New to the forum having just bought a 2011 caddy maxi. It's a beautiful van and I'm looking forward to learning more about it.
One problem I am having is a slight diesel smell inside the car, coming through the air vents I think. When I parked the car up at home I noticed the rain puddles I'd driven over had some rainbow colouring so I'm fairly sure I have a little fuel leak. It must be small though because there's no obvious puddle/dripping under the van (on dry ground) after being parked up for a few hours. There seems to be some fuel pooled up around the injectors too.
Is there anything here I can easily check for myself? The vans booked in to the garage but not until next week.
Hi Matt, that’s a nice van you’ve got there! Is it ex BG? If so it’s had a lot done to it.
If you’re getting fuel pooling around the injectors, it’s more than likely your injector seals have gone and that will be the cause of the fumes.
Thanks. No, it's not ex BG. But I haven't seen many other private ones in this colour. I'll have to do some homework on that!
Thanks for the suggestion. Any idea how big/difficult a job the injector seals are? Does it involve replacing the injectors too or can they be reused with new seals?
I’ve never removed an injector so I’m not sure. If you’re fairly confident (a bit more than me ) you should be able to do it yourself. You will be able to re fit the injectors yeah. You will have to replace the stretch bolt that holds the clamp down though (this is critical, each clamp holds 2 injectors) Another thing I believe is very important is the torque of the new bolt when you replace it. Though I’m not sure what this should be.
Well after soaking up as much of the fuel as possible last night, its pooled up again now, 24hours later.
All 4 injectors seem to be wet so it seems more likely that one of the pipes is leaking than all 4 injector seals? Im assuming the metal pipes running above the injectors are fuel lines?
When stationary you can sometimes see a bit of smoke(?) coming from under the bonnet. Maybe leaking fuel dripping on the the exhaust or hot engine casing?
Yeah I agree it’s quite unlikely that all seals have gone at once I reckon. Also, I think you’d only have fuel pooling when the engine was running if it were the seals.
The smoke may be fuel dripping as you say, as for the fuel lines, you can see them going into the injectors, you can follow them back.
I’ve just been out to my van to have a better look at the fuel rail and I’ve just noticed 2 or my injectors are wet also
If you clean off the injectors with some carb cleaner then run the engine, you should be able to identify the leak source.
Usually it's the rubber/plastic spill pipe which can often snap or just have a bad seal into the injectors. There are two different colours of seal so you need to take one out to know which you have. If it's a cracked pipe elbow or tee piece, the whole spill assembly is all you can buy from VW and from memory it is £80.
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the swan fiend wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 8:19 pm
Yeah I agree it’s quite unlikely that all seals have gone at once I reckon. Also, I think you’d only have fuel pooling when the engine was running if it were the seals.
The smoke may be fuel dripping as you say, as for the fuel lines, you can see them going into the injectors, you can follow them back.
I’ve just been out to my van to have a better look at the fuel rail and I’ve just noticed 2 or my injectors are wet also
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You shouldnt have looked. I try not to look under the bonnet until theres a problem. Otherwise you're asking for trouble
Doc wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 8:29 pm
If you clean off the injectors with some carb cleaner then run the engine, you should be able to identify the leak source.
Usually it's the rubber/plastic spill pipe which can often snap or just have a bad seal into the injectors. There are two different colours of seal so you need to take one out to know which you have. If it's a cracked pipe elbow or tee piece, the whole spill assembly is all you can buy from VW and from memory it is £80.
Thanks for the great advice. My trouble last time was getting in close enough around the injectors to soak up all the fuel, because of the various pipes and wires in the way. Will give it another shot though. I might lay some sort of tray or cardboard under the pipe to help identify drips more easily.
Id probably go for fuel spill pipes first tbh 99% sure it will be those at the plastic nipples split in top of injectors had to do all myn for very same reason was getting high on diesel and made me very ill hot boxing on diesel ismt the best in the world
Ive also got some smoke coming from the exhaust and slightly lumpy idling when cold. It all clears up after driving 2 minutes up the road. Is this likely to be linked to my fuel leak?
Vans in the shop this morning and the mechanic has identified a previously repaired spill pipe which I didn't notice. He's replacing that for me this week.
However, the bigger issue is the smoke when cold starting and the lumpy idle whilst cold. I was hoping it was just a glow plug issue but he's spotted a second hand injector and suspects that this is the culprit.
Does it sound plausible that a faulty injector would cause rough idling and white smoke when cold but then clear up when warm? It's a good garage that I've used for a few years so I know they won't do work that isn't necessary but I hope they've diagnosed the fault correctly.
Looks like all this work plus my timing belt is going to be setting be back at least £1k.
) you should be able to do it yourself. You will be able to re fit the injectors yeah. You will have to replace the stretch bolt that holds the clamp down though (this is critical, each clamp holds 2 injectors) Another thing I believe is very important is the torque of the new bolt when you replace it. Though I’m not sure what this should be. 
