Question: Loss of power, oil consumption and more. Leon 2001 AKL 1.6 SR

[RobotE]

I have a Seat Leon mk1 2001, 1.6 SR, AKL engine. Built in 2000 and sold in 2001.

I got a few problems, which I don't know how to resolve.
I'm not experienced with mechanics, I can do some things myself if I have the tools and it can be done outside without going under the car. Trying to do most things myself to keep the cost down.

Anyway, here's a description on what's been going on. Sorry it's a long post, but I tried to include everything so you'd get all the information.

Problem 1

The car lose power and don't respond when pushing the gas at times. It just slows down and at first there was smoke from the exhaust. White/grey and dark. Smelled petrol and some weird smell like sulfur.
At times the rpm goes up and down while idling. The loss of power was first most noticable when driving over 100 km/h and especially uphill.
It has started to happen more often while driving slowly, maybe more when going uphill. It stutters and lose power. Almost like it's going to stop and then it catches on again.
It's like you're accelerating and it just start to die but then come back again, over and over a few times until it runs again. It's like the car is not breathing for a second but then just catches its breath.

Also when it is hesitating and sort of jumping forward at it's worst there's sometimes a sound from underneath or bottom front of car. It doesn't sound like an loud exhaust bang, more like a hitting or popping sound. Like two things hitting each other. Though it could be some sort of bang. Not very loud (at least from inside the car) and a bit difficult to describe.

Problem 2

Before that I had noticed it consumed oil, I've been checking the consumption and it seems to be around 1 - 1.1 litre per 1000 kilometers.
I've checked if there's any drops of oil under the car but I haven't seen any.

Problem 3 (appeared while trying to figure out 1 and 2)

After I had been driving a little longer distance, the car started to shake and didn't sound good either, it didn't run well. Could feel a weird smell, kinda like sulfur.
Sometimes the petrol smell comes quite strong, sometimes the heat and sulfur smell is much stronger.
The engine sounded like it's not running on all cylinders.

What I've done

I ran VCDS Lite (the free unregistered version) with 409-1 KKL cable and I got an error code:

00537 - Lambda (Oxygen Sensor) Regulation: Upper Limit

I had the Lambda/oxygen sensor replaced, now I think that might have been unneccesary. I removed the error code. Then I went for a test drive but the problems were still there, after a few days it even seemed worse. The error code came back after the first test drive.

Upper Limit I was told means it get's too much air and that I should check for vacuum leaks.

I have changed the air filter and cleaned and checked the air filter box for cracks.

I have changed the PCV, crankcase ventilation. I was told it could also cause air and/or oil leaks. When I took away the engine covers I could see it looked wet and dirty around where it's located.
So, I suspected it might be part of both the problems.

I have changed the hose which goes to the brake servo. It had cracked at the ends.

Because of the weird smell I started to suspect the catalytic converter. I got some help and he could remove the connecting pipe from the rear end of the catalytic converter and look inside through the hole. There was nothing broken there and he didn't think anything was wrong with it.
We couldn't remove the front since the pipe from the engine is welded to the cat. And since he thought it was ok and he didn't really have the time I let it be. I asked if maybe it's clogged but he didn't think so.
I took a photo of it, but was difficult to get a good pic.

Catalytic converter
catalytic-converter-rear.jpg



I borrowed a cheap IR thermometer to check the temp of the cat. Drove it a while to get it up in temp and then checked the temp in the front of the cat and in the back. It was cooler in the front and hotter in the back. And from what I've understood is the way it should be.
But maybe I should have had it at higher RPM while testing the temp and not just at idle?

After I had changed PCV and the vacuum hose, I ran VCDS-Lite with my 409-1 KKL cable and now it gave same oxygen sensor code but lower limit.

00537 - Lambda (Oxygen Sensor) Regulation 19-00 - Lower Limit

Before I changed the vacuum hose and the PCV it was upper limit.

I removed the Lambda sensor to see if it would run any better. I took it for a short drive and it felt slightly better, it still hesitated and jumped, but not as much as it did before I removed the Lambda. Maybe my imagination but still.
I then was told about the N80 valve, that it might cause problems and I could try to remove the pipe it's connected to and block it and see if the car runs better.
After some research I found my valve is sitting right on top of the charcoal canister. I'm not sure if I'm correct though.
The canister and valve on oemepc.com


I removed the pipe that was connected to the valve on the charcoal cannister. Then blocked it off (with tape). I had it running for a while and went for a five minute test drive. Can't say I noticed any difference.
So I guess the N80 is not the problem (if it was the correct one I found..?)
Then I checked the spark plug wires with a multimeter and the wire to cylinder 1 wasn't showing a steady resistance, it was jumping all over the place. The others seemed ok.
It's weird though since I had both plugs and wires replaced last year. It was some cheap plugs (A-line by Brisk) but the wires were Bosch so they should at least be of good quality. They only replaced 3 of the wires because the ones they removed fell apart while they were doing it. One wire (on cylinder 3) didn't break, so they kept it, an NGK wire.
I put in Magneti Marelli wires and NGK BKUR6ET spark plugs.
The old spark plugs nr. 1, 2 and 4 looked terrible, they were really dirty and a bit wet on the threads. The 3^rd one looked better.



Spark plugs
Spark-plugs-cyl-1.jpg
Spark-plugs-cyl-2.jpg
Spark-plugs-cyl-3.jpg
Spark-plugs-cyl-4.jpg


After I had changed those the car didn't sound like it's on only 3 cylinders. But it still doesn't run completely well. Though it's been such long time since I heard it running properly so I might have forgotten what it sounded like.
It still hesitated and jerked and jumped when losing power, like I've described above. And still that weird noise at times when the car was struggling and jumping.
Next thing I did was to test the MAF sensor with a multimeter. It seemed to work ok.
I found one wire which gave 5V and I guess that is correct. I've seen some that are supposed to be around 12V though.
Two wires which seemed to be ground, did resistance test. And one wire that were around 0.8-1 when idling (measuring with multimeter set on 20K V) and when pushing the throttle wire to rev it up bit it went to around 1.7. It seemed steady and didn't fluctuate.
So, from what I've read it seems ok.


But I thought I might try to clean the MAF anyway and also the throttle body. I used CRC Air Sensor Clean Pro for the MAF and for the throttle body I used CRC Carb & EGR cleaner Pro, which CRC recommened to use since their Throttle body cleaner isn't available here.


After that the RPM went quite high but eventually went down, though not where it used to be (around 750-800). It was around 1000-1200 and sometimes going higher. It also kept going up and down sometimes. I had it on idle for some time and later took it for a ride.


I tried to do a throttle body adaptation, a friend of a friend had the registered version of VCDS Lite and we tried to do the TBA, though we didn't get the result shown on Ross-Tech website or on Youtube.
Shouldn't it say ADP ok if the alignment was succesful?



Result of TBA
VCDS-Lite-Throttle-Body-Adaptation.jpg




We also did an auto scan and got this result.


Chassis Type: 1M - Seat Leon/Toledo
Scan: 01,02,03,08,15,17,19,22,35,36,37,46,56

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 01: Engine Labels: 06A-906-019-AEH.LBL
Controller: 06A 906 019 BR
Component: 1.6l 2V/R4 SIMOS HS3319
Coding: 00031
Shop #: WSC 06441
VCID: 749B5FD357A3
2 Faults Found:
00537 - Lambda (Oxygen Sensor) Regulation
19-00 - Lower Limit
00533 - Idle Speed Regulation
19-00 - Lower Limit
Readiness: N/A


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 1J0-907-37x-ABS.LBL
Controller: 1J0 907 379 P
Component: ABS 20 IE CAN 0001
Coding: 03504
Shop #: WSC 00000
VCID: 3E0FBDFB296F
No fault code found.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 15: Airbags Labels: 6Q0-909-605-VW5.LBL
Controller: 6Q0 909 605 A
Component: 1G AIRBAG VW5 0004
Coding: 12615
Shop #: WSC 06441
VCID: 351DA2D71C59
No fault code found.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 17: Instruments Labels: 1M0-920-xx2-17.LBL
Controller: 1M0 920 801 A
Component: S5-KOMBIINSTR. VDO V03
Coding: 04106
Shop #: WSC 40310
VCID: 23396C8FA2CD
IMMO-IDENTNR: SEZ7Z0Y0653900
1 Fault Found:
01316 - ABS Control Module
49-10 - No Communications - Intermittent


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 19: CAN Gateway Labels: 6N0-909-901-19.LBL
Controller: 6N0 909 901
Component: Gateway K<->CAN 0001
Coding: 00006
Shop #: WSC 06441
VCID: F093D3C3A3BB
1 Fault Found:
01316 - ABS Control Module
49-10 - No Communications - Intermittent


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 46: Central Conv. Labels: 1J0-959-799.LBL
Controller: 1J0 959 799 S
Component: 41 Zentral-SG Komf. 0001
Coding: 00257
Shop #: WSC 06441
VCID: 4EEFED3B99CF
1 Fault Found:
00912 - Window Regulator Switch; Front Left (E40)
27-10 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent


End --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





So, that's where I am now.




Questions


N80
Is it the correct one I showed above? Should I try the N80 test again since I did that when the engine was probably running on three cylinders.


O2/Lambda sensor
As far as I have understood there is only one O2 sensor on this car, is that correct? Should I try removing the Lambda/O2 sensor again, and see if there's any difference (which might indicate the catalytic converter) since I did that when the engine was probably running on three cylinders.


Spark plugs
What could cause them to look like that? And after such a short time?
And how can a quite new spark plug wire fail?
Now when looking at the photos of those spark plugs I realize that it was only the spark plug (the 3^rd) connected with a NGK wire that looked decent. The others connected with Bosch looked like crap. Would it make a difference? Would the resistance affect any? The two Bosch ones that worked were around 6 kOhm and NGK was around 2. Got the figures written down somewhere.
The new ones I put in are around 8 except for the longest one which are close to 10.


Catalytic converter
Could it be some problem with the catalytic converter? Can it be clogged up and causing these problems?
Though I haven't smelled the sulfur (after I changed spark plugs and wires) the last times I've test driven the car for a kilometer or two.


The throttle body adaptation
Why didn't it work or was the result correct that way? Shouldn't it say ADP ok if the adaptation was succesful?
I've read in some posts here (by Crasher I think) that if the TBA doesn't work that you should:
Try deleting the learnt values in Adaptation 10, group 00, read, save and click “yes”. And do it three times.
Then go into basic settings and do group 098 and allow it to run for 30 seconds, then exit and turn off the ignition for 30 seconds, then try it again.
Should I try to do that?


Fault codes
00537 - Lambda (Oxygen Sensor) Regulation 19-00 - Lower Limit
Does that mean it is getting to much fuel?


00533 - Idle Speed Regulation 19-00 - Lower Limit and the three on address 17, 19 and 46, was new to me and I have no idea what they are about.


Consuming oil
More than a litre per 1000 km sounds much to me, could it be connected to the other problems?
I guess some might have come out the faulty PCV..?
I've also read that if the oil filter has a crack it might not leak while the car is parked only when it's being driven. Don't know if that is correct though, but maybe I should check it.
Other than that I have no idea.


The sound
What can that weird hit/pop sound be and why does it come when the car struggles?




What other things could it be, what more can I look for?



Thank you for reading this long post and I would really appreciate any help to find a solution to this.

I really like this car and would like to get it back running properly.


Thanks in advance!





Ps. Is there any handheld tool for a decent price (around £50-60 or less) that would do same things as a registered VCDS Lite?

My 15 year old laptop which I've been using for this is giving up and I'd be looking at £99 for VCDS + £40-50 for a used laptop. That is too much to spend for me.

[RobotE]

Forum related question: Why is there links on some of the words in my post..?

[VAG-Abound]

Links are added by thr platform ad service, which is an important source of revenue to keep things running.

[VAG-Abound]

That is a very long post!

You may want to start a more focussed thread on what I think is the main issue of rough running. My first guess is fuel supply, firing order / completeness, or compression, bu others will probably guide you better if you pick a single focus like that.

[Crasher]

You would only be able to perform the correct throttle body reset procedure with a registered version of VCDS Lite.

[RobotE]

That is a very long post!

You may want to start a more focussed thread on what I think is the main issue of rough running. My first guess is fuel supply, firing order / completeness, or compression, bu others will probably guide you better if you pick a single focus like that.

Thanks, yeah you're probably right. It got a bit too long
I'll try to shorten it down.

[RobotE]

You would only be able to perform the correct throttle body reset procedure with a registered version of VCDS Lite.

Thanks for answering
A friend of a friend has it, it was with his laptop we tried to do it first. I don't know if the result we got was correct though. I posted a picture in my long post.
But anyway, he would probably let me use it again.

[RobotE]

An update, I've tried to check the fuel pressure regulator by removing the vacuum hose which is connected to it and having the car on idle to see if it leaked fuel. But it didn't leak, so it seems ok.

[Crasher]

I have only seen that once, early last year on a Corrado VR6 and it had me confused for a while, I think it was caused by 10 years off the road and then being fed modern E5 fuel.

[RobotE]

Ah, is it a rare thing for the fuel pressure regulator to break that way? Can it be broken without leakage also?
I'm not sure if it fits the symptoms of my car though. But I'm trying to test the things I can do myself, so I can exclude them from my fault search.