Newbie engine question

[Jettaman]

Hey all, i just found this site decided to become a member since I have an '88 jetta gli 16v wolfsberg edition. N e ways, my motor burns oil like no other, only burns a lot when i get on it and when i let the car slow itself down (is a 5 speed) i need to know whats wrong and what i can do to fix it for a low price. I want to keep my car cause i love it and its speed but it also needs a lot of work. Please lemmie know. Thanks

[SteveXs2]

I've heard all A2 VWs go through oil pretty fast. My 86 went through 4L in the first two weeks I had it but that was because I had a bad gasket that blew and leaked like 1L of oil through town (shhh.. it wasn't me).

But to get a little more info to help you out, is oil actually leaking or is it just going through oil fast? If the oil is actually leaking out of the engine and burning on parts of the engine (ie; exhaust manifold). If it's leaking, just replace the valve cover gasket or something. I dunno, I'm not very mechanical but when my car had some problems I took it to the local VW dealer and he replaced the blown gasket and I go through less oil now compared to when i first bought it which shows that my old gasket was probably leaky before it blew.

[2002maniac]

Smoke under decel usally points to bad oil stem seals. these can be replaced without removing the head! You would need a valve spring compressor and a leak-down tester(to keep air pressure in the combustion chaber so your valves dont fall in) A good mechanic should be able to do the job in only 2-3 hrs. Go around to some german shops and see what they want to do the job. The other possibility would be that your piston rings are letting oil by. My bet would be the stem seals.

[Optigman]

Smoke under decel usally points to bad oil stem seals. these can be replaced without removing the head! You would need a valve spring compressor and a leak-down tester(to keep air pressure in the combustion chaber so your valves dont fall in) A good mechanic should be able to do the job in only 2-3 hrs. Go around to some german shops and see what they want to do the job. The other possibility would be that your piston rings are letting oil by. My bet would be the stem seals.

I agree with maniac - valve seals are easy to replace if you have available tools and know how. If you are hesitant to undertake the task yourself, do as he says and check around for a "qualified" VW mechanic. I just did a complete rebuild of a 1.8L RD GLI engine and this was one of my concerns so they were replaced during the rebuild. 1.8L engines are desiged to "recirculate" oil if you will through parts of the vacuum system and air intake to help lubricate parts and whatever else the oil comes in to contact. Mild oil consumption is expected, however once it starts burining in the exhaust process to be noticible is a problem. The valve seals are small rubber seals that are placed around the valve stems to prevent oil from seeping from the cylinder head to the combustion chamber in either the intake or exhaust rotation. As the engine warms up, the seals should expand, however as they age (17 yrs we'll say here) they do become brittle and cracked. I'm in the process of doing a DIY for a complete rebuild, this will be covered in that DIY. Hope this helps.

[burn_your_money]

First off, I'd like to say nice car.
Is the oil being burnt in the combustion chamber, or is it blowing out onto the ground?

[Jettaman]

The oil is coming out of the exhaust as smoke, its not leaking but literally burning the oil. The headgasket is fine on it and my father (used to be a mechanic) said he cant even figure out what is wrong with it and has looked it over many times.

[2002maniac]

Depending on where you live(if it gets really cold dont do it) try running some heavier oil. like 20w-50 this might help your problem. or, it might not :D

[Jettaman]

I was using 5w 30 oil and now am using 10w30 and it hasnt made any difference for the most part.

[Jettaman]

oh yeah, for those who wanted them, my pics are in the show room under '88 Jetta leave message saying how you like it and what you think i should do.

[Mr_Diesel]

How many miles are on the engine again (too lazy to scroll). If it has more than 130,000 The pistion rings could definatly contribute to the problem. The stem seals can help too, but the ideal way (and most expensive way) is to remove the head and do the valve guides as well.

[jettadude]

i run 20W 50 in my 88, try that, and as cody said your rings could be shot.

[Slalom]

ya you should be running 20W50 in any warm/hot climate... 10W30 for the winter... do not use 5W30

[burn_your_money]

Would a compression check and blow by check (not sure if that is what it is called) be a good idea to do?

[Jettaman]

I put 10w40 in it this morning and it didnt seem to be burning at all, or so i didnt notice. The bad thing about my motor is i dont have any idea what the cost would be to get it fixed and i also need to know some good prices on struts and shocks. I also will take kind donations if anybody wants to send to help fix it up :lol: I was going to sell the car so if anybody wants to buy, and have the right price it may go. But i doubt it. Want to fix her up and make look nice like other ones on here.

[vwcrazykid]

Hey all, i just found this site decided to become a member since I have an '88 jetta gli 16v wolfsberg edition. N e ways, my motor burns oil like no other, only burns a lot when i get on it and when i let the car slow itself down (is a 5 speed) i need to know whats wrong and what i can do to fix it for a low price. I want to keep my car cause i love it and its speed but it also needs a lot of work. Please lemmie know. ThanksIf you keep your engine in tune you shouldn't have any real problems make sure everything is in order and up to date and you shoudl be good.

[Optigman]

Hey all, i just found this site decided to become a member since I have an '88 jetta gli 16v wolfsberg edition. N e ways, my motor burns oil like no other, only burns a lot when i get on it and when i let the car slow itself down (is a 5 speed) i need to know whats wrong and what i can do to fix it for a low price. I want to keep my car cause i love it and its speed but it also needs a lot of work. Please lemmie know. Thanks

Like Diesel, I was too lazy to check your milage. I gave it more thought and here we go. You say it happens on hard excel and decel with it in gear. Like Burn suggested, a compression test will tell you what kind of seal you have either at the rings or the valves, and to some extent the head gasket. This is inconclusive to your problem. I agree that keeping your car tuned will "prevent" this from happening, however you inherited all the problems the last owner neglected to correct.

The one area that I've run into in the past with 8v's and 16v's that most miss is burnt valves. If the car had been running too rich for too long, there could be an obscene amout of carbon build up on your valve seats. This buildup could be preventing your valves from closing completely. The valve guides and seals along with the piston rings probably are in need of replacing. This job is really not that hard, it however could possibly run more money than you are willing to throw at it.

If I were planning on keeping the car for a long period of time, I would do a top end rebuild along with the rings. That's just my two cents.

Do you have any pics?