Smokey AAZ!

[Torchd]

My mkIII with AAZ is a well looked after car and has always been serviced regularly, how ever it gives out dense white smoke on cold starts which clears out in 2-3 minutes and its also consuming a little bit of oil which it never did before this issue. I run Mobil 1, fully synthetic or Liquimoly fully synthetic oils and change every 10,000 kms.

Please help...any ideas?

Thanks!

[spencebm]

probably a little low on compression

[Torchd]

Do the valve stem seals have anything to do with this? I heard when a diesel engine gives white smoke on cold starts its generally the valve seals that are worn out. Is that true?

[JamesT]

Do the valve stem seals have anything to do with this? I heard when a diesel engine gives white smoke on cold starts its generally the valve seals that are worn out. Is that true?

No.


White smoke is typical of cold starts on a diesel with low compression or weak glow plugs.

[8v-of-fury]

Do the valve stem seals have anything to do with this? I heard when a diesel engine gives white smoke on cold starts its generally the valve seals that are worn out. Is that true?

No.


White smoke is typical of cold starts on a diesel with low compression or weak glow plugs.

Retarded ignition timing can make for a real cold idle smoker. If you rev it up while it is billowing smoke what happens? I do not mean to redline, just a little blip blip. Does it rev up freely? or does it cough and miss and smoke more?

[libbydiesel]

Any air in the clear lines?  Any air in the return line after it starts?  Do you have a glow plug out?

[Torchd]

It revs fine after one or two coughs and the smoke clears out pretty quick.

Glow plugs are fine.

I do have a small leakage in my IP, some seal leaks. I can't get it fixed locally because these pumps are too complex for the local diesel guys to put back together and tune.
So the lines would get air into them because of the leak and it would take a lot of cranking and a long time to start specially in winters. To get around it, I fixed a Toyota diesel filter with a lift pump so I would pump out the air and fill up the IP before start every day. But then I am against Toyota bits in a nicely kept VW so I removed the filter and the lift pump and now I have installed a one way valve in the tank to IP line which works better, I don't have to pump it every morning and it almost always starts first crank or occasionally second crank.

But since it is consuming little oil so that means low compression...right? But the consumption is over 10,000 kms time span, it always did consume oil as all diesels do but now its more than what it used to be. After replacing the engine with a good used low millage new looking motor from Japan I have put around 210,000kms on it.

[libbydiesel]

Even tho you probably don't have to look any further than your IP leaks, how do you know all four glow plugs are fine?

[Torchd]

I removed all of them and checked.

[libbydiesel]

Fix the leaks.

[Torchd]

So you reckon the more than usual oil consumption has nothing to do with it??? The compression is fine??

[theman53]

The oil consumption could be a ton of things. I don't know about the lubri oil or mobil one, but if it is like the elf/total I have heard many say it burns way more than any other oil my friends have ran in the same mileage span. Could be rings, could just be cold for the smokey condition. The valve stem seals I thought were more noticable when you have a colder engine and shut it down, then after 5 minutes or so fired it up, then saw the smoke. The way I was told *don't know for sure* is the bad valve stem seals let it leak down and then upon starting it burns it up and you see the smoke. I am just going by what I have been told on that.