Hi All,

I recenly purchased my '02 Plate Silver Octavia 1.8t VRS, 78k and service history/reciepts suggesting a well looked after motor. Paid £3.5k and thought that was top whack really. All was well until a few days back, hope you guys can help with the 2 issues i have...???

1.) Morning start-up, no issues, usual condensation smoke that disappears after a minute or so. After driving to work/shopping/garage/pub etc, the following second, third, forth start-ups usually dispense some blue smoke in with the usual stuff. This goes away after 30 secs or so. And there is zero blue smoke when driving and boosting in normal driving. Could this just be unspent oil in the turbo from the drive before hand? I didnt think there should be any at all unless the seals were gone? Its always left for a couple of minutes running before being switched off and always warmed up before setting off. Religiously (Mrs gets proper narked with this!!)

2.) It has a dump valve :( and i'm hoping this is the cause of the second problem and not the result of the 1st!!! When tootling round, not using the turbo...in traffic lets say, when accellerating slowly and lightly (not enough revs or throttle depression to warrant any boost), the turbo seems to spool up and dump out the pressure before really going anywhere!?!? no power boost, just a lot of noise and 'whooshing'. A premature spooling up if u will.Can this be a result of just sticking a dump valve on it and not remapping it?

I hope you guys can help because i was planning on taking the dump valve off an getting it remapped, wont bother if the turbo is giving up the goose though!

Look forward to your responses!

Edited 19 July, 200916 yr by ajbaker2

it doesnt matter how fast you go, the turbo will start spooling at just over 2k rpm. My old vRS was the same as yours in traffic and you could here the DV dumping boost even though I was driving gently.

I wouldnt worry to much about the blue smoke either, especially if the car drives ok. keep an eye on your oil level and see if its dropping and monitor by how much.

Is the DV an aftermarket one or the original Bosch one (black and plastic) - they should be Divertor valves not dump valves as they are supposed to dump the air back into the Turbo inlet pipe not to Atmosphere. if it an aftermarket one dumping to atmos. then you should change it to a forge007p which is a recirculating type. If it is the original black plastic one and you can hear it whooshing then it is knackered and you need to replace it again with a forge 007p or similar especially if you are going to have it remapped.

Thanks for the replies guys, that was quick!

Ok, understood regarding the DV...its definately dumping the pressure to atmosphere. I'll have a look to see what type and make it is when i get 5 mins.

The blue smoke issue, ok, its still driving ok and i'm definately going to keep an eye on the oil level. But just another murmer i noticed this morning, i had to quickly reverse out of a space, so loaded up a bit (albeit riding the clutch a little), this was after starting up and no smoke present, and there was a definate sign of some blue smoke, so i tested by doing it again going forwards doing the same, and again a little blue smoke. But still nothing when boosting or driving normally!?

What do you guys think?

Mine is doing this too. It seems clear on start up, but after It has been left to idle then rev'd or set off It kicks out blue smoke then clears. The oil has dropped down halfway down the dipstick In less than a month.

I have had it checked at JBS last month & they say It looks like the valve stem oil seals, but they can't 100% rule out the turbo:confused:

Edited 19 July, 200916 yr by DGW
No need to quote previous post.

A test for valve stem seals is to roll down a hill with the throttle close (but it gear) for a while to build up a good vacuum in the inlet then give the accelerator a jab. if theres blue smoke then oil has been sucked through the stem seals due to the high vacuum (i find this hard to check for - maybe have a friend follow you and watch for blue smoke). my old volvo 340 had failing stem seals and did all the things you mention - it was never the same car after they were fixed mind.

Hi There,

The valve stem seals is an issue i've heard of before on other cars. Even though VAG group 1.8T's are fairly reliable, i suppose all cars are prone to this?!

So...the test to see if they are going, i need to be clear, you need to be rolling downhill in gear and no throttle, then jab the throttle, if there is blue smoke, the stem seals are on their way out? Is that accurate?

Hi There,

The valve stem seals is an issue i've heard of before on other cars. Even though VAG group 1.8T's are fairly reliable, i suppose all cars are prone to this?!

So...the test to see if they are going, i need to be clear, you need to be rolling downhill in gear and no throttle, then jab the throttle, if there is blue smoke, the stem seals are on their way out? Is that accurate?

this is exactly what mine is doing and I have a new turbo...But only really noticed it after I dectted it..

May be worth flushing the intercooler out as it could have a build up of oil in it.

May be worth flushing the intercooler out as it could have a build up of oil in it.

is this an easy job to do? what liquid do you need to flush it out? we used to use a petrol mix to get rid of any oil on my race kart