Help! Weirdest oil leak I have ever seen.

New pump arrives Monday but I need two new screws as the old ones are getting a bit chewed up. Hopefully that will be leaks fixed.

In the meantime the little sod has landed me with two perhaps three bills. The ARB drop links are dead and not very old either. New ones on their way and this time I will keep the receipt.
My wife used him the other day and gave me the keys back saying it was an embarrassment to park. Sure enough creaking stearing. Switch power off and it’s still there, strut top mounts on their way out.
Drive at any speed and the rear is easily unsettled, rear shocks not up to the job. ?
But at long last I’ve had some good LUK, the little rubber thing off the back of the wiper arm; lost months ago and now found it ?
 
allypug said:
Just phoned them and will be picking it up later, the starting problem was down to the glowplugs apparently!!?? Don't think so! here we go again.......
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As expected, the Saturday morning, turned the key to start.. same old long cranking 10+ seconds to start!! glow plug problem my arse.
 
allypug said:
As expected, the Saturday morning, turned the key to start.. same old long cranking 10+ seconds to start!! glow plug problem my arse.
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Possibly you've tried this before but does it make a difference to the cranking time if the car has been parked nose up or nose down? If it does then I think this means that you have a leak somewhere that is letting the fuel drain back and so cause the delay in firing up.

Simon
 
sco said:
Possibly you've tried this before but does it make a difference to the cranking time if the car has been parked nose up or nose down? If it does then I think this means that you have a leak somewhere that is letting the fuel drain back and so cause the delay in firing up.

Simon
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Correct! parking with the rear end on a couple of planks is all it takes, then it does indeed start first time, fitted a non return valve on the fuel inlet to the pump, so not leaking there, thinking it could be leaking in the 'new' pump somewhere, or the gasket.
 
allypug said:
Correct! parking with the rear end on a couple of planks is all it takes, then it does indeed start first time, fitted a non return valve on the fuel inlet to the pump, so not leaking there, thinking it could be leaking in the 'new' pump somewhere, or the gasket.
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ok so the way to isolate the pump is to break into the feed and return lines where the rubber hoses join the metal hardlines and put temporary lines into a can of diesel - if it still does it then it must be in the pump but if this fixes it then must be a leak rearwards somewhere.

New gasket for the pump is not expensive and it's a messy rather than difficult job to replace it just make sure you torque the two different sized pump fasteners to the correct torques.

Simon.
 
Looks like I've still not got clear of this one. Bosch tandem pump has been supplied without a gasket. Also it looks like it needs two gaskets.

Anybody with experience of fitting a Bosch pump? What gaskets did you use please?

After a long chat with AutoDoc I have established Bosch do not supply pumps with gaskets, very strange. It appears I have to order one of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VACUUM-F...781170&hash=item2cc70cfb5d:g:n4YAAOSw1t9Zy5yg
 
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allypug said:
Picked up the OEM tandem pump gasket for my '03 1.4TDi and it's just the rubber bits also!
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If you take a look at the post above from RAB those are seals for a 038145209A pump only. My 03 car has a 038145209E pump which requires this seal https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VACUUM-F...781170&hash=item2cc70cfb5d:g:n4YAAOSw1t9Zy5yg

It's a shame you do not live closer, we could fit my old LUK, it leaks a little but the car starts well. If the problem goes away your new pump is defective it would cost have £7 for a gasket. If nothing changes it costs a further £7.00 to refit your new pump correctly. All up a couple of hours work.
 
I've ordered the same pump gasket as you also, so now I have both types. I wouldn't be surprised if the garage just ruined the gasket due to over tightening the bolts.. as they are VERY tight, certainly not 20Nm upper, 10Nm lower bolts. Looking at how the pump works, if the rubber seal separating fuel inlet/outlet between pump and head (down the bottom of the pump) was broken, could diesel in the head leading up to the injectors leak out into the fuel return circuit? starving the injectors of fuel on startup if left a while?
 
allypug said:
I've ordered the same pump gasket as you also, so now I have both types. I wouldn't be surprised if the garage just ruined the gasket due to over tightening the bolts.. as they are VERY tight, certainly not 20Nm upper, 10Nm lower bolts. Looking at how the pump works, if the rubber seal separating fuel inlet/outlet between pump and head (down the bottom of the pump) was broken, could diesel in the head leading up to the injectors leak out into the fuel return circuit? starving the injectors of fuel on startup if left a while?
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I'm not sure, I would have thought the most likely leak would be at the shaft seal between the fuel and vac side of the pump. That way the diesel would leak into your sump. Otherwise you would be finding diesel somewhere on your engine or under your car.

I hope this helps; I have restored the images in this thread so you can see what is inside your pump https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...uk-038145209e-tandem-fuel-pump-rebuild.31924/
 
In danger of a thread-swerve: Allypug, I've been holding back from commenting on this for fear of ridicule, but bear with me. I think this is the same issue you've had since 24th May? Although you have inferred that the issue is with fuelling because the car starts easily if left slightly downhill overnight, it could be that something else is very marginal, and the angle difference is actually a red herring (i.e. your A2 might start more quickly facing downhill ANYWAY without this marginal fault elsewhere, and all other times the marginal fault interferes with the firing-up process). I think what may have happened is your starter motor pinion freewheel has seized, holding the engine back and preventing it firing, and confusing the picture greatly.
I've reached the conclusion that this was part of the original failure mode when I finally fixed my difficult starting issue in my MYP 6-speed gearbox modified TDI 90, though the original starter motor pinion freewheel was "killed" by insufficient mesh and clattering on the flywheel ring-gear. Swapping to the type of starter originally used with the MYP gearbox fixed both the cause and the effect.
If you park the car facing up-hill or flat overnight, then get a push-start in 2nd or 3rd gear that would give another clue if it starts easily WITHOUT using the starter.
Matt
 
Fingers crossed by the end of today I should be both oil leak and diesel leak free.

Slightly off topic but should the new tandem pump be primed with diesel and engine oil before fitting and cranking. I can’t imagine it would have been assembled dry but thought it best to check?
 
BiggDogg said:
In danger of a thread-swerve: Allypug, I've been holding back from commenting on this for fear of ridicule, but bear with me. I think this is the same issue you've had since 24th May? Although you have inferred that the issue is with fuelling because the car starts easily if left slightly downhill overnight, it could be that something else is very marginal, and the angle difference is actually a red herring (i.e. your A2 might start more quickly facing downhill ANYWAY without this marginal fault elsewhere, and all other times the marginal fault interferes with the firing-up process). I think what may have happened is your starter motor pinion freewheel has seized, holding the engine back and preventing it firing, and confusing the picture greatly.
I've reached the conclusion that this was part of the original failure mode when I finally fixed my difficult starting issue in my MYP 6-speed gearbox modified TDI 90, though the original starter motor pinion freewheel was "killed" by insufficient mesh and clattering on the flywheel ring-gear. Swapping to the type of starter originally used with the MYP gearbox fixed both the cause and the effect.
If you park the car facing up-hill or flat overnight, then get a push-start in 2nd or 3rd gear that would give another clue if it starts easily WITHOUT using the starter.
Matt
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Hmm... would a squirt of oil aroind the starter pinion also be a temporary way to check the theory? I've found a work around the starting problem which mostly works, and that is to have my foot on the throttle when starting, and the extra bit of engine speed when it just catches seems to carry it over the 'dead zone' where it cuts out usually. Maybe this points towards something.. but I don't know what!
 
allypug said:
Hmm... would a squirt of oil aroind the starter pinion also be a temporary way to check the theory? I've found a work around the starting problem which mostly works, and that is to have my foot on the throttle when starting, and the extra bit of engine speed when it just catches seems to carry it over the 'dead zone' where it cuts out usually. Maybe this points towards something.. but I don't know what!
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SWAG time (Scientific Wild Arse Guessing) as can’t think why it should turnover faster. Anti shudder valve slow to open?

My car is in bits waiting for a seal in the post otherwise I would try starting with my foot on the accelerator. If you are telling it to inject fuel then it would clear any air lock quicker. However I would have thought that would only be the case with a mechanicaly cotrolled injection system.

I feel what you have discovered is significant and hopefully one of our experts will be able to point towards the cause of your starting problems.
 
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philward said:
SWAG time (Scientific Wild Arse Guessing) as can’t think why it should turnover faster. Anti shudder valve slow to open?

My car is in bits waiting for a seal in the post otherwise I would try starting with my foot on the accelerator. If you are telling it to inject fuel then it would clear any air lock quicker. However I would have thought that would only be the case with a mechanicaly cotrolled injection system.

I feel what you have discovered is significant and hopefully one of our experts will be able to point towards the cause of your starting problems.
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It's a weird one, the car almost starts on the first engine revolution, with foot on throttle it VERY briefly (fraction of a second) starts to rev, this extra engine momentum seems to let it just about start whereas otherwise it dies, then needs the 10+ seconds cranking.
I look forward to hearing of your non leaking engine soon!
To put another spanner in the works, looks like I have head gasket issues as coolant loss through header tank vent now on each journey, although engine temp stays at 90 degrees.
 
allypug said:
It's a weird one, the car almost starts on the first engine revolution, with foot on throttle it VERY briefly (fraction of a second) starts to rev, this extra engine momentum seems to let it just about start whereas otherwise it dies, then needs the 10+ seconds cranking.
I look forward to hearing of your non leaking engine soon!
To put another spanner in the works, looks like I have head gasket issues as coolant loss through header tank vent now on each journey, although engine temp stays at 90 degrees.
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I’m not going to be leak free today. Gasket didn’t arrive and car has been put back together. My car starts exactly the same with or without my foot on the accelerator so I do think you have discovered something significant. However I don’t know enough about these cars to be able to say what that could be.

Fingers crossed for a failed tank cap. Head gasket replacement on these cars I’m sure will be far from straightforward.
 
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