"smoking like a freight train and missing at idle"

[kcfoxie]

Guys,

First: Thanks for responding.

Now, this is regarding my dad's 1986 Golf 1.6L non turbo diesel.

He filled up at a questionable fueling source and said the car started missing and smoking.

I told him to replace the fuel filter, he's still not done this. He replaced the coolant resivour because he thought it was leaking (seems the leak is elsewhere) and he has the following concerns:

1) Car smokes like a freight train until it gets to about 60mph then it stops
2) Missing at idle, like it is misfiring
3) Steam coming from the coolant resivour cap

Now he's in Mississippi and it's been 30 or below for weeks. I think that the steam is normal, given the fluid is hotter than the ambient temperature.

I also think he got watered down fuel and the filter is plugged up, causing both the missing (condensation getting into the fuel) and smoking.

He says he'll replace the filter today (scared he won't get it to restart because he will depressurize the system)...

He won't listen to me alone, he needs an outside opinion. Am I on the right track that I think it's the filter (I have a Jeep CRD and a VW TDI 2006).

Thanks so much!

(Backstory: This car is on its 3rd owner, 4th titled owner. It was purchased in 1986 at a Memphis VW dealer by the assistant parts manager for his wife and immediately stripped, rust coated and painted with a clear coat from top to bottom. In the 90s they divorced and he took the vehicle, in or around 2000 he sold it to our neighbor, in 2007 she became our joy as her clutch failed at 400+k miles and our neighbor said it was time to let her go. Now she's moved to Mississippi with my parents. The vehicle had its valves adjusted for what the mechanics said was the first time ever in 2007, and that she was top notch on the inside from what they could tell. Car gets 50+ MPG constistantly, until this last fill up that resulted in the smoking and missing at idle. Love the car, but dad is paranoid and this is his first diesel vehicle)

[wolfsburged]

What color is the smoke?

[jtanguay]

get him to change the fuel filter right away.  it won't depressurize the system, but it will need to be primed again.  the best way for him would probably be to buy a priming bulb and install it pre-filter.that way he can just prime the filter that way, and even get the fuel to the pump.

the bad running until 60mph sounds like its having a hard time pulling fuel through that clogged filter, but it could also be timing related... or even a bad injector.  

to test the injectors to see if one (or two) is bad, have him crack open each injector line nut (some diesel will spray out, wear protective eye gear) and then take note of engine noise.  if the noise changes, then that injector should be good.  if it changes a little, but not much, that could be the culprit injector.

if it is an injector, he will want to change it ASAP as it could do some serious damage to the motor... even burn off the tip of the glow plug, and then send pieces of it into the cylinder to damage the the internals.

[kcfoxie]

The smoke is a gray/white color. It did this when we first got it (he does not recall, selective memory or early stages of Alzheimer's I'm not sure which).

I'll call him about the filter. I just dropped off a spare 1.6L engine from an 89 to be rebuilt "if and when" this pushing 500k mile motor dies. This really is the first bit of trouble that it's had. Now I haven't driven it and it does not sound to me that it is having issues accelerating, just that it's smoking a lot. I would be concerned if I saw blue smoke (oil), but Im not. It looked like wolfburged's diesel when it cranked the other day (when I loaded said 1.6L motor into the Jeep to take to dad) -- seemed like it was just bad fuel.

We'll see. Thank you for the tips!

[kcfoxie]

Turns out it is the headgasket. This is sad since it was replaced about a year ago when the mechanics did a valve job. Should be back on the road soon; they're scouting for a TDI or possibly two. Dad can't afford the Triton V8 on a 60mi/one way commute, and the Focus is drinking coolant "like a kid drinks koolaid."

I'd say it's about time this near-500k vehicle had major issues

Now if only they'd have bought that 99 GL TDI Golf last year like I suggested....

[burn_your_money]

How do you know it's the headgasket?

To me it sounds like an injector is sticking open. Headgasket is definitly likely though.

As for the pump being starved for fuel until 60 mph, I think it would be the other way around, and be fine at low RPM and then starve at high RPMs