Breather pipe leak

[Qubit]

Hi all,

 

does anyone know if a breather pipe leak could cause both cabin fumes and a jerky/surge/hesitant part throttle?     Apologies if this seems like a daft question but ive got some issues with my vrs and Im trying to figure out where is best to start - cabin fumes seems best obviously!     Im just wondering if the problem causing that might be at least in part causing my part throttle surge/hesitancy issues too ( i know there are a multitude of possible causes for that)

 

cheers!

Edited 19 May, 2015 by Qubit

[YellowCar]

Hi and welcome. If you smell cabin fumes and it's driving air leaky it points towards exhaust manifold possibly cracked or gasket, or it could be the exhaust flexi. Check flexi by seeing if it's swollen or bulbous. Hope that helps. Check pipework while your there, could be a charge pipe thing too.

P.s put your car details by your name or on your sig it helps people to help easier.

[Qubit]

Cheers for the reply and the welcome too  - ive updated my Car details, thanks

 

Smell only really comes through the vents when the fan/aircon is running and really only when stationary.   Ill have a look around and see if I can find anything.  

[YellowCar]

No problem, certainly sounds like it's something in that area. When the fan is doing its work it will suck it in, you'll probably notice it more stationary because of the heat build up and static air.

[Qubit]

I could find anything myself so ive got it booked in to be looked at, hopefully fixing that might go some way to fixing the other issues too.  Ill update with whatever they do/dont find.   Got the car booked in to have skoda replace the coil packs under the recall as theyve never been done apparently.    After that I guess Ill look at the throttle body and MAF.    

Edited 21 May, 2015 by Qubit

[Paul thornton]

Split breather pipe would cause fumes in the cab and rough running.

Mine did anyway...

[Qubit]

Breather pipe and dipstick tube both replaced, fumes in cabin much better (although did think i detected some about an hour into a commute when crawling in traffic).    Unfortunately im not sure the surging/hesitancy has improved much if at all.   Hopefully the coilpacks might help although I suspect there may be other causes (o2 sensor is a strong contender i feel).      

 

How much would a dealer charge for a VAG com scan?   

[YellowCar]

Breather pipe and dipstick tube both replaced, fumes in cabin much better (although did think i detected some about an hour into a commute when crawling in traffic).    Unfortunately im not sure the surging/hesitancy has improved much if at all.   Hopefully the coilpacks might help although I suspect there may be other causes (o2 sensor is a strong contender i feel).      

 

How much would a dealer charge for a VAG com scan?

Which breather pipe was replaced? Dipstick tube is quite common they get brittle. You may have smelt some condensed oil deposits from before on something hot but keep your eyes on it.

Have you cleaned your throttle body lately? Try unplugging the MAF as well, if it runs smooth unplugged it's your maf sensor.

Not sure what a dealer would charge, probably silly money. Where are you? Try and find someone on here to do it for beer tokens. Try a post in diagnostics section (if the above solutions don't work).

[Qubit]

Which breather pipe was replaced? Dipstick tube is quite common they get brittle. You may have smelt some condensed oil deposits from before on something hot but keep your eyes on it.

Have you cleaned your throttle body lately? Try unplugging the MAF as well, if it runs smooth unplugged it's your maf sensor.

Not sure what a dealer would charge, probably silly money. Where are you? Try and find someone on here to do it for beer tokens. Try a post in diagnostics section (if the above solutions don't work).

 

Honestly not too sure, pretty certain its one near the front and it was losing oil, but Ill have to keep an eye on it.   This weekend is fairly busy with family stuff but found a spare 10 mins to check out the throttle body, looks like it needs a clean just looking at the pipe side and I believe the other side is the one thats prone to getting dirty so definitely needs a clean.   

 

However, the real eye opener is that I ran it without the MAF on a 10 minute drive and it ran a lot better, certainly seems to point the finger in that direction!   Is it worth cleaning the MAF sensor or is it really a new MAF required?    

 

Im in Newmarket, think ill look at replacing the MAF once the coil packs have been done under the recall (hopefully).    And if that doesnt solve it Ill see if some local(ish) kindly soul will scan it in exchange for beer tokens as you say

Edited 23 May, 2015 by Qubit

[Qubit]

Thanks for your help, much appreciated

[YellowCar]

No problem, you can try cleaning the MAF but success is a bit hit and miss with that. Use proper maf cleaner only. Best thing to do is unscrew and take the actual sensor out into a bag and give it a good soaking, just be careful about spraying it directly. Leave to dry bone dry before refitting. You may have had your traction control light come on after your run with it unplugged? You can clear that by disconnecting battery for a minute or so. If you replace it get genuine/bosch, euro car parts had a fairly decent price on them not too long ago.

Definitely clean throttle body, dirty ones hesitancy on light/part throttle is typical. Make sure you replace the gasket and clean with Carb cleaner and a rag. Unbolt it is easier but try and do it without unplugging. With ignition on (not engine) get the gas pedal down which opens flap so you can clean right through. For such a small job it makes a hell of a positive difference when it needs doing.

Coolant temp sensor can also cause running issues but if unplugging the maf seemed to get it smooth then it looks like you're on the right track. Cleaning throttle body and new coils should help too.

[kentphil1]

The "Y" breather pipe splitting is a very usual candidate for cabin fumes and hesitation. Good part is it is real simple to change.

 

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[Qubit]

Been doing a bit more reading around, it would seem that unplugging the MAF places it into an open loop mode in which many sensors are ignored, so the MAF may not be the issue itself - perhaps one or both of the o2 sensors may be playing up?       Will start with the MAF and throttle body clean.

 

Yeh, found an engine diagram and it does look like the y hose that was replaced - probably could have done it myself!  

 

As it drives much better with the MAF unplugged is there any issue running with it unplugged?

[Qubit]

Update:   Replaced the MAF today, didnt really seem to make much difference, maybe slightly, but probably not.    So, moved on to cleaning the throttle body, it was frankly filthy, almost completely black on  the manifold side, took me ages to clean it.   Wow, its made a huuuge difference, car is now almost completely free of surge/hesitancy, definite result.      

Edited 29 May, 2015 by Qubit

[YellowCar]

You do get a big payback for such a simple job, especially when it's proper filthy, glad you've made an improvement.

[Qubit]

Additional update.    Car still miles better but still some occasional hiccups at idle (possible coil pack on the way out? - will try replacing - one of them seems to be 3rd party the rest genuine so that would be my initial suspicion).  

 

Another interesting thing is that Ive been having some serpentine/auxillary belt whine particulary when cold and i thought it might need replacing.   It suddenly occurred to me that if i was previously getting oil fumes through the vents from the engine and that frankly the engine bay looks a bit covered in oil and that maybe the belt might need a clean.    So Ive cleaned it up a bit and the whine seems to have all but disappeared!      Well worth trying before taking to a garage.   

[YellowCar]

It's pretty easy to fit a new serpentine belt, bit tight for fingers down the bottom but doable. Draw a map of the path round the rollers first, get a big spanner on the tensioner lug and lever until slack then pop it off. Refit new is the fiddly bit but all in all a quick job and the belts aren't expensive. Be worth fitting a new one.

When you say rough idle how rough is it? Mine wobbles a tiny bit, gets less and less as I work through other problems, does my head in a little bit but I'm beginning to suspect a fluctuation of about 10rpm either way is pretty normal. Considering there's vacuum and emissions management going on all the time, even at idle the system is pretty busy. Wouldn't worry too much unless it sounds/feels rough or fluctuates more wildly. There could be a million causes for rough idle and I would have thought an iffy coil pack would also show itself up as a misfire when under load. Primary suspects for rough idle are maf, airflow/leak but also a lot of other things.

[Qubit]

It's pretty easy to fit a new serpentine belt, bit tight for fingers down the bottom but doable. Draw a map of the path round the rollers first, get a big spanner on the tensioner lug and lever until slack then pop it off. Refit new is the fiddly bit but all in all a quick job and the belts aren't expensive. Be worth fitting a new one.

When you say rough idle how rough is it? Mine wobbles a tiny bit, gets less and less as I work through other problems, does my head in a little bit but I'm beginning to suspect a fluctuation of about 10rpm either way is pretty normal. Considering there's vacuum and emissions management going on all the time, even at idle the system is pretty busy. Wouldn't worry too much unless it sounds/feels rough or fluctuates more wildly. There could be a million causes for rough idle and I would have thought an iffy coil pack would also show itself up as a misfire when under load. Primary suspects for rough idle are maf, airflow/leak but also a lot of other things.

 

Yeh, I looked and thought I might be able to fit a new belt - well removal looked OK but fitting I wasn't so sure on!    Might give it a bash sometime soon (need to sort out the bloody secondary air pump first - and yes it does sound like i purchased a lemon!  But so far im sorting it out cheaply enough so thats OK.  Then it will be the brake whine/squeal when reversing after a journey!  lol).   Must admit I do like the car and part of me is tempted to find a nice one rather than my leggy/tired example!   

 

Idle does fluctuate a bit, definitely more than 10rpm i would say, but not massively and every now and then theres a little hiccup, which im guessing might be a misfire, but nothing logged (picked myself up a cheap scanner).   

 

I saw your unusual issue, sorry Im not able to offer any help!   Hopefully you get it sorted soon.   

[YellowCar]

No worries, I'm getting through it slowly, new brake light switch and cleaning intake temp sensor helped the running (you could try cleaning IAT sensor it may help your lumpy issue). Abs light still flashing occasionally but nothing getting logged for it. Going to try replacing all fuses associated with it next. Think I had one of those weird things where a few things happen at once. Think the spare maf I tried has gone duff which didn't help so put original back on. Bit of a nightmare, using it tomorrow so will see how it goes!

Getting that belt on is ok, just check and double check you've got the ribs to sit in the grooves properly, will take a couple of attempts but it's ok.

As for you brakes try the handbrake return springs mod, makes sure your handbrake is fully disengaging, if it's only happening going slow and you don't have a real binding issue I bet that would help. May not cure completely but should help.