Jump to content

The Occational Smoker..


Recommended Posts

Dudes and dudettes,

My loop 1.4 Sport seems to have developed a smoking habit. Under hard acceleration (for a Lupo anyway) i seem to leave a nice dark grey/black cloud behind me. Not a thick cloud, but noticable in the rear view.

Also it seems to cut out mid flight. i.e. cruising along an A road at ahmm.. 50mph.. in 5th Gear (as an example) the engine will simply cut out and bump start itself, which puts a massive jolt through the car and i imagine it does the gearbox no good.

Im baffled as to what the issue might be. It will cut out at any speed, the above is merely a typical example. It will stall even when stationary, braking or accelerating.

ALSO... when i return from a poodle in the loop, the rear bumper and boot lid are spekled with tiny black dots.

Oil consumption however isnt too terrible!

So any ideas peeps?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

oh dear! this is how mine started, first mpg went down then the black smoke appeared, a couple of weeks later the black spots started to come and within a few weeks i was filling the oil as often as i was filling the petrol! took it to the garage coz i thought it was gonna be guides and seals but mine was pistons! so £1600 later and a few weeks in the garage its nearly fixed! really hope yours isnt going the same way x

Link to comment
Share on other sites

oh dear! this is how mine started, first mpg went down then the black smoke appeared, a couple of weeks later the black spots started to come and within a few weeks i was filling the oil as often as i was filling the petrol! took it to the garage coz i thought it was gonna be guides and seals but mine was pistons! so £1600 later and a few weeks in the garage its nearly fixed! really hope yours isnt going the same way x

Ah poo! I hope not. Sounds it though.

Funny, cos on the MOT it failed on emissions due to a faulty cat. Probably caused by oil contamination.

Do you reckon it would be worth me popping the head off and taking a look at the pistons/valve train for any signs of excessive wear? What should i be specificly on the look out for?

Appreciate your help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well when i took my spark plugs out they were wet wit oil. when i took my head off i could wiggle my pistons forward and backward so not good! and u can rebore them and fit oversized pistons coz its a nickle plated engine so i bought a new bottom end from vw coz this seems to be quite a common problem so didnt want to buy a second hand one then have it happen again. if ur lucky the pistons will be fine and it will be that one of the valves has sunk into the head!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well when i took my spark plugs out they were wet wit oil. when i took my head off i could wiggle my pistons forward and backward so not good! and u can rebore them and fit oversized pistons coz its a nickle plated engine so i bought a new bottom end from vw coz this seems to be quite a common problem so didnt want to buy a second hand one then have it happen again. if ur lucky the pistons will be fine and it will be that one of the valves has sunk into the head!

Advice taken, looks like I'll be getting my hands dirty!

Thanks for that funkycooljem. much Appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mine has the balck specks but i dont have plumes o fsmoke and oil conumption im keeping aneye on at th emoment but my car runs fine and i have no problems so fingers crossed i shud be arite,,

out of curiosity what engine codes do you guys have mines an aub

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yeah mine ran fine except the smoke and specks, just got it seen to coz it really annoyed me as i would spend hours cleaning it then it was dirty 2 mins later lol. um dunno about engine code, where will i find that, i know on the engine lol but is it on any of the paperwork coz i dont have me car bk yet!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pistons should rock ever so slightly at TDC, so dont get mega worried if you can feel a bit.

Your best way to find out whats going on is to do a drop rate check on the cylinders. Id sudgest a compression check, but that can actually give false readings if you have oil in the cylinder, as the oil seals the gap on compression.

Drop rate check involves bringing the cylinders to all pistons are at the same level and then filling each cylinder with a set ammount of fluid, leaving it over a good time (1-2 days) and seing if any cylinder has dropped fluid, it it has, then you have leaking rings.

Sports have a tendancy for the valve guides to go too, does it smoke when its cold on start up?

Do you get piston slap when its cold too? - That could indicate worn bores

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

min eonly seems to smoke on start up but then it goes.. but apart from that and the black specks ive not really noticed anything major it did go through a bit of oil quite quickly a whie back but since topping up a whie ago it doesnt seemed to have dropped much recently

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Must say I only get the smoke under ''hard'' acceleration say 3750/4000rpm+ under load.

It doesnt smoke at all other wise, not even cold.

I seem to be free from piston slap, the tappets are a bit clacky cold, but the old girl makes good power and doesnt seem to have any flat spots even low down in the rpm range.

It just confuses me :huh: ! I have noticed the oil blackens very quickly. Might there be a temperature issue? the guage says a constant 75/80degC

Might explain the reason for its tendancy to cut out. Problem is im not 100% clued up on car engines so im pissing in the wind a bit here :D:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oil blackening is an indication of exhaust gasses carbonising the oil. That is common with piston rings sadly.

Tappets on these engine are hydraulic and always filled with oil. Im pretty sure that they shouldnt be tappy even when cold.

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

realisticly how long will this problem conitnnue as is.. its running fine

if i keep an eye on oil levels will things detirorate?

id rather not go through the hassle of engine rebuilds or engine swaps..

dont really want to plus cant really afford to either..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.