car smokes, losing 1 qt oil after 250 mile driving

1120 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by vwhiner, Aug 10, 2010

vwhiner

Discussion Starter · Aug 8, 2010

just replaced the clogged oil pickup tube by myself. instead of fixing the low oil pressure issue, it made the car smoke too.

after about 250 mile local driving, the car lost at least 1 qt oil.

the smoke is from the tailpipe and smells very bad. it does not seem to smoke when the car is in idle though, even after 15 minuets.

What did I do wrong that might trigger the smoke? there was no smoke before I took apart the car.

could it be because I did not replaced the oil pump and did not prime it either? Could it be I loosened some hoses but did not tighten it when I moved the engine or the front bumper?

I could not see any oil leak, even though I put back the valve cover without replacing the gaskets. (planning to do it later.)

the coolant level seems fine.

So what could be logical explanations for the sudden smoke?

(a side note, the oil pressure is still low. in cold start, it could reach 4 bar, then steadily drop to 1 bar while the car is warming up. but that maybe a separated headache I have to take care of.

)

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akremedy

· #2 · Aug 8, 2010

Damaged oil cooler perhaps? You may want to check for oil mixed with your coolant, and/or coolant in your oil. It would be more common for oil to contaminate the coolant, which could cause a lot of consumption without any apparent external leaks. I suppose a bad enough leak could have a large impact oil pressure as well.

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vwhiner

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 8, 2010

akremedy said:
Damaged oil cooler perhaps? You may want to check for oil mixed with your coolant, and/or coolant in your oil. It would be more common for oil to contaminate the coolant, which could cause a lot of consumption without any apparent external leaks. I suppose a bad enough leak could have a large impact oil pressure as well.

Thanks for the response!

I checked the coolant tank. nothing obvious.

What signs should I look for?

are there any other symptoms if the oil cooler fails? like overheat or smoke from the tailpipe?

Thanks.

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PZ

· #4 · Aug 8, 2010

Damaged turbo from oil starvation. Now that it is getting oil, it is leaking past the damaged seals. Does the turbo boost? If so, how fast does the boost come on, what rpm?

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vwhiner

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 9, 2010

PZ said:
Damaged turbo from oil starvation. Now that it is getting oil, it is leaking past the damaged seals. Does the turbo boost? If so, how fast does the boost come on, what rpm?

Thanks for the response, PZ!

The sudden advent of the smoke starts making sense to me now. (thought it was either the auto-rx or me breaking something.)

Believe it or not, I did not even know this car was supposed to have a "boost" when I purchased this car brand new. I did not experience anything markedly different driving this car or any other cars either

.

When I need to speed up, like entering the highway, the car just picks up the speed smoothly, no sudden surges, which I imagine what it must feel like to have a boost. (I hardly step on gas hard, which may explain it.)

to answer your question, so far I did not feel much difference from before. but my driving is tentative and in short trips only these days.

I will going to find out today if there is boot in this car. But first, forgive my ignorance, what exactly one should experience during a boost?

Thanks for your help!

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VAGguy

· #6 · Aug 9, 2010

Boosting is when the turbo is forcing more air into the engine causing positive pressure measured in PSI. When you are at 3/4 to full throttle, the car should accelerate quite powerfully compared to normal driving. It usually kicks in at about 2500rpms and should be a smooth "push" and increase in power. It's kinda hard to explain. In some cases it can be a sudden surge of power.

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vwhiner

Discussion Starter · #7 · Aug 10, 2010

VAGguy said:
Boosting is when the turbo is forcing more air into the engine causing positive pressure measured in PSI. When you are at 3/4 to full throttle, the car should accelerate quite powerfully compared to normal driving. It usually kicks in at about 2500rpms and should be a smooth "push" and increase in power. It's kinda hard to explain. In some cases it can be a sudden surge of power.

Thanks for the explanation. I think I get it.

I took the car out last night trying to get this "boost". With full throttle (metal to metal), the car started roaring like a motorcycle. several times, I could felt a minor jolt, around 3000 rpm or above. thought it was it. But then realized it might just be the down shifting of the automatic transmission, since the rpm dropped soon after, then went up again. several time there was no jolts and the rpm went all the way up to 6000 or more, approaching the red zone.

In general, the accelaration was ok, no striking difference from before. If there were any boosts, they were either not that distinctive or I was used to that. Besides, I've almost never ever done the metal to metal before. (so the roaring from the full throttle was kinda new to me.)

I do not want to provide misleading info, but the smoke somehow became less at the end after above exercise, which lasted about 10 mile, around 30 minuets.

The oil temperature was nomal, even though I somehow sensed the engine was hotter. Could the heat expand the bearings/journals so there was less oil escaped?

The smell was still pretty bad. even with windows close, the smell (or god forbid, carbon monoxide?) made me dizzy while driving.

Well, I hope the above provides extra clues, not red herrings.

Thanks.

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