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Date:         Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:46:15 -0600
Reply-To:     Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Hargrave <thargrav@HIWAAY.NET>
Subject:      Re: Grey oily spots on rear hatch
Comments: To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <019701ccd2f9$84449ac0$6401a8c0@PROSPERITY>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I've owned a long string of Mercedes, 17 to be exact, and most were diesels.

And from my experience:

Black soot on the back = unburned fuel. Grey spots on the back = oil leak, usually caused by a bad seal and/or blow by.

I'd say chase down your oil leak.

Thanks, Tom Hargrave www.stir-plate.com www.towercooler.com www.kegkits.com

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of Scott Daniel - Turbovans Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 2:17 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Grey oily spots on rear hatch

Hi.. I sure hope it's not diesel fuel ! If any fuel.. either that leaked out of or off the engine .. that can get to the rear hatch.

If fuel goes thorough your combustion chambers and comes out the tail pipe unburnt.. you're in some serious trouble there .

and even if that is happening ( unlikely , more or less ) .. the purpose of having the tail pipe at a rear corner of the van is too have those fumes ( or liquid droplets ) pulled away from the van in the vortex that's generated at speed there.

so .typically ...a leaking fluid, usually oil..like out of leaky shaft seals or excessive blow-by originates at the middle lower part of the rear of the van, and is blown right up onto the rear hatch. Quite common on DV's as I said.

if you had unburnt fuel, like a lot, going through the engine it likely would not be running that well either. Personally .. I don't just 'toss in rebuilt injectors' .. I've gotten bad new rebuilt Bosch injectors before. I would spray test them ...sometimes I'll go through a dozen injectors to find 4 really good ones.. just like that picture in Bentley ..nice spray pattern. You could also have one, or more, leaking . so fuel is dribbling out of them when they are not being fired ... that sort of 'fit's even .. It's never a waste of time to check compression and spray test injectors.. and whenever injectors are out ...energize the glow plugs to see how fast then come on , make sure none of them are slow or dead, etc. re pump pressure ... pump guru's will know more about that .. and ...a 1.6 TD pump and injectors run at a higher pressure than 1.6 NA ones ( 130 bar versus 155 bar I believe ) and a 1.6 TD injection pump and injectors will run a 1.6NA engine a little better than a stock 1.6 NA injection pump in my experience.

Besides poor injection pump performance, very good injectors ... the other 'Big Thing' is COMpression .. if that's not there pretty good ..nothing counts in a diesel.. and it's one of the numerous 'challenges' ( disadvantages I say ) of diesel engines.. the engine depends on it's own condition to run right .

you should check valve clearances too. The first DV engine I ever got ...when I checked them ..exhaust clearances there are suppossed to be .014 to .018 inches.........something like that.. were down to .008 ...in other words, extremely closed up. ( and even with clearances set....there was still a failing exh valve 300 miles from home a month or two later..I knew right off the bat I should have pulled that head .. and ..it was an 11mm head and block anyway ..which I wouldn't want to deal with at all anyway )

So ya gotta check that too.. and injection timing .. and really ..for it to last very well at all... to not smoke or leak, and to have good power... etc ..it 'ALL' has to be right on a diesel , especially a VW diesel.

And often old stock 1.6 NA's are very tired.. but finding out what you really have is the right place to start.

the 3 main things I would do right away ..besides looking for fuel leaking off the IP .. or oil shaft seal leaks, or some coolant leak.....are.. check compression, valve clearances and injector spray patterns. to start with. and if it's stock 82 it's not hydraulic lifters...though someone could have put a hyd lifter engine in.. it's easy to tell which if you know what to look for. And confusingly .. I have seen a hydrualic lifter head with solid lifter cam followers in it.

what fun ! Scott www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message ----- From: "ralph meyermann" <ralphmeyermann@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:48 AM Subject: Grey oily spots on rear hatch

> I've noticed on some of my drives I've been getting grey oily spots on > my rear hatch! I believe its unburnt fuel!! Possible bad injector/s. > Was thinking having my friends preferred diesel shop do injectors and > go through the pump too maybe raise the psi too?? Hoping for better > fuel burn for more mouse power and fuel economy and minimize the mess > on my rear hatch! > > Velma 82diesel 1.6 na westy ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1382 / Virus Database: 2109/4142 - Release Date: 01/14/12


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