combo 1.7cdti blowby

[torchwooduk]

I have a combo 1.7cdti 2008 with 60k miles on it, I bought it with a few problems which I was aware of about 8 months ago. It had a oil leak with oil coming out of the egr cooler gasket and intercooler pipe. I checked the turbo and it did have some slight play so I decided to fit a new chra cartridge, I also replaced the intercooler and pipes.

A few weeks later I noticed it was still leaking oil around the egr cooler, I drive around 6 hours a day stop/start 6 days a week in the van doing deliveries and it loses approx 1l of oil every 2 weeks which is approx every 475 miles, seems to be a bit worse in the warm weather we have had. I have just been topping it up for the last few months.

I have noticed that when I remove the oil filler I seem to be getting a lot of blowby I have uploaded this video I have fitted an oil catch can and gave it a 20 min drive with plenty of boost and have collected 1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh oil. So it looks like the turbo was fine and this is the cause of my problem.

My last 1.7 combo never went above half on the temp gauage, don't think I ever heard the fan in the 3 years I had it, while this one gets to around 95 and then the fan kicks in, it does this quite a lot although tends to be better once the van has been running a few hours, more on hot days obviouisly. No signs of a failing head gasket, could a breach in the HG be causing blowby? or is it likely to be a piston ring? I have plenty of power/boost and no obvious smoke,

Edited by torchwooduk on Monday 16th July 17:30

[torchwooduk]

I have used the van most of today and have collected about 25ml approx of oil in the catch can, the oil leaks out the gasket where the egr cooler connects to the egr and has also starting leaking around the intake pipe on the turbo. I suspect it is due to the amount of oil being blown into the intake although the catch can should reduce that to very little or stop it completely.

The fan kicks in when the gauge reads approx 95deg, this can happen quite a lot on a warm day, the small pipe that returns coolant to the top has been blocked twice now with grit, unblocked it but dosn't seem to make a difference to the running temp, wondering if a good flush might help?

So from looking at the video you would say it is the bottom injector seals causing the blowby?

Edited by torchwooduk on Monday 16th July 21:26

[torchwooduk]

Just started it this morning, got around the corner and noticed a whirling noise and it is idling at 1000rpm. Got it home and popped the bonnet and when I remove the cap oil is spurting out in small droplets and it appears to be smoking out at the bottom around the alternator. Dosn't look good, any ideas?

[torchwooduk]

Sorry yes, just wondering why it suddenly got a whole lot worse or if this is a new problem. been fine for past 6 months. The smoke coming out stinks, guess all I can do is replace the seals and hope for the best.

I did a service a few days ago and used a flush thinking some craps might be on the piston rings.

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 17th July 10:04

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 17th July 10:04

[torchwooduk]

Just got back and started it up and it's back to how it was yesterday, still smell the smell now and it smells like burning rubber, my battery light is on so I'm going to guess my alternator died.

[torchwooduk]

Got the rocker cover off, removed the brackets, what's the best way to remove them to minimize risk? they seem to be all stuck solid.

[torchwooduk]

I have no 4 out, the sleeve is wiggling with the injector on no 3, got a feeling it will pull out, I quickly started the engine earlier with the rocker cover off and it looked to be puffing from this injector a lot. Put a bit of coke around them and will try again tomorrow, how to you fit the sleeves, do I need a special tool to press them in?

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 17th July 21:05

[torchwooduk]

I have no 4 out, the sleeve is wiggling with the injector on no 3, got a feeling it will pull out. I tried to rotate to aid removal but the sleeve is turning with the injector, is the sleeve knackered now? if the sleeve comes out intact can I put new o rings on it and reuse?

Put a bit of coke around them and will try again tomorrow, how to you fit the sleeves, do I need a special tool to press them in?

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 17th July 21:08

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 17th July 22:29

[torchwooduk]

Got them all out but looks like the sleeve on no 3 is broken, loads of play in it and if I wiggle it with a screw driver it looks like the bottom nib bit is no longer attached. So looks like head off job now or is there a way to do it from the top? this might work https://www.corsa-c.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?511... will I be able to retreive the broken nib bit?

and new sleeve, what did you use to press the new sleeve in with? I don't want to damage it when I come to that bit.

Edited by torchwooduk on Wednesday 18th July 18:50

[torchwooduk]

Thank for your help, probbaly going to be easier for me to take the head off rather than make tools or put another engine in, don't want to go to loads of effort and expense to then have blowby and find out the piston rings are knackered.

[torchwooduk]

If i'm going to remove the head I think i'd want to change the o rings and or sleeves on the other 3 too, can the whole sleeve be knocked out from the other side? not a nice job I agree, everything is jammed in their. Would a haynes manual explain the head removal better than the workshop-manuals site?

Edited by torchwooduk on Thursday 19th July 22:26

[torchwooduk]

I'm just a little worried because until I read not to I was trying to turn the injectors and lift which will have been turning the sleeves, just wondering if I may of damaged the rings although the other 3 seem solid.

I'm probably 80% of the way to having the head off, couldn't locate the bolt to remove the intake/egr. Came off easier on my 2005 combo, sure it was only 3 bolts.

[torchwooduk]

Update: Got the head off, just looking at the pistons and cyclinders and while i'm no expert they look ok to me, nice and smooth inside cylinders.

[torchwooduk]

This is the sleeve, going to guess others will look same, did make a mistake and went to knock the wrong one out, scraped the bottom of it, will this be ok? posted a pic of it.

Do you think that the injectors leaking was the cause of my blowby resulting in oil being blown into the intake? don't know wheather I spend a few hundread now fixing the injector issue or put another engine in it. Sleeve(s), gaskets, o rings will add up to that I think.

Edited by torchwooduk on Friday 20th July 20:11

Edited by torchwooduk on Friday 20th July 20:12

[torchwooduk]

Think I will just proceed and fix it since I have come this far, just looking at that elring top gasket set on ecp and see it comes with the injector seals and o rings, around £5 each from my local vaux dealer for those. Only problem I have now is 2 of the copper seals are stuck in the sleeve, trying to fish them out with some copper wire but their is no lip to hook onto.

[torchwooduk]

Is it just one o ring per injector? ones that came out had 2, they were all brittle and fell apart. Just waiting on parts now, some to pickup tomorrow and Tuesday then I can make a start on putting everything back togeather.

[torchwooduk]

Put the head on last night, forgot to clean the head bolt holes, paranoid now. What's best, to remove one by one clean and bolt back or remove all and start the sequence again? since they havnt been heat cycled I presume I can use these bolts again?

[torchwooduk]

Screwed them in hand tight then went around and torqed to 40nm, checked again and each bolt turned a bit more a few times, did stage 2 and 3.

Checked this morning and they were still torqed to at least 40nm. I removed 1 and the hole was clean, spec of water on bottom of bolt though.

Edited by torchwooduk on Tuesday 24th July 11:38

[torchwooduk]

Most of it now back togeather, started it before and the problem with the injector is fixed, no more smoke or chuffing noise. Didn't get to run it for long because my thermostat flange is leaking, though it was the gasket so tryed to tighten it a bit more but broke the end of the flange off. So round scrapyard tomorrow for that, must of missed a bit of the old gasket off it or it's those crappy gaskets from ecp.

[torchwooduk]

Torqued the injectors up following your instructions, I have used rtv on the thermostat housing, it's the flange bit that broke here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wasserstutzen-Thermosta...