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Smoking Golf TDi 130 Mk4 PD - Common causes?

4K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  c.boniface1 
#1 ·
Are there any common causes of smoke from a TDi 130 PD MK4 2003 Golf? I have cleaned the air filter. When I start the engine, I get a big puff of smoke. When in idle, I get a continuous light cloud. The smoke is more white grey than black.

Any thoughts or guidance would be appreciated.
 
#5 ·
Have you checked headgasket, Blue smoke is oil, black smoke is boost leak I would check breathers etc and maybe a sniff test
Turbo barely runs at idle. Head gasket is hard to pop on these engines unless severely ignored. Candidate but check camshaft first as it's quicker. Rocker off and have a peek. I bet it's worn. Dead MAF causes limp but not smokey at idle since ECU defaults to 575mg/st, which is about enough fuel to keep the engine turning, not much more beyond 1.5-2k.

Could cut half the breathers off and it'd still idle fine. My PD130 doesn't smoke at all with no intercooler or breathers attached. Beat in mind cam has no wear. Engine only needs fuel in at the right time and exhausted at the right time. Camshaft and timing belt sort this mostly, tandem pump provides local high pressure for injectors. If camshaft is gone fuel goes in at the wrong times, no fun.

Either way head gasket or cam. @TomasLT can surely confirm he likes diesels too.

@OP, what does it do if you rev it up to 2.5/3k. Black smoke, white smoke, no smoke? Tell us more

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#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
An update 1.5 years later in case anyone is reading this in hopes of places to look for curing black smoke issues...

The smoke finally got too bad to just drive around... Turns out that the intercooler was damaged at some point and has loosing pressure.

Black smoke cause by not enough air to fuel mix.

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#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm still getting a bit of black smoke over 2000ish RPM.

I'm looking to get the cam belt sorted in the next year as it's 6 years old with 25,000 on it. I know it's usually 60,000 but I'm thinking age and to be safe.

At the same time do I replace the head gasket and cam as preventative maintenance at least or just have it inspected?

Thanks.

James

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#12 ·
I'm following this post with a smile as I had exactly the same problem but was lucky, intercooler was fine it was the seals that were worn in the pipework. Cleaned it out, replaced the seals and sorted.
Can I ask where you got the seals for the pipework from? My old mk4 TDI 130 which my mate now owns smokes like a chimney, it does have a massive boost leak you can hear it hissing like a snake when accelerating & he's already blew the bottom pipe off before (I think it's the bottom intercooler pipe)

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#13 ·
A VW dealer can order the seals for the intercooler pipework... They are shown as spares... also available from most VW spares suppliers.

That said, I couldnt wait so decided to replace my intercooler using the old pipe c/w original seals.The seals turned out to be just fine even after 110k. I tested them by cleaning the outer pipework of oil and having the car engine rev'd while I poured water over the joints to see if they were blowing.

Is there any oil under the intercooler or around the pipework that you can trace. Also, these intercoolers are prone to splitting where the are plastic inlets of the intercooler are joined to the aluminium radiator. Once split, mine hissed something rotten and blew black smoke from the exhaust.

The lower intercooler pipework is easily inspected by loosening the front of the drivers side wheel arch guard and peering behind.

The upper pipework can be inspected behind the drivers side headlight with a torch.

Check to see if the retaining clips on the intercooler pipework are correctly in place as these lock the pipework in place and stop disconnection. Once seated, there should be almost no gap within the joint and little movement. The pipework was a slight pain to reconnect to the new intercooler so worth checking that they are still secure.

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#15 ·
Is there any oil under the intercooler or around the pipework that you can trace. Also, these intercoolers are prone to splitting where the are plastic inlets of the intercooler are joined to the aluminium radiator. Once split, mine hissed something rotten and blew black smoke from the exhaust.

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So I checked the pipes & they seem ok apart from a lot of oil residue on the bottom of the cooler. Turns out that the intercooler is blowing from the bottom where it joins to the plastic inlets.
So on the lookout for a replacement, any ideas on where to buy one & is it an easy job swapping them over?

Thanks again for your wisdom [emoji106]

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#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yup, fork out the whole of £37.25 and you're laughing. Just fitted one of them. Feels to be the same performance as the original. No better, no worse. 250 miles no issue.

Remove front bumper and left headlight for full access to intercooler and associated pipework. No lift or jack required. No other materials required bar tools. 1.25 hours unrushed to fit if you are organised and know how to remove the bumper in your sleep. 2 to 2.5 if you have never removed the bumper before.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/INTERCOOLER-TO-FIT-AUDI-A3-SEAT-LEON-TOLEDO-OCTAVIA-VW-BORA-GOLF-ASZ-1-9-TDI/292931787141

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#19 · (Edited by Moderator)
I got mine next day after ordering it in the afternoon. Really happy with the service.

A few pics I took while doing the work below.

Tools needed:
Torx screw drivers - wheel arches bumper trim etc.

Ratchet set with extension and bits - headlight and intercooler.

Screwdriver for prising up the intercooler pipe clips.

Philips Screwdriver for removing the intercooler sensor.

You won't need a jack or lift.

Few tips....

The 3 wheel arch cover screws on each side of the car that insert into the bumper can be easily removed by turning the wheel full lock instead of jacking up removing the wheels.

Don't forget to release the temp sensor from the passenger side of the bumper before removing it from the car. Its easier to pop it out of the bumper than disconnecting the connector.

The top intercooler screw and pipe clip is accessible by removing the drivers headlight. The other screws and lower pipe is accessible from under the front of the car.

When removing the intercooler, be careful not to damage the sensor wiring for the attached sensor. The wiring is long enough to drop the intercooler without removing it.

There were a few minorly bent radiator fins upon arrival. This is normal even with VW genuine ones. I straightened them with a small flat head screwdriver. Not important, but I prefer things to be as perfect as possible. Just be gentle if you do this as you don't want to damage the aluminium.

Use the sensor screws provided on the new intercooler, the existing intercooler sensor screws won't fit.

Before you start to reassemble the car, test the intercooler... Rev the engine to ensure the intercooler pipework is secured and doesn't blow off. Doing this saved me stripping the car down as the lower pipe was not correctly secured and popped off.

There is a cowl to channel air over the intercooler that you will need to unclip from the original and transfer to the new intercooler. It will probably be covered in dirty and oil. Cleaning it while off is worth while. I always like to clean as I go. Keeps things tidy and new oil marks will be apparent.

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#20 ·
Cheers mate that's great news [emoji106]
Yes had the bumper off a number of times so should be an easy job (not always the case with me though haha)
Don't you mean the right headlight [emoji848]

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Drivers side/off side/left side looking from the front... I never know if the left or right side of a car should be taken from the front or the rear.

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