Friends,

We are leaving a skid, but not with our tires...

From the seat of your pants, our 1982 Westy runs great. Gets 20mpg
(thereabouts). The previous owner had a "rebuild" about 15k miles ago. I
say "rebuild" because it appears to have been closer to a "Fix What's
Wrong, And Put It Back Together." What was wrong was a detonation burn on
#4 piston. Has new VW jugs and pistons, and new exhaust. I can't be sure
about the rest, but the lower end bearings *sound* like there is more play
than there should be at 15k. (The guy doing the rebuild used a grease
pencil to number the cylinders, despite the numbers being stamped into the
tin. His numbers didn't correspond with VW's system. Uh, oh.)

The motor burns some oil (1.5-2.5 quarts per 3,000 miles), dependant on
conditions, load. I can't see any smoke when I accelerate or start the van
though. It has only one TINY leak on the rear main bearing (flywheel side)
just enough to moisten the bottom of the case, not enough to drip overni
ght. I use about a pint of Marvel Mystery oil in the crankcase, and about
the same in the fuel at each fill up. I run FI cleaner in every other
tankful.

The motor does not appear to run rich. Plugs stay clean, nice light brown.
Exhaust smells good, no heavy fuel smell, and no real oil burning smell. I
know the preceding sounds goofy, but I have owned a bunch of Type2/Type4
motors, and they have a "good" smell to me when they are running right, and
a tell-tale smell when they are not. I'm not a certified hydrocarbon
detection device though.

My question is: considering all of the above, WHY is my exhaust leaving a
HUGE black "skid" on the pavement when I start it up in the morning? Four
Egg Sample, this a.m. I had to jump start a neighbor. Started the van, and
within about 30 seconds, I was "revving" the van to about 2,000 rpm to
charge/start her battery. No smoke behind van, just the predictable
moisture of the morning exhaust, and a copious skid of carbon. My TD Jetta
does not even do this. Something isn't right. Inside of exhaust pipe is
BLACK.

What's up? Help. Mayday.

G. Matthew Bulley
Principal
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
Communications for Organizational Development
www.bulley-hewlett.com
(888) 468-4880 toll free