1.9tdi oil in pipes?

[glenandem]

hi ugys after replacing the little coolant pipe that runs round the back of the engine today i noticed that when i removed the turbo pipes they had a fair bit of oil in them and i also noticed it in the vac pipes and oil around the solenoids down behind the headlight on the drivers side?
ive blocked the egr off so wondered is there a vac pump or something causing oil to get into these pipes or could it be a sign of turbo issues? its boosting great and only a small puff of diesel smoke out the rear when accelerating which im presuming could be due to the slightly remapped engine?

 

[Mike.M]

The EGR blocks the exhaust soot from mixing with the oil vapor. To rid the oil vapor you need a catch tank.

 

[Audi Doodah]

The smoke you see is burnt oil. It seeps from the turbo bearings/seals and it's totally normal. As Mike says, a catch can is the only real solution.

There shouldn't be any oil in vacuum pipes...are you sure it's not just blowing out of an intake pipe connection somewhere close.

 

[glenandem]

Hi guys cheers for replys, the slight bit of smoke on accelaration is black diesel smoke I thought that's just slightly unburnt fuel?
isnt burning oil white?
I'll have anouther look at the vac pipes to the solenoids but I'm pretty certain as its the pipes that come off the egr valve assembly and that's the area where there seems to be oil weeping around so maybe the oils going out and down the pipe to the solenoids behind the headlight, it doesn't use any oil or anything like that so I'm not too concerned!
has anybody bothered to fit a catch tank to They're tdi engines?

 

[Mike.M]

Black smoke is usually a boost leak......more so if it is warmed up

Burning oil is white/blue

 

[Audi Doodah]

No colours were specified in the OP!

The EGR valve is a common place for oil make it's way out of the intake system and into the engine bay.

 

[glenandem]

Doh I didn't did I lol, these me thinking you out two and two together and made five lol when I didn't even describe the colour!!
its only really put a bit of black smoke out on high revved acceleration since I've done the remap, Im pretty certain it wasn't that much before and too be honest it's not a massive black smoke just more of a initial one then seems to be gone through over gears, I reckon it's just a slight build up of carbon from piddling round town, it still drives fantastic since the remap, it's more the oil in pipes I'm concerned about in case somehow there was enough to get to turbo and the turbo picked up on it, I've seen a few cars kill themselves running on the oil!!
its a pretty cool sight lol

 

[Mike.M]

Get a oil catch tank and run it for a week to see what it collects and if the issue is still there or not with the catch tank attached.

 

[Audi Doodah]

Doh I didn't did I lol, these me thinking you out two and two together and made five lol when I didn't even describe the colour!!
its only really put a bit of black smoke out on high revved acceleration since I've done the remap, Im pretty certain it wasn't that much before and too be honest it's not a massive black smoke just more of a initial one then seems to be gone through over gears, I reckon it's just a slight build up of carbon from piddling round town, it still drives fantastic since the remap, it's more the oil in pipes I'm concerned about in case somehow there was enough to get to turbo and the turbo picked up on it, I've seen a few cars kill themselves running on the oil!!
its a pretty cool sight lol

The oil is most likely coming FROM the turbo. Because of the turbo's very high rpm the seals tend not to work as well at lower rpm thus allowing oil that keeps the bearings lubricated to seep into the compressed/charge air output of the turbo. This oil makes its way round the intake system, through the intercooler, then to the EGR and manifold (where it mixes with soot from the exhaust gases and clogs up) and ultimately into the compression chamber.

The crankcase breather (the small pipe coming from the rocker cover) also feeds into the intake system. This is to allow excess oil under high pressure to vent from the engine and prevent damage. Catch cans are normally fitted to this pipe but in the TDi engine the turbo seals are normally the source of the oil. I've cleaned my intake system, done a test drive and checked it all again and my turbo is definitely the culprit.

Mike, have you fitted a catch can system to yours? Would it still reduce the problem with turbo seepage due to the oil being blown into the breather pipe under pressure or is there another method for TDi engines?

 

[Mike.M]

The catch can will will attract any oil vapor in the system and allow the engine to use cleaner air. I have one to go on mine but not had the time to fit.

It would not cure the problem but help a lot I would say........they do not cost much or you can make a simple one yourself

I tried to remove the EGR from mine but the car is the fussy 2004 model where it throws an EML light up so fitted the reduced holed gasket from a mk3 Ibiza as a compromise and it works very well for me.

 

[Audi Doodah]

The catch can will will attract any oil vapor in the system and allow the engine to use cleaner air. I have one to go on mine but not had the time to fit.

It would not cure the problem but help a lot I would say........they do not cost much or you can make a simple one yourself

I tried to remove the EGR from mine but the car is the fussy 2004 model where it throws an EML light up so fitted the reduced holed gasket from a mk3 Ibiza as a compromise and it works very well for me.

I'd be interested to hear some feedback when you do get it fitted!

Mines an 2004 05 plate so I have the same issue. I have a blacksmoke remap but chose to keep the EGR in. Now that I have some good mpg records I'm going to delete the EGR from the map myself so then I can gauge any further improvements, if any. Found a guide online and it's on my list of things to do this week.