white smoke

[cammack]

hi all.....

some advice needed.

have an 04 oc vrs with 64k on the clock. had it mapped in dec and something went wrong today.

under low load driving its fine, but when under heavy load, ie 4th, 5th gear at say 3k it puffs out white smoke after lift off revs....

is this turbo gone pop?

boost leak from pancake? (was advisory after remap)

water?

oil leak on exhaust?

cheers in advance

[bpm]

I'd be guessing that the head gasket is starting to go

[chicken_eyebrow]

If the turbo goes it's generally a massive grey smoke screen behind you

Have you done the usual checks for HG failure - is it losing coolant, is there oil in the coolant or mayo under the oil filler cap etc

[cammack]

as said it doesnt smoke constantly, just seems to be under heavy load, ie 4th or 5th doing about 3k ish......... but smokes lots when cold til it warms up, seems strange!

its only done it today, so havent noticed any coolant loss and did check for mayo. guess i had better do the proper HG test but i dunno. could it be something simple ie water or oil dripping on something?

what are the general codes for colour of smoke again?

black = oil

white = water

blue= ??

[pauldazzle]

Blue = oil burning

Black = blown turbo or running rich

Grey = blown turbo or running lean

white = blown HG

Edited 7 February, 2012 by pauldazzle

[karlbar2k]

ripped from http://www.trustmymechanic.com/troubleshoot_smoke.htm

White smoke: White smoke is caused by water and or antifreeze entering the cylinder, and the engine trying to burn it with the fuel. The white smoke is steam. There are special gaskets (head gaskets are the primary gaskets) that keep the antifreeze from entering the cylinder area. The cylinder is where the fuel and air mixture are being compressed and burned. Any amount of antifreeze that enters this area will produce a white steam that will be present at the tailpipe area.

If white smoke is present, check to see if the proper amount of antifreeze is inside the radiator and the overflow bottle. Also check to see if antifreeze has contaminated the engine oil. You can look at the engine oil dipstick, or look at the under side of the engine oil filler cap. If the oil is contaminated with antifreeze, it will have the appearance of a chocolate milkshake. Do not start the engine if the oil is contaminated with antifreeze, as serious internal engine damage can result.

How did antifreeze get in the oil or cylinder in the first place? The engine probably overheated and a head gasket failed due to excessive heat, thus allowing antifreeze to enter the cylinder (Where it is not meant to be).

Blue Smoke: Blue smoke is caused by engine oil entering the cylinder area and being burned along with the fuel air mixture. As with the white smoke, just a small drop of oil leaking into the cylinder can produce blue smoke out the tailpipe. Blue smoke is more likely in older or higher mileage vehicles than newer cars with fewer miles.

How did the engine oil get inside the cylinder in the first place? The car has many seals, gaskets, and O-rings that are designed to keep the engine oil from entering the cylinder, and one of them has failed. If too much oil leaks into the cylinder and fouls the spark plug, it will cause a misfire (engine miss) in that cylinder, and the spark plug will have to be replaced or cleaned of the oil. Using thicker weight engine oil or an oil additive designed to reduce oil leaks might help reduce the amount of oil leaking into the cylinder.

Black Smoke: Black smoke is caused by excess fuel that has entered the cylinder area and cannot be burned completely. Another term for excess fuel is "running rich." Poor fuel mileage is also a common complaint when black smoke comes out of the tailpipe. Black smoke out the tailpipe is the least cause for alarm. Excess fuel will usually effect engine performance, reduce fuel economy, and produce a fuel odor.

How did the fuel get into the cylinder in the first place? Some of the causes of excess fuel are a carburetor that is out of adjustment, a faulty fuel pump, a leaky fuel injector, or a faulty engine computer or computer sensor. If black smoke is present, check the engine oil as in the white smoke example to make sure excess fuel has not contaminated it. Do not start the engine if a heavy, raw fuel smell can be detected in the engine oil. Call your mechanic and advise him of what you have found.

[karlbar2k]

Mayo in the oil cap is not always a sign that HG has gone either as the oil cooler is water cooled and they breakdown internally.

HOWEVER Always expect the worst and you will never be disappointed

[chicken_eyebrow]

At this time of year you will get a lot of white smoke within a few minutes of starting where water has condensed (or frozen) in the exhaust system and is being burnt off. If the car is still doing it when its fully warm after 20 minutes or so then I'd be inclined to get a combustion gas check done on the coolant to see if its early signs of a HG failure. If you can catch it early its fixable but leave it too long and you could warp the head.

[dewaryboy]

I would be very surprised for it to be a head gasket,only heard of a couple of head gaskets go on 1.8t and they were running bigger turbos and loads of boost,it will be just steam with it being colder outside.

[mannyo]

My A8 emits loads of white smoke as the engine warms up (Joys of V8 ownership), and once warm emits none usually. However at the moment the very cold weather is causing it to puff out white smoke for longer, and mine is not the only car doing this. Sitting at traffic lights its surprising to see cars puffing away like chimneys. My A8 has just short of 175,000 miles on the clock with the original HG's in place.

[DBP]

My A8 emits loads of white smoke as the engine warms up (Joys of V8 ownership), and once warm emits none usually. However at the moment the very cold weather is causing it to puff out white smoke for longer, and mine is not the only car doing this. Sitting at traffic lights its surprising to see cars puffing away like chimneys. My A8 has just short of 175,000 miles on the clock with the original HG's in place.

I was going to say...

My car puffs white smoke when its cold, shot a load out earlier when my accelerator got caught but soon as it warmed up it went. Thought that was just usual?

[PaulMoVRS]

Same with my car (52 vrs) it sits all week and gets used a wee bit at weekends. It puts out a lot of white smoke untill its about to temp after about 10minutes of running. Just put it down to it sitting all week and this colder weather we are having just now. Dosnt use any coolant and there is no mayo etc

[Raf_]

About 1.8t engines not blowing the head gasket, should of seen the amount of mayo on a passat I went to see lol. Quickest time ever to look at a car, less than 5mins think it took me longer to walk up the path to knock on the door lol

[cammack]

It's really not just condensation when cold. This was after it had warmed up! so not sure, has used no coolant an no funny colours in header tank, so still none the wiser. I drove it to work 13 miles there and back today, quite steadily as I don't wanna blow anything up and nothing today so seems a random thing maybe?? Sure turbo isn't on the way out? What's symptoms of that?

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.750273,-0.966659

[chicken_eyebrow]

If the oil seals are going on the turbo it will be using oil, if they get really bad you will get a massive load of grey smoke behind you.

Turbo can also start to sound like its wailing if the vanes are damaged or there is loads of play in the spindle but that won't necessarily cause any smoking.

All you can do really is just keep an eye on oil and water levels. You could get a garage to do a compression test or combustion gas check to see if there is an issue with the headgasket, I don't imagine it will be more than half an hours labour.