Replaced Battery And Found A Vacuum Pipe...

[adrian_gti 0]

hi guys,

i just replaced the battery of my TT as it was not holding it's charge. When the batter was out i noticed a small pipe that was not connected to anything. I put the new battery in and started her up, when I rev the engine my girlfriend said it was vacuum. she's an expert on sucking so I dont doubt her

 

I'm totaly confused now, i tried tracing where the pipe was coming from but it goes under the engine somewhere.

 

I checked all the dump valve pipes and i the inlet manifold but nothing has dropped off. Could this be the reason my car was running badly?? this is why i took the car off the road as it was shooting oil from the breather pipes and bad performace

 

anyway the pipe looks like a normal pipe we would use for vacuum, it's black and soft.

 

any ideas people?

 

cheers

Adrian.

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

On a stock car it is the vacum pipe from the TB to the dizzy vac advance unit. However, I've no idea how it is plumbed in on a TT

[jonD6B 0]

Any pics?

[Redtop 14 2 Cars]

Could it be a breather pipe to come from the battery?? I know there is one on my car and it just hanges out of the batt down to the bottom of the car.

[blue1.9 0]

On a stock car it is the vacum pipe from the TB to the dizzy vac advance unit. However, I've no idea how it is plumbed in on a TT

The TT has the same pipe - it runs from the vac advance/boost retard unit on the dizzy (the thing that looks like a small fat flying saucer) to the underside of the throttle body.

 

That would be my guess if you've checked all the boost signal lines...

 

Good Luck

Alex

[adrian_gti 0]

thanks for replies guys. i'll go out garage now and see i can find the unit thingy..

 

if it is this pipe what would it have caused not been connected? performance problems? idle problems?

 

btw yep checked all boost lines etc.

cheers

Adrian.

Edited April 2, 2006 by adrian_gti

[adrian_gti 0]

yep it was for the flying saucer bit so thanks for that guys.

 

i'm not sure how long that pipe has been off as the old battery was on there for a long time.

 

what problems do you think the pipe being off caused?

 

heres a list of the problems the car had before pipe was put back on:

 

1. when engine hot and under high revs oil sprays from breather (would a catch tank sort this?).

2. trouble idling.. very bad hunting from 700rpm to 2000rpm and sometimes stall.

3. blue smoke from exhaust (but i put this down to the oil that was being sprayed from the breather being sucked into the air filter nearby then going through the engine).

4. badly colour coded paint on bumpers.

 

i have blocked off the SAD pipe as i had nowhere to connect it to the pipe i made to move the air filter... could this be causing problem 2? any help is really appreciated guys as i would love to get my car back on the road... driving the STDT is starting to get a little boring and i loved the TT when it was working, the noise alone while flooring it was better than sex ssssssssSSSSSS psshhh

 

btw it's the correct dump valve (twin piston?) so i dont think it's that causing the hunting.

 

thanks guys.

Adrian

Edited April 2, 2006 by adrian_gti

[Guest Cartooner]

Sounds like a lot of pressure in the crankcase. Are You sure Your piston rings are still doing their job?

[adrian_gti 0]

nope not sure at all

 

no garage round here is willing to work on the car... the only option I had was a full engine rebuild.

 

would using a different oil help?

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Well not having it connected on a N/A car the only difference you will have is a loss of economy, again on a Turbo I'm not sure whether it will effect power or not.

 

Hunting idle will be a combination of ignition timing and idle mixture being too rich. Again most N/A cars suffer and can be pretty much cured of this given a good clean/tune. I see no reason a TT would not be similar.

 

Check that your oil breathers are not blocked, this won't help crankcase pressure. However, if you are burning oil and have a significant amount of crank case pressure then you may have poorly piston rings. THen again burning oil is more commonly caused by valve stem oil seals dying so don't panic...

 

Blocking the SAD will mean that is is unlikely to idle when cold. Its function is to let more air in when cold to allow the engine to idle. Without it it will either idle very low or just not idle at all. It would be a good idea to re-connect it.

 

Rob

 

Note: I don't know TTs at all so there may be some other reasons for your troubles.

[adrian_gti 0]

Cheers Rob,

I'll have to take the new pipe to a welders to get a bit put on so i can attach the SAD pipe... your right about the idling when cold, I have to keep the throttle pushed in a bit until the engine warms up. I had a closer look at the plugs, leads dizzy and everything is absolutly covered in oil from the spraying

 

does anyone here have their engines steam cleaned? is it safe on GTIs?

 

What pipes exactly would i need to check to make sure their not blocked? just the ones that are on the oil filler cap? I only have one left there as i have one of those pipercross breather filter thingy.

 

thx for the help

Edited April 3, 2006 by adrian_gti

[Rob_the_Sparky 9]

Trouble is my TT knowledge is not good enough to describe the oil breather set-up.

 

Rob

 

N.B. Just had an interesting thought...on a normal 8v the oil breather takes a pipe from just after the AFM to the oil filler and then to the throttle body (just after the throttle plate) so it draw air through here taking oil fumes into the engine. If you set-up a TT like this then when on boost you apply boost pressure to the crank case, I wonder if this is what your problem is...

 

P.S. Steam claening an engine isn't a good idea as the water gets into the electrics. Use a degreaser like Gunk or Jizer (or similar) and a watering can+brush. This way you should be able to clean it avoiding the electrics.

[blue1.9 0]

The TT pretty much uses the standard breather setup - the fat pipe from the oil filler cap connects after the AFM and the small one to the top of the throttle body. On the original TT setup the small pipe includes a one-way valve only alloing flow to the throttle body, not away from it - this should help to avoid pressurising the crank case, but the valve is often missing or knackered and doesn't make that much difference.

 

If the pipe to the dizzy is disconnected then there will be an air leak into the system which will put fuelling out - either lean on normal driving, or rich on boost. The boost retard unit won't be getting a signal so when on boost the timing may be too far advanced and causing pinking - best get it connected back up.

 

There is a fair bit of technical literature that I got for my TT here:

 

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b217/ale...Technics%20Lit/

 

Where is the oil spraying from? You say it's coming from the breather - is it coming out through the pipercross filter? If it is then it may be worth getting a new oil filler cap with the wire wool still inside as this would help to stop any oil being easily blown across the cap. Also the one-way valve in the small breather line would probably help too.

 

Hope that helps.

Alex

[adrian_gti 0]

thx guys... looks like this could help me get to the bottom of it..

 

the oil is spraying from the pipercross breather, the oil filler is new as there was a big split down the plastic on the old one. The oil only started spraying after it came from the garage to have the turbo taken off and a gasket taken away.. from speaking to a guy at turbo technics we leart that there wasnt supposed to be a turbo gasket there so a previous owner prolly had it put on for some reason.

 

anyway i had a quick look and the one way valve that used to be there is no longer... when the garage put the new oil filler on I remember him saying i would need a new pipe so i went and picked up the pipe from Peugeot.... with no 1 way valve!!

 

any ideas where I can get one of these valves? I'm really excited now about this fixing my car woohoo

 

is it just a case of cutting the pipe in the middle and adding the valve?

 

cheers guys!

 

p.s. thanks for that link to the TT lit... printed and will compare to my setup to see what else might be wrong

Edited April 3, 2006 by adrian_gti

[blue1.9 0]

Yes, should be a case of cutting it and putting the valve in.

 

I got a new valve from Alan Jeffery - contact details at the bottom of this page:

 

http://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/contactus.htm

 

Worth giving them a call....it's likely to be expensive though!

 

Alex

[adrian_gti 0]

heh seems Alan has taken the day off today and I have to phone back tomorrow.

 

I did find the one way valve in a bag with the invoice from the garage, it looks like the valve is knackered though as i'm unable to blow through it what ever end I blow in. Cheers to the mechanic who thought... "dont need this..." and couldnt be bothered asking me to get a new one

 

can you remember how expensive the part was? Also do you think this might be a part that I could get from GMF or halfrauds? maybe it's used on other cars for something?

 

just to confirm, air should be able to go into the oil filler and not into the throttle body bit?

cheers.

Adrian.

Edited April 3, 2006 by adrian_gti

[blue1.9 0]

I think it was something between £10-20 delivered. The valve stops air flow from the throttle body to the oil filler, but allows air to flow to the throttle body from the filler.

 

Basically when there is a vacuum in the intake manifold/throttle body the valve allows the gases from the filler to enter the throttle body and be burned, but when on boost the valve stops the pressurised air from passing into the filler and possibly pressurising the sump - it also stops boost from bleeding through the filler back into the air intake tract on the original breather setup.

 

No idea if other cars have something similar....I didn't look around too hard before I found that Alan had one.

 

Good luck

Alex

[adrian_gti 0]

thanks m8,

 

£10 - £20 isnt too bad.. i was expecting a lot more. Fingers crossed this (and a good service) fixes all my problems and I can be back on the road

 

Thanks for all your help guys.

Adrian.