirror to see down the back of the engine and look for the leak, also you can feel the breather pipe to see if it is leaking. One other possibility is the cam cover gasket, though why it should choose this time to leak is a mystery.

 

[bruceR]

Anyone used a catch tank on their tdi (between rocker and intake I presume) and suggest a kit to use?

I have removed the small pipe between rocker cover & intake, secured an alloy plug into the intake pipe and run a 1m length of silicone hose from rocker cover to atmoshere - down back of engine to passenger side

 

[APNess]

Thanks for the heads up (both). Will try to get round the back for a look. My problem is that my hands make shovels look small so getting down there is a challenge...

 

[APNess]

An update. Drip/Smoke has resumed and as near as I can tell, the oil is from under the egr where the pipe meets the housing. Took the hose clip off and... the U clip has a 'tang' half snapped off. Could it be something as simple as the pipe not being securely clamped on (you can easily pull it off with two fingers, not the mole grips I thought I would need) and oil from the egr being pushed through the semi loose hose dribbling free and down?

I will bodge it with duct tape (for that ghetto look) until I can get another clip from the stealers or a breakers. They are listed at £10 on ebay (boost hose clip for a Mkiv golf) but maybe a breaker local to me has one so I don't have to wait for it to turn up.

I'm never usually as lucky to find an easy fix. Usually its a piss take valve that costs a major limb and a secondary one (being leg or arm, or both) to fix but will see.

 

[Muttley]

You should be seeing a bit of a boost loss as well, if it's the boost hose - to - ASV valve clip that's gone. Is the hose itself intact, i.e. does it still have both its "ears"? Usually one of those gives way before the clip does.

Yes, it is quite likely that this is the source of the oil - it gets into the inlet charge from the PCV crankcase breather, and usually leaks out of all the lower joints in the boost piping, as well as filling up the intercooler.....

Duct tape will be powerless in the face of the boost pressure inside the pipe, I've had a joint fail on me and the bang is quite frightening

 

[APNess]

Ok, today for first time managed to drive quite a distance without a cloud of smoke from under the bonnet.

The pipe from egr to plastic pipe (to intercooler) has a broken tang at the egr end (closest to bulkhead). The wire clip was also broken on that side, with the bottom of an 'arm' missing. I reckon (working theory) that under boost the hose was pushed off the egr a bit and sprayed oil (collected from the inlet) down the back of the engine hence the pooling oil and smoke from that side (drivers side of engine).

To fix it, got a new clip, ran a bit of silicon sealant around the o ring to make it a bit thicker to give a better seal and applied a 'ghetto' mod. A tie wrap on the hose, one on the egr, then two tie wraps going across to pull them together and keep the pipe joined even under boost.

It's that or spend £134 on a new hose as breakers don't seem to have them round here. Will keep looking.

In addition, reapplied my remap which has egr mapped out. That seemed to reduce smoke before any of the other stuff was done.

So far, no smoke and hopefully this will cure the pool of oil under the car every day. No idea what the intercooler is like but judging by the oil coming out of the top it must be a fair amount after 108k miles.

Will be searching for the how to on taking the front off the get to the intercooler. I suspect that will take a few hours but be worth it to empty 10 years of accumulated gunge :S

Thanks to Muttley and BruceR for suggestions. Fingers crossed that's the end of this 'mystery'.

 

[APNess]

And another update to this...

Oil still pissing out, smoke all over place, puddles where I park etc...

Got MOT guy to change rocker cover gasket... still same

In desperation took it round to a mates to get on his car lift. He watched while I held revs at 2k... diagnosed it in about 5-6 seconds (took him longer to open the bonnet).

The rocker cover has a crack in it! WTF?!?!? It's not something I've done, pretty sure its the garage who did the timing belt but can't be 100% sure save that the leak started the day I got it back from them.

Anyway, hopefully someone will see this:

038 103 469 - Part number for the rocker cover

Question: Will any 1.9 pd rocker cover from the mk1 era (2000-2004 ish) go on, from Audi, VW, Seat, Skoda etc? Or does it have to be 130/150 tdi engine? It widens the options if anything will go on, otherwise will be scouring for a tdi 130/150 cover.

Have fixed (bodged) the rocker cover with some epoxy resin which even as we speak is still curing. Looks like a dogs arse (****) but doing the job and with a bit of luck curing my sleepless nights (only been on 3 hours, but no smoke and dry as a bone on inlet manifold/egr whereas before it would be drenched after an hour long drive).

 

[Muttley]

It would have to be a PD engine (and that part number is for a PD engine), so 130 or 150. The VE engines have a very different cylinder head.

 

[APNess]

Does the breather rotate? Have seen some TDI PD covers with breather pointing in the wrong direction. I assume that is what the letter code on the end of the part number refers to?

Also the cover has the same part number as that of the 1.9tdi in the MK5.

Will keep eyes out for ASZ/ARL cars breaking in the meantime...

 

[Muttley]

The breather pipe is fixed as far as I know. The Golf Mk.5 TDI engines are almost all PD and the same engines are installed in the Mk.2 Leon/Altea.