So, I have been meaning to get my car on a lift since I bought it a month ago and FINALLY did it today. I have been chasing thick smoke when the fuel pedal is pressed and today I found that there is oil dripping from the exhaust pipe (PO removed the muffler). At first I thought it might be fuel, but it's too thick and too black to be that. I realize this is not good and wanted to know what the primary reasons could be. I did a search, but all I could find were posts related to TDi's, which mine is not. I realize valve seals/guides or piston rings are a possibility. The car seems to run and idle well, just produces a lot of smoke, and now I know why.
I don't have any history on the car other than the title I had was from the original owner and that he drove it until about 2 years ago.
I do have another engine that came with the car that I could rebuild and just swap it out, so that's not too much of an issue. I am planning on rebuilding it myself, but have a machine shop check out the block and head for any issues. Anything I should be aware of? Where is a good place to buy seals, rings, etc.? I'm not looking to spend a small fortune on it and I don't care about performance, just a stock rebuild.
Thanks!
Does your car have a turbo?
No turbo. It's a N/A 1.6 diesel. I have seen quite a few posts for the TDi's and the first thing they list is the turbo being the issue, but not in my case. I'm new to diesels and all, but I know oil in the exhaust is not right, especially when it's dripping out! I'm used to gas engines and I would assume they're similar enough to say that it ain't lookin' good when you see that! It wasn't until I got the car up in the air that I was able to see just how bad it was and what brought it to my attention was oil sprayed on the spare wheel well from a leak in the exhaust, it's that bad.
Broken piston ring. Unbolt exhaust manifold to see what cylinder exactly is fu.
That's what I'm leaning towards, especially since the crankcase vent is pretty dry (for a diesel). At idle, the smoke isn't bad at all, but as soon as I rev it, HELLO, FOG MACHINE!!!
I have another complete engine on the stand that I'll probably due a leak down on to see how healthy it is as I don't know it's history. Either way, IF I keep the car, it looks like I'll be swapping engines sooner rather than later and I MIGHT just go ahead an rebuild the one on the stand to make sure everything is in good shape before I go through the time and effort of installing it.
Also, are broken rings that common? I’ve worked on modern diesels (BMW, Mercedes, BW) and never seen this before.
Broken rings not so common but they do stick sometimes.
Turn the spare engine over by hand, with a socket on the crank bolt.
If it tries to go backward near the top of the stroke the compression is good.