VW golf TDI problem

jame5_b

hi, my friend bought a 2000 golf tdi with 80000 miles. lately the car wont start unless you push start it. when it does start alot of blue smoke comes out of the exhaust.
any ideas?

Captain Slow IRL

check his/her oil level
and get his/her battery tested

craichoe

It could be anything ...

Bring it into a garage ... and for christ sake stop push starting it, you'll destroy the CAT in it, your talking another 800-900 euros for a new one if you damage it !!

crosstownk

craichoe wrote:

It could be anything ...

Bring it into a garage ... and for christ sake stop push starting it, you'll destroy the CAT in it, your talking another 800-900 euros for a new one if you damage it !!

I'd agree with this. But it could already be too late for the cat as the blue smoke indicates that the engine is burning engine oil which can destroy a cat.

Does the blue smoke disappear shortly after starting or does it continue as long as the engine is running?

maidhc

I hear diesel cats can be repaired easily with a chisel and brute force. NCT only measures smoke anyway so unless you really really care about the environment it shouldn't be an issue.

Although by the sounds of things passing the smoke test may be an issue!

jame5_b

it only needs a push when the engine is cold but if you drive it and turn off the car and start it up again it ok. the smoke goes away after a few seconds. when it does start it takes a while like you have to turn he key for a few seconds.
he brought it to a garage and they adjusted the timing belt but its made it worse. he rand the garage and they said it could be the injectors or a pump.

maidhc

jame5_b wrote:

it only needs a push when the engine is cold but if you drive it and turn off the car and start it up again it ok. the smoke goes away after a few seconds. when it does start it takes a while like you have to turn he key for a few seconds.
he brought it to a garage and they adjusted the timing belt but its made it worse. he rand the garage and they said it could be the injectors or a pump.

Glowplugs?

It might also be compression though. Has the car been serviced regularly?

Mr.Diagnostic

craichoe wrote:

It could be anything ...

Bring it into a garage ... and for christ sake stop push starting it, you'll destroy the CAT in it, your talking another 800-900 euros for a new one if you damage it !!

Sorry, but I have to ask, how can push starting damage the Cat?

jame5_b

i think it has. he told me it had full service history so i guess so. someone else mentioned the glow plugs too. are they expensive?

Mr.Diagnostic

If changing the engine timing made it worse then why did they retime it, unless they did not know if it was right or not. It needs to be looked at properly by someone else I think.
Glow plugs will not effect the starting on these unless the weather is extremely cold. Also the plug current is mesured and a fault recorded if it is out of spec.

edit, the glow plug info here is valid if it is a PD engine as i think is likely

crosstownk

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

Sorry, but I have to ask, how can push starting damage the Cat?

Raw fuel entering the cat - always a recipie for disaster.

anthony4335

Had a friend with a similar problem a couple of months ago, and found that it was the glow plugs. Remove them and hook them up to a battery one by one and see if they glow. It doesn't have to be very cold to have this cause a problem.

Mr.Diagnostic

crosstownk wrote:

Raw fuel entering the cat - always a recipie for disaster.

On a diesel you could tow it for miles with no adverse effect, never mind push it a few feet.

Even if this was a petrol, the small amount of unburnt fuel from a push start would not be enough to damage the cat.

maidhc

Mr.Diagnostic wrote:

Glow plugs will not effect the starting on these unless the weather is extremely cold. Also the plug current is mesured and a fault recorded if it is out of spec.

I don't know about the Golf TDI, but trying to start my 95 Mondeo TD with 2 dodgy glowplugs was not particularly easy.

Mr.Diagnostic

maidhc wrote:

I don't know about the Golf TDI, but trying to start my 95 Mondeo TD with 2 dodgy glowplugs was not particularly easy.

Hi,

Yes, a 95 mondeo would need the plugs working unless the ambient temp was quite high. This is because it uses the old rotary type pump.
More modern sustems like the TDi with unit injectors, or any common rail system, have the fuel at very high pressure which allow much better atomisation and so burns easier at lower temps. These systems typically do not need glow plugs until the temp goes as low as -10.

maidhc

Interesting. I assume that is why the glowplug on the TDCi only flickers on for a fraction of a second, even in cold enough weather.