Right so my 6n 1.4 8v polo has been burning oil rapidly for a few months now, burning a hole in my pocket aswell as its burning around a litre a week! so from various searches on clubpolo i've came to the conclusion it's either the piston rings or valve stem seals. My main question being, what are the symptoms of both and can it be distinguished as either without taking the engine apart?

Secondly, am replacing my rocker cover gasket as there is a minute amount of oil coming out the side so need to know the torque setting for the 3 bolts holding it down?

And thirdly, if say my oil burning is either piston rings or valve stem seals is it best/ cost effective to (for piston rings) replace engine or get new rings seated? or valve stem seals, replace the head or replace the seals?

any help would be useful!!!

usual sign is that if it is smoking constantly then it's more likely to be the piston rings, if it smokes mainly on lift off then it's the valve stem seals.

Either job will cost a few hundred in a garage if you're just paying someone to do it all.

Also i've just removed my rocker cover and found burned oil stuck around the head, is this from oil starvation at some point? could this be my problem?

usual sign is that if it is smoking constantly then it's more likely to be the piston rings, if it smokes mainly on lift off then it's the valve stem seals.

Either job will cost a few hundred in a garage if you're just paying someone to do it all.

hmmm well if I'm stood still and i rev the engine it gives off a small burst of smoke then goes clear again, so stem seals? whats the best root of action? would it be easier if i was to do it myself to do the headgasket at the same time and replace with a new head?

I would have thought it was the other way round? A good way to check which one it is, is to take the inlet manifold off, if there's oil residue around the tops of the valve seats then its the stem seals letting in oil.

I would have thought it was the other way round? A good way to check which one it is, is to take the inlet manifold off, if there's oil residue around the tops of the valve seats then its the stem seals letting in oil.

I wouldn't say thats for definite though, a lot of these cars have the crankcase breather connected to the intake system, in which case if the piston rings are gone and the block pressurised, the inlet system will have oil drawn through the breather and through the inlet valve as the normal mixture would be...

Edit; or do you mean the top of the valve stem?

I think there's a lot of myth about what smoke symptoms mean what, and the only way of finding out is by actually replacing stuff and seeing whether it makes a difference. Try replacing the head/new stem seals or whatever you prefer to do, and if the problem persists then its likely to be the rings...

Edited 26 September, 201114 yr by Phataz1

When I first got my car it looked like someone had poured oil and soil in the head

it's was from the previous owner doing short journeys the oil not getting hot enough or cheap or poor quality oil.

My valve seals went and was the same symptoms white smoke plume out the back under load. I used a valve treatment to help reduced the oil burning but only as a temporary measure.

When doing the valve seals you mights as well do the head gasket, inlet and exhaust gaskets but it all come in the kits. timing belt and cam seals.

if you head was dirty as well I factor in cleaning the head and the valves when I did mine they were badly coked up which is a problem with these engines and it took ages too clean. also look at cleaning the tappets (followers) and make the engine sound a lot quieter. I have a thread somewhere and I post it up how to clean them. Also check the breather pipe and either replace with a more robust pipe or vent it too air with a filter.

Link is to problems for 1.4 8v heads and how to get the best out of them. I wish I found this before as i would of got a second head done all the work and just swapped it over.

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=380362

If you think its the ring a compression test would tell you.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4486238_test-car-piston-rings.html

I did read that car running (idle) with oil cap off, if these white smoke coming from the oil cap on idle a piston ring has gone and it would run like a bag of crap. misfiring, rattling etc is your car sounding like a bag of spanners?

Edited 26 September, 201114 yr by residentmelon

I would have thought it was the other way round? A good way to check which one it is, is to take the inlet manifold off, if there's oil residue around the tops of the valve seats then its the stem seals letting in oil.

I wouldn't say thats for definite though, a lot of these cars have the crankcase breather connected to the intake system, in which case if the piston rings are gone and the block pressurised, the inlet system will have oil drawn through the breather and through the inlet valve as the normal mixture would be...

Edit; or do you mean the top of the valve stem?

I think there's a lot of myth about what smoke symptoms mean what, and the only way of finding out is by actually replacing stuff and seeing whether it makes a difference. Try replacing the head/new stem seals or whatever you prefer to do, and if the problem persists then its likely to be the rings...

well i've definitely got a damn hell of a lot of oil residue in my air box and the crankcase breather was pretty damn filthy so i cleaned it out as much as i possibly could, really dont know what way to go with this, being a student i dont hav e money to just throw at the car :/

When I first got my car it looked like someone had poured oil and soil in the head

it's was from the previous owner doing short journeys the oil not getting hot enough or cheap or poor quality oil.

My valve seals went and was the same symptoms white smoke plume out the back under load. I used a valve treatment to help reduced the oil burning but only as a temporary measure.

When doing the valve seals you mights as well do the head gasket, inlet and exhaust gaskets but it all come in the kits. timing belt and cam seals.

if you head was dirty as well I factor in cleaning the head and the valves when I did mine they were badly coked up which is a problem with these engines and it took ages too clean. also look at cleaning the tappets (followers) and make the engine sound a lot quieter. I have a thread somewhere and I post it up how to clean them. Also check the breather pipe and either replace with a more robust pipe or vent it too air with a filter.

Link is to problems for 1.4 8v heads and how to get the best out of them. I wish I found this before as i would of got a second head done all the work and just swapped it over.

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=380362

If you think its the ring a compression test would tell you.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4486238_test-car-piston-rings.html

I did read that car running (idle) with oil cap off, if these white smoke coming from the oil cap on idle a piston ring has gone and it would run like a bag of crap. misfiring, rattling etc is your car sounding like a bag of spanners?

interesting, i wouldnt say mine has soil like residue, more like burned onto the sides, camshaft is still gleaming just the rest of it is absolutely filthy

definitely going to have a look into your thread on cleaning the tappets as i'd love for the car to run properly because i'd really like to start modifying it but its just not worth it if it's going to give up the ghost!

The car itself doesnt misfire at all but it is quite loud and yeah you could say it does sound like a bag of spanners :p

Dont suppose you know of anyone reputable who would do the porting on a replacement head like the link shown?

I have a similar problem. The car smokes on startup only and clears but it is blue. The only other time it does this is after I have driven downhill, as soon as I pull away a big plume of blue smoke. No rattles, knocks or bangs and she runs smooth. Oh and yes I am buying allot of oil.

If you are getting BLUE smoke from the exhaust after a period of idling (say standing at traffic lights) the problem is almost certainly due to oil getting past the valve guides.

If you are getting BLUE smoke from the exhaust whilst the engine is pulling hard (as going up a steep hill in too high gear) the oil is almost certainly getting past the piston rings.

Before you spend large amounts of money, I suggest that you do the following:

Change the oil and filter, using a good quality 10w 40 oil. then run the car for several days and see if there is any improvement.

If the car has been driven very 'lightly', it is quite possible that the cylinder bores have become glazed. You may well be able to overcome this by a period of motorway driving, making the engine 'work for a living' Just be sure that there is plenty of oil in there first though, the last thing that you want, is to run out of oil on the motorway!

 

If the problem can't be solved by the above, you need to decide if the valves or pistons are passing oil BUT don't be fooled into thinking that simply changing the valve stem seals will     necessarily cure the problem - it could be that the valve guides and/or valve stems are worn, you won't know that without removing the valves.

Likewise, changing piston rings isn't a magic cure - it won't work unless the pistons and cylinder bores are in good condition.

 

As for the oil in your air cleaner, that could be caused by excessive crankcase pressure, which could be due to blow-by past the pistons, but could also be simply due to the oil separator (the box like object that the hose from the air cleaner connects to ) being blocked - If you do wish to attend to the oil separator, life is a lot easier if you first of all remove the inlet manifold.

 

Regards