Diesel smell in vehicle

I understand leaking fuel injector seals can also generate a diesel exhaust smell. Listen out for a "chuffing" sound when idling - ie air escaping from one or more fuel injector seals. At 220,000km, you might be in the zone for injector seals to fail - I had 3 fail between 230,000km and 245,000km - and have now replaced all 6 as a precaution.

Thanks.

alfissimo said:

Yes new EGR pipe, gaskets etc. Slew of parts on the list replaced under warranty thank god.

I did not have smoke, that sounds like an oil leak to me.

My solution was replacing the EGR pipe shown above.

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Thanks for the reply. No luck with warranty for me. It's been out of warranty for many years. Couldn't justify the costs of extending the warranty. I'll have them check it out. Don't think it's an oil leak either. Like your problem it's only happening intermittently, and of course never happens when the car is with the dealer. An oil leak would be visible as well as be there most of the time. I've taken a couple of videos when it did smoke, so hopefully that'll give them some idea of what's going on. I'm hoping it's the EGR and not a turbo. Thanks again.

Mine under new VW warranty for emissions scandal of the century!

Intermittently, hmm. Once the EGR pipe is cracked it's cracked. Heat or cold cycle won't open or close it. Intermittently and Smoke must be an oil leak.

Mine has a raw diesel smell but only since the Fix and only when cold. I cannot see or hear any leaks, really odd, any ideas?

Well my v10 has this exact issue as well now. Wondering if its the egr pipe or cracked manifold.
Mostly on cold starts, but i think it will deteriorate in time.
A mate with a t2 v6 had t really bad, was most of the time but he sold it

I had the diesel exhaust smell in cabin. It was only when the vents were on. It seemingly was worse when it was cold, however a feature of our Tregs is that when it's very cold, and depending on what your interior temp is set to, it will blast the vents full clip. Meaning, you will tend to notice it more because the vents are on fully not necessarily because it is cold outside.

That said, I just picked mine up from the dealer and they replaced the EGR pipe 059-131-521-F, some gaskets and bolts. This was all covered under the extended Dieselgate warranty

Hope this helps,
Stueveone

Interesting. I am having this issue too ('13, 98K). So far it's had a cracked down pipe flange, cracked & leaking manifold.

sawtooth said:

Ok thanks for the info. I just noticed tonight some exhaust smoke coming from area around left front headlight. The leak is apparently in that area.


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Check your exhaust manifold. My '13 had a gasket leak and manifold cracked right near the middle exhaust port.

So far, I have seen more EGR pipes crack which is usually the suspect part.

alfissimo said:

So far, I have seen more EGR pipes crack which is usually the suspect part.

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Just got my 2013 back from the shop and it was a “leaking high pressure fuel rail sensor”. Dumping diesel onto the engine. That seems to be a new culprit in this thread. The diesel smell in the cabin was getting so bad at red lights that it was almost nauseating.

Intersting. We had our 2009 touareg 3.0 tdi back at the dealer for a check engine light 24 hours after purchase at the end of October. They found a DTC P310E. Ultimately they replaced EGR cooler 2 and a number of gaskets and seal rings under extended emissions warranty. It is about a month later and I am noticing the diesel exhaust fume smell in the cabin, particularly when idling at traffic lights. It may have been there earlier, it`s the wifes car and i do not drive it much. It seems like it is possible the leak may have been introduced during the repair. Either way I think it needs to go back, the smell is pretty nauseating.

Same for me, manifold to EGR cooler accordeon pipe (800$+) was cracked and pissing gasses quite heavily.
Ìt is covered under extended TDI warranty, however some bright bulb tried to weld mine so i had to source a replacement on my own.
Dealer then replaced the EGR cooler only to forget tightening a couple of flange bolts.
Key thing here is to always re-check where dealer touched, they seem to think these TDI extended warranties are a godsend since they can bill VW thousands of dollars for ****ty labor

NTDI said:

Check your exhaust manifold. My '13 had a gasket leak and manifold cracked right near the middle exhaust port.

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Just wanted to update my post. Turns out I had an injector O-ring leaking into the bypass drain which was dumping oil + diesel + exhaust residue on top of the manifold (that’s where the drain hole is located on the cylinder head).

The real problem for me was the cracked flange on the down pipe where it bolts to the turbo. It left a telltale carbon residue on the aluminized heat shield blanket above the turbo.

My wife has been complaining about a very noticeable exhaust smell immediately after starting the Touareg when it is cold. Once moving nothing can be smelled. Then once warm nothing is detected at stoplights.

I used a flashlight and could see some light smoke coming up from somewhere behind the passenger side of the engine. What is back in that area? Any ideas on why only on a cold startup?

I have been having diesel smells for a few years now. Do you know if this is affecting later model Touaregs, in particular the MY16 V8 TDi.

77 K20 said:

My wife has been complaining about a very noticeable exhaust smell immediately after starting the Touareg when it is cold. Once moving nothing can be smelled. Then once warm nothing is detected at stoplights.

I used a flashlight and could see some light smoke coming up from somewhere behind the passenger side of the engine. What is back in that area? Any ideas on why only on a cold startup?

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depends how cold, if lower than 4c then could be webasto, else exhaust manifold, etc etc

nm2003 said:

I have been having diesel smells for a few years now. Do you know if this is affecting later model Touaregs, in particular the MY16 V8 TDi.

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You get that in your 7p?
Didn't there was any issue with 7p at all.
I have had no issue at all, but the issue is not uncommon on 7L models

I had the smell on my 7P and it turned out to be a bad injector line. Get it replaced under the Dieselgate Warranty.

My 2011 has the smell in the cabin issue. No issue if re-circulation air, as expected. I bought it about 2 years ago, and it has a warranty.
Took to the dealer, and I believe they said EGR pipe cracked. I'm going to ask them for more details. Covered under warranty.
I'll post back when I have more info.
Just hoping they do a good job and don't screw anything up. Anybody been through the fix know how much they have to take apart/put back together to fix it?

Just a heads up. I was also able to get the EGR cooler pipes replaced at no charge at the dealer. Woohoo.
Two pipe part #s 059-131-534-A & 521-K and some hoses, clips, bolts, gaskets, and nuts.