Burning oil...no smoke,please help

[bigspudz]

Hi to all.
Im a new member who has been a spectator for the last week or so as i have just bought a 1989 8v gti and have found information on this forum very helpful as i am a complete novice in the vw game.

My problem....

The motor seems to be burning a bit of oil however there is absolutely no blue smoke.A constant flow of white condensation fumes come out of the exhaust weather it be a cold start or warm,but it appears to smell very rich.I didnt know what i was doing so i asked a few people at work about the fumes and they confirmed with me that it is defo not blue smoke.I then opened up the airbox and noticed that the air filter was pretty damn oily(has since been changed).Was told to clean/check breather pipes which i did and found no signs of build up or blockage.Im now completely baffled and thought i should ask the experts.I really appreciate all your comments in advance!

[Gambit]

aslong as its condensation and not white smoke. u'd no the difference if it was though. normal condensation exhaust smoke/steam just smells like exhaust gases. white smoke (oil/water) stinks!!

might be worth checking that there is no oil & water mixing.

1. check the oil on the bottom of the dipstick for signs of a mayo type substance
2. expansion/water bottle - should just have coolant in it. should be no signs of thick brown sludge in it

i suspect the previous owner may have just put in the wrong grade of oil, i.e. too thin

what mileage is your car? anything over 80k and id be inclined to run 15w40 grade oil unless its had a new set of piston rings at some point in time!!

[bigspudz]

Hi Gambit
Many thanks for such a quick reply.
...
The mileage is 137000.There is absolutely no sign of mayo anywhere including the dipstick and under oil cap.There is no foam in the expansion tank and by the taste of it there is plenty of coolant in it.Am worried about the state of the air filter though.The sponge was literally covered in oil,some fresh.It is definately not white smoke coming from the exhaust,but a constant flow of condensation like smoke that just seems to evaporate.Is this normal?

[Gambit]

aye it is normal, specailly if your only using it on short journies, and even more so if the car has a stainless steel exhaust. take it for a decent length of run say up a motorway during a dry afternoon, let it get up to proper operating temp. i.e. oil temp around 80. and it shouldnt be steaming out the exhaust

though any hint of moisture in the air and it'll be steaming out the back!!

signs of oil on the air filter usually means the car is breathing heavily. or its had a very spirited drive by the previous owner

if you've replaced the air filter then just keep an eye on it. id also change the oil n go for a thicker viscosity 15w40 and see how it fairs on that

[bigspudz]

Cheers mate.
Have taken your advice and heeded it.I bought the car in Bristol and drove it back to London and didnt notice anything untoward coming from the exhaust althouth i did only nurture it back at around 70.It does seem a very straight motor with good paintwork barring a few small surface rust patches which shouldnt be a problem.Highest ive seen my oil temperature is around 96 which it gets to after running around for 20 mins or so.Is this ok?By the way i really appreciate this help.

[Gambit]

yeah that oil temp is fine. i've seen my 16v at 118 somedays!

[bigspudz]

Hi Gambit,
Thanks for that,its reassuring to know.....
By the way,i think you could well be right about previous owner using wrong oil.I topped up with 10w 40(about 1.5L) as well as a oil treatment and it seems to have donea very good job.Have noticed a slight loss of power since i changed previous spongy mesh filter to bog standard Halfords jobbie,is this normal?

[bigspudz]

sorry it was indeed 15w 40 oil

[Gambit]

you shouldnt really notice that much of a difference.

just outta curiosity what fuel are you running it on? golfs need 98RON to be runnin at their best. so u ideally want to be running on Optimax(98RON), or BP Ultimate(97) but stay away from normal unleaded(95)

as you've only got the car, could be benefical to get the car setup properly at a VW specialist to make sure the timing etc is all correct

[bigspudz]

Thanks,thats something i didnt know.Along with the air filter i also used some oil and petrol treatment for the injectors,however i did fill up with 95 ron.Will now stick to the above mentioned fuels.Cheers for everything Gambit,youve got me well on the way to actually knowing something about my motor and im sure with time and plenty of swotting on yhis site,i might just start to get the hang of it all!