T4 help! More smoke than a steam train!

[VR6kid]

Hi all I’ve recently purchased a 2000 t4 2.5 petrol lwb. Very well knowing the fact it’s going to have its problems I still wanted it to convert into a camper and travel up the coast in it. Car ran fine for the first month I have had it besides a few basic issues like the ignition switch and passenger door not locking, everything felt fine, started fine, ran fine (a lot slower than I thought though of well) Up until a week or so ago it has started to blow heaps of smoke however not every time I start the car. Did the basic checks for head gasket and it seems fine, will be doing a compression test soon however. Smoke defiantly smells more like oil so I’m thinking rings maybe? Hopefully not though. Car still revs and idles fine most of the time when it is smoking as well. I honestly have no idea what it could be as it doesn’t happen 100% of the time. I’ve almost given up on it and I’m thinking about buying another vr6 mk3 to get me to work however I don’t think that’s going to solve any of my problems. Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated as I have no idea where to start. Cheers.

[Umai Naa!!]

Bad PCV?

[BrianJ]

I have seen a Passat that blew streets of smoke and it came from a leaking master cylinder that let brake fluid back into the vacuum booster and then through the vacuum lines into the inlet manifold. Are you losing any brake fluid ?

[VR6kid]

Will have a look at both these when I get home cheers guys.

[LogicprObe]

It's probably oil leaking into the cylinders overnight via the valve stem seals.
They go hard over time and leak.
There are videos on youtube on how to change them without taking the head off but it looked a bit dicey to me so I never did it.
That van is still running around today and does blow the occasional puff of smoke going around corners and gums up the plugs in No 1 and 2 pots after a while.........600kms on that engine.

Anyway, using thicker oil makes a difference.

[VR6kid]

Figured it would of been oil leaking in, didn't smoke just after i had bought it so id say previous owner had used a thicker oil as well, took it to Volkswagen to get it serviced and id say they have used a thinner oil because its only started after the service. Will look into it cheers.

[Umai Naa!!]

Yeah, should be using 10W40 semi-synthetic in something like this.

[LogicprObe]

I found it started to use a fair bit of oil on the thinner stuff.
That was doing 300 plus kms per day.
About 1 to 2 lts a month by memory.

I think it started about 350-400kms.............how many has your done?
(mine was a 2003 model 2.5 petrol SWB)

[VR6kid]

I found it started to use a fair bit of oil on the thinner stuff.
That was doing 300 plus kms per day.
About 1 to 2 lts a month by memory.

I think it started about 350-400kms.............how many has your done?
(mine was a 2003 model 2.5 petrol SWB)

Mines done just over 250,000ks, I do around 100ks round trip to work and thats it, doesnt get worked too hard will have to switch to thicker oil i reckon, problem is i have no idea what VW used in it before. Probably needs new plugs and leads as well but its almost $300 so might have to get them in a couple weeks.

[LogicprObe]

Don't buy them from VW.
I used to get mine from here Home - HSY
Got branches in QLD.
(tell them you're a Courier and use it for work if they say Trade Only)

As for oil..........I think I went up to the 15-40 stuff.

Also, check that they didn't overfill it with oil...............that makes them smoke and can wreck your Cat Converter!
(my mechanic did that once)

[VR6kid]

Don't buy them from VW.
I used to get mine from here Home - HSY
Got branches in QLD.
(tell them you're a Courier and use it for work if they say Trade Only)

As for oil..........I think I went up to the 15-40 stuff.

Also, check that they didn't overfill it with oil...............that makes them smoke and can wreck your Cat Converter!
(my mechanic did that once)

Thanks mate, Took it to Volkswagen to get it checked over as i wanted to make sure it was reliable, They came back with over $4000 worth of repairs needed.... I did all them myself for around $500 its such a joke.... Ive just put in some valve saver and nulon stop smoke as a temporary thing until i get round to the oil change, First thing i checked was too see if they overfilled it but it was perfectly full so doubt it was that either.

The car has also started missing and or running extremely rich as well... I think i drove to work on about 3 cylinders yesterday and the car kept running for 10 seconds after i turned it off, Not sure what this could be hoping just spark plugs and leads, could be anything im assuming AFM, Dizzy problems, Timing the list goes on. Compression tester should be here tomorrow, Any recommendations on a scanner? will a cheap VAG-COM Cable be fine? think there about $15 off ebay.

[LogicprObe]

I never used the scanner on my T4 as they are pretty basic.
On mine it was always plug 1 would gum up, followed by plug 2.
At least it's the two that are easiest to get to!
Going around a right hand corner quickly always gave a big puff of smoke because of the oil rushing over to that side.
When I did the leads and plugs, I got a new disi cap and rotor as they are relatively cheap and then at least you know it's not them if faults persist.

I had one that only occured in light rain that the NRMA and my mechanics couldn't figure out.

It would just stall.............then after about 10 mins, it would start again and run with no problems..........until it rained again.

They tested the coil and it was fine............but I changed it eventually and the fault went away.
So, I hooked up the old one in the dark and sprayed it with a water mist which resulted in sparks shooting out of the case.
It was a pinhole breach that could only be seen under a magnifying lamp.
Just bad luck that it was really hard to spot............but it all goes into the memory bank!
(coils for these were quite reasonable too)

[Sunny43.5]

Thanks mate, Took it to Volkswagen to get it checked over as i wanted to make sure it was reliable, They came back with over $4000 worth of repairs needed.... I did all them myself for around $500 its such a joke.... Ive just put in some valve saver and nulon stop smoke as a temporary thing until i get round to the oil change, First thing i checked was too see if they overfilled it but it was perfectly full so doubt it was that either.

The car has also started missing and or running extremely rich as well... I think i drove to work on about 3 cylinders yesterday and the car kept running for 10 seconds after i turned it off, Not sure what this could be hoping just spark plugs and leads, could be anything im assuming AFM, Dizzy problems, Timing the list goes on. Compression tester should be here tomorrow, Any recommendations on a scanner? will a cheap VAG-COM Cable be fine? think there about $15 off ebay.

Just as a bit of help one of the Forum Supporters here in Brisbane is a fully qualified top VW mechanic who drove a T4 as his daily work van , he knew more about the T4 than anyone I knew he helped me with my sons T4 and used to service my T5 as well . Now his workshop is in Slacks Creek but I havent been there since mid last year but I think he is still there try this link Alba European - Home | Facebook

[VR6kid]

Thanks mate will try and hit him up, Cheers.

[VR6kid]

Did a compression test today.
Cyclinder 1: 180psi
Cylinder 2: 180psi
Cylinder 3: 200psi
Cylinder 4: 200psi
Cylinder 5: 205psi

Not sure what the compression on these should be but that seems to be good If not a little high I’m not sure. Would any one know what the compression on a 2.5l petrol t4 should be?

Also the car is over fueling on cylinder 1 as it was soaked in fuel, all the other plugs seemed fine. Maybe a leaky injector? Not sure.