[Vwdiesel] Blue smoke at startup?

[Shawn Wright]

I've noticed my new '85 Jetta D seems to be blowing blue smoke at cold
startup lately, something which I didn't notice when test driving it a few
weeks ago. I of course changed the oil when I got it, since the old oil had
been in for an unknown length of time, probably more than a year. I used
cheap Walmart 15w40 diesel oil and a Cdn Tire (FRAM... shudder...) filter
just until I can fix the leak(s) and switch to something better. The head
look pretty clean inside when I changed the VC. I've only driven it about
1500km since then, so it's hard to tell if it's actually burning oil, but the
level has dropped maybe 1mm if at all.
I'm assuming this blue at cold start is valve guides or seals - if so, is there
anything I can do to improve it, or is it too late for that? Also, I noticed
there is a fair bit of blowby, although probably no more than I've had on
other diesels. I've never driven a diesel with less than 180k kms though,
so I don't really know how much blowby is normal when they are new.
Pretty hard to measure blowby I guess, or could I put a plastic bag over
the outlet and time how long to fill it up at idle? Then maybe we could all
compare :-)

I'm wondering if there is anything I should do before switching to synthetic
oil (I have some Amsoil 15w40 left), such as engine flush? This car has
had a bit of unusual history - it drove 175k kms in the first 4 years, then
another 50k in the next 4 years, then only 30k total during the next 11
years! The owner spent 6-8 months out of the country, so it spent a lot of
time sitting, likely with old oil in it. I don't know if this kind of history
warrants any special treatment? It starts easily when cold, so I believe
compression is ok. It also has had a new injection pump in the past 10
years, according to the PO...



--
Shawn Wright
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright
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