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Oil smoke in engine bay after a climb

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woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Hi all,

I'm new to the MKV scene, formerly a MK1 driver :) Just bought an '07 GTI turbo and have really been enjoying it. However, after a spirited joy ride yesterday (which ended in driving pretty fast up a mountain), there was smoke coming from the engine bay.

Popped the hood, and it looks like it's coming from the rear of the engine, primarily. I looked under the car and found droplets of oil on some of the bolt heads on the passenger side (pic below).

Today I drove the car to work, about 25 miles on the highway, and there's no smoke. Drove around town to do errands just now, and still no smoke.

Bought the car from a shop/garage. Apparently it came in with a broken timing belt and some bent valves. Engine was pulled, machine shop took care of the head. So, head and valve cover gaskets should be good. New clutch, I assume (hope) the rear seal was dealt with then. Tried the oil filler cap while idling test, and it's not "hard" to remove.

Is this turbo-related? I know little to nothing about troubleshooting those components...yet.

Whattaya think?

 
vwengineer

vwengineer

Ready to race!
Location
Switzerland
The oil seems to be just under the turbo, I would check the hoses, check the diverter valve. Is the car still driving good? The turbo oil feed or return line could explain this although I see no reason for it to leak suddenly. Not sure if there is a PCV hose in this area, might also check.

Are you sure it's oil and not coolant BTW?
 
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woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Thank you both for the suggestions.

The car is definitely still driving good. I'm totally new to turbo so I will need to research where these connections and oil lines are. I wiped up that area under the car and will continue to monitor the situation.

Damn, the Bentley's for these are expensive! I think I paid $35 for the MK1 book :) A required tool though.
 
FF_animal

FF_animal

Ready to race!
Turbo oil lines. My mk6 has a leak on the return line. Had new gaskets and a new line put on by the dealer under warranty and the bastard still leaks droplets. Never enough to severely drop my oil level tho. I drive my car hard as well and even then there's no real loss of oil.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
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woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Took it in today. Not too good.

Main oil leak is from the oil pan. Apparently the previous owner "repaired" it once with JB Weld. $600 parts and labor, includes oil service.

Brake boost vac pump has minor leak. "Weeping," I'm told. That one can wait.

Three out of four cv boots are torn. Joints still good. Recommending clean and re-pack joints, new boots. $700 parts/labor for both sides.

Metal tube between intercooler and turbo is partially crushed resulting in boost leak. Performance issue, not critical for now I suppose.

Front sway bar end links need replaced.

Man, I feel stupid for not having this car checked over by a third party before buying it.

Some of the non-critical stuff I can probably do myself. Will not do the pan and axle boots myself though. But I can source those parts on my own and take it to my local shop, perhaps.

Ugh. Pricey.
 
gti2slow

gti2slow

Go Kart Champion
Location
NH
woodlumn said:
Brake boost vac pump has minor leak. "Weeping," I'm told. That one can wait.
Click to expand...

Its an afternoon project for much much less than a new pump:
https://www.rkxtech.com/collections/vacuum-pump-repair/products/rkx-vw-audi-2-0t-vacuum-pump-kit

Also in the spirit of while you are there a cam follower can be done at the same time.

woodlumn said:
Front sway bar end links need replaced.
Click to expand...

Another simple and cheap DIY job:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-febi-parts/front-sway-bar-end-link-priced-each/1k0411315r~feb/

If you are willing to DIY some of these jobs are easy and you will save hundreds on just the two items above.

Dunno about the metal tube, got a pic? Could be easy if you have some ramps.

Anyhoo, good luck :thumbsup:
 
W

woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Awesome, thanks for the links. Those are jobs I'm sure I can to myself (well, depending on how hard it is to get the old sway bar links off). I've done tons of work on my 84 GTI (axles, shocks/struts, brakes, timing/tensioner, motor mounts, exhaust, intake).

I will leave the oil pan and axle work to the shop for this car.

I will get a pic of the intercooler pipe soon and post it here.
 
doc280

doc280

Ready to race!
Location
North Carolina
The axle reboot is not bad, messy but not to difficult. Make sure you have OEM axles, if not source good used ones. If you have OEM, don't replace them with aftermarket, big, huge difference,which effects the drive and handling, of the car.
 
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woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Point taken, thanks. Shop wants $700 to service the existing axles (remove, clean, grease up, replace boot). Or I can buy OEM axles from ECS and have them installed, for a total cost p/l of $600.

Picking up some Rhino Ramps tomorrow, and a set of Torx. Will order what's needed for the oil pan replacement and do that myself.
 
doc280

doc280

Ready to race!
Location
North Carolina
woodlumn said:
Point taken, thanks. Shop wants $700 to service the existing axles (remove, clean, grease up, replace boot). Or I can buy OEM axles from ECS and have them installed, for a total cost p/l of $600.

Picking up some Rhino Ramps tomorrow, and a set of Torx. Will order what's needed for the oil pan replacement and do that myself.
Click to expand...

Wow, wish you were closer, I would reboot those axles for half that price and still believe I raked you over the coals.
 
W

woodlumn

New member
Location
Nelson County, VA
Okay, so I had a look under there for myself. I saw the JB Weld on the oil pan. Not pretty, but not leaking.



I believe the leak is coming from whatever this is, that bolts onto...the turbo? There's a plug with wires, the piece is black plastic. What is this? It's oily and a little drippy:



The drips mostly form on the bolts of whatever this piece of steel is, passenger side:



And finally, here's the crushed pipe (what is the name for this?). Doesn't seem urgent:



The axles are VW, so I will call around for a shop that will reboot them.

Anyway, what's the name of that black plastic piece with the wires going to it? It's the oiliest thing under there.

Thanks y'all.
 
Last edited:
vwengineer

vwengineer

Ready to race!
Location
Switzerland
It's the turbo diverter valve (DV), it's one of the weakest point of these cars. When it's shot like yours, it leaks boost and oil. So expect a small power increase when replacing it :wink:
 
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