fabric8

I've owned various VW/Audi 1.8's, 2.0's, and 1.8t for 24 yrs (mk2 jetta 1.8, mk3 jetta 2.0, mk4 GTI 1.8t, B5.5 passat 1.8t, B6 A4 1.8t) and recently picked up a TT 225 with 124k miles. I'm 2nd owner of the car and the PO took meticulous care of it with all service records through Audi. He was in his 60's and drove the car relativeley mildly.

One thing I noticed when I test drove it was that it accelerated quickly up until 4k, then less quickly past that. I was able to repeat that through each gear. As I did that a few more times, it felt like the car was starting to loosen up.

On my 300+ mile journey home, I opened it up on the freeway a number of times, gradually accelerating to 5500-6000rpm. After about 8 good pulls, the engine felt fantastic and now pulls hard and smooth throughout the RPM range. I suspect carbon buildup or fouled plugs from the PO's grandpa-driving style (shifting aroud 2000-2500rpm).

I've had the car for about 1000 miles now, and notice that my muffler tips constantly get moderate soot on them even from a short drive (ie dropping my son off to school about 2 miles away) without even driving hard. I wipe the tips clean, and after a short drive, I can see soot on them again. I generally shift around 3-4k and have been driving only manuals for over 25+ years. None of my previous cars have ever exhibited this. The tips on my B6 A4 1.8t are spotless in comparisson. Whether I drive it hard or not, the tips are always soot-free. My A4 has 97k miles. I also just sold a B5.5 passat which had 112k miles and it too had soot-free tips.

I also noticed that my TT seems to be consuming oil, yet I don't see any leak. I topped it off on Sunday, and by today, it's down by 1/4 on the dipstick having driven about 200 miles.

I understand that if I was burning oil, I'd see blue smoke. And I understand that dry soot means the car is running rich. But could the two somehow still be related?

I checked the air filter and it's clean, so it doesn't look like it's starving for air. There's no CEL and VCDS shows readiness OK.

Since I've never had any 1.8, 2.0 or 1.8T behave like this, it leads me to think this isn't normal. Despite the soot and oil consumption, the engine pulls fantastic. Should I be concerned? Should I treat these as 2 separate issues? What should I be checking on for each?

Prospeeder

Sounds like crankcase breather stuff is broken, clogged, pcv stuck open and is causing more oil than normal to be sucked into the intake.

fabric8

thanks for the reply. I found this thread regarding the rebuilding PCV system.

Looking at this diagram, it appears 035103245A is the PCV valve, right?


Do you think I should just change that out with a new one and clean up the rest of the hoses and make sure there are no leaks?

Prospeeder

looks to be so. I would get the 06a-103-213-F, 06a-103-247, the 035103245A, 06a-133-783-AT, and the 058-133-753-B and just inspect the rest of the parts, make sure that check valve in 06a-133-789 is good also.