just got a jetta and got a couple problems

[Vwjetta92]

first problem is it has a evil leak on the valve cover just wondering how hard that is to change second problem is when the car is running it seems to have a miss not bad but i can feel it and third the engine exhaust when it comes out smells like oil so im not sure if i got such a good deal

[Doug Tatham]

1. It's easy to change the gasket on the valve cover. Note that you need to put a bit of sealant on either side of the place where the gasket and rubber semi circle gasket meet.
2. Watch your oil consumption. Also, remove and check your sparkplugs. Look for build up of carbon or differences between any of your plugs. Check (or have someone check) your compression.
3. Check your sparkplug cables, change them if you have any doubt.

My rule of thumb when buying a new car is replace any consumables: spark plugs (and cables), coolant, timing belt, belts, oil, valve cover and oil pan gaskets, transmission fluid (oil), brake fluid, inspect brakeshoes.

Assume that the car hasn't been taken care of.

[Vwjetta92]

ok i think my problem is serious ill try to explain when it gets warm it blows blue smoke out of the tail pipe and when its running i took the oil fill cap off the engine and it lost alot of power like it wants to die sounds like low compression anything i can do? i dont have alot of money nore do i have a compression tester thingy is there away i can tell what it is? im hoping its not the piston rings

[Doug Tatham]

The pcv (positive crankcase ventillation) valve is supposed to pull a slight vacuum on your valve cover so that oil vapors are drawn into the engine and burnt rather than creating pollution. If your valve cover, oil cap, or pcv grommet leak significantly, you can be drawing a fair bit of air (mixed with vaporized oil) into the engine. Check to see if you have oil in the line between the PCV valve and the throttle body. The slow down of your engine when you remove the oil cap is caused by loss of vacuum. This is normal. Warm the engine until it starts smoking. Turn it off and plug the line that goes to the pcv valve (socket extension works well) so that no vacuum is being lost to the throttle body. Restart the engine and see if it still smokes. If not, you're drawing too much air across your valves and pulling oil into your combustion chambers. See where the leak is. Your entire problem may be as simple as a bad valve cover gasket if it's really bad.

[Vwjetta92]

ok i took the valve cover off the camshaft and lifter things look good i still got to put it back together also befor i ripped off the valve cover i tryed some of that stuff that takes the oil burning away and still does it so im confused and where is the pcv valve located on the 1.8 gas engine cuzz i cant seem to find it if there is one also i see lots of oil on the back of the engine where the fuel injector stuff is looks wet so i think the vavle cover is leaking and must be another leak any advice to put a new gasket on my friend said to use a gasket maker stuff because he doesnt trust the cork stuff or anything else any advice would be good thanks

[dandi]

Originally Posted by Vwjetta92

ok i took the valve cover off the camshaft and lifter things look good i still got to put it back together also befor i ripped off the valve cover i tryed some of that stuff that takes the oil burning away and still does it so im confused and where is the pcv valve located on the 1.8 gas engine cuzz i cant seem to find it if there is one also i see lots of oil on the back of the engine where the fuel injector stuff is looks wet so i think the vavle cover is leaking and must be another leak any advice to put a new gasket on my friend said to use a gasket maker stuff because he doesnt trust the cork stuff or anything else any advice would be good thanks

If it were me I would purchase an OEM gasket from the dealer and use that. I have used the gasket goop before and found it difficult to get an even distribution.

You mention that your car has the 1.8T engine - I'm not even sure it uses a PCV valve versus a crankcase breather of some sort... You probably need to get access to a manual for your car - Bentley or Haynes.

Dan D
Central NJ USA

[Doug Tatham]

Form-a-gasket is the favorite tool of used car salesmen. It will stop the leaking for a couple months (long enough to sell the car). The trick to replacing gaskets is to use a torque wrench. You don't want to tighten it more than 85 inch pounds. If you do the gasket gets deformed and will leak.
Get some engine cleaner. Gunk is really good, but store brands work fine as well. Thoroughly clean your engine so that you can figure out exactly where the leak comes from.
The PCV is the black mushroom shaped thing on the right side of your valve cover gasket.
Again, check your spark plugs. One of the major places to lose oil in an older car is the valve stem seals. If one is leaking you'll get significant carbon build up on whichever plug is on the cylinder of the leaking seal.
I've never encountered a oil leak solution that actually worked. They're mainly toluene or other such solvent that will make the seals swell slightly as well as decrease brittleness. The idea sounds great, but in practice I haven't been impressed. Lucas oil stabilizer seems to be pretty good, and my brother in law (who actually is a mechanic) swears by it. My suspicion is that the only reason it helps is that increases the viscosity. Using heavier oil should have the same affect. I'm probably being a bit harsh concerning the Lucas stuff, but I've never seen any product that has had made any lasting improvement.

[Doug Tatham]

An additional note. The 1.8 L gas engine tends to sound a bit noisy and it's hard to tell by the sound if it's missing. If it feels like it's missing you may want to check the timing. As far as advise on installing the gasket, check out EatonZ thread below.