White Smoke from Exhaust

[maverick54]

I'm getting quite a bit of white smoke from the exhaust even when the car is at normal operating temperature. When I put it int reverse to back into my drive I always notice it and its present on tickover.

 

I am losing a bit of coolant and need to add maybe half a litre every 6 weeks. I did a block test to check for head gasket problems but the liquid stays blue showing no gasses in the coolant.

 

There is never any sign of an external leak elsewhere on the engine so all signs suggest the coolant is exiting out the exhaust. There is also a burbling sound like there is water in the exhaust.

 

Can anyone think off anything other than a head gasket failing that could cause this? The car is also using a bit of oil but there is no sign of that being burnt through the exhaust and no external leaks. The 2 problems could be unrelated. The car is a 1.4 TSi and has done almost 59.000 miles.

[fatzy]

The intercooler is water cooled.

Internal water leakage there will give water through the intake of the engine and you will have water in the combustion and white exhaust.

[Ju1ian1001]

10 hours ago, fatzy said:

The intercooler is water cooled.

Internal water leakage there will give water through the intake of the engine and you will have water in the combustion and white exhaust.

No intercooler is water cooled, that would defeat the object of what they do. Intercooler's cool the air charge going into the cylinder after its been through the turbo charger this giving more power, thats why you always want to front mount them and also enlarge them for more surface area. Turbo intercooler are always sealed of from the water circuit, they however as the picture shows have an intake pipe and output pipe. The 2 metal pipes are also fitted to the boost controller on top of the turbo.

Edited 13 May, 2017 by Ju1ian1001

[fatzy]

8 minutes ago, Ju1ian1001 said:

No intercooler is water cooled, that would defeat the object of what they do. Intercooler's cool the air charge going into the cylinder after its been through the turbo charger this giving more power, thats why you always want to front mount them and also enlarge them for more surface area. Turbo intercooler are always sealed of from the water circuit, they however as the picture shows have an intake pipe and output pipe.

Have you checked?

This one is. It is positioned on the aft side of the engine. The pipes you see going to/from the radiator is the separate coolant circuit for the intercooler. So it is the coolant which is cooled in the radiator, not the intake air.

[Ju1ian1001]

4 minutes ago, fatzy said:

Have you checked?

This one is. It is positioned on the aft side of the engine. The pipes you see going to/from the radiator is the separate coolant circuit for the intercooler. So it is the coolant which is cooled in the radiator, not the intake air.

This picture kind of points to the way i understand intercoolers, plus if you look at the front slam panel on octy (manual gearbox) this is three "rads" the front being the condenser for the aircon system, the seond is the intercooler (take the cooler air coming of the condenser) them the main water radiator for engine cooling.

 

The picture is showing me the air travel through a secondry intercooler built into the inlet manifold, the hot air is coming through the throttle butterfly, through the cooler and into the intake ports.

 

Indeed only this week i had to change all three of the "rads" on an octy 2 1.4 tsi as the driver hit a goose and punctured the condenser, and bent the intercooler and main rad, can assure you there was no fluid at or in the intercooler or pipes, i have known said car since new, never any cooling issues with it.

[fatzy]

46 minutes ago, Ju1ian1001 said:

This picture kind of points to the way i understand intercoolers, plus if you look at the front slam panel on octy (manual gearbox) this is three "rads" the front being the condenser for the aircon system, the seond is the intercooler (take the cooler air coming of the condenser) them the main water radiator for engine cooling.

 

The picture is showing me the air travel through a secondry intercooler built into the inlet manifold, the hot air is coming through the throttle butterfly, through the cooler and into the intake ports.

 

Indeed only this week i had to change all three of the "rads" on an octy 2 1.4 tsi as the driver hit a goose and punctured the condenser, and bent the intercooler and main rad, can assure you there was no fluid at or in the intercooler or pipes, i have known said car since new, never any cooling issues with it.

Well, my reference is VW Service Training program and it is quite clear that the intercooler of the 1.4 TSI 90 kW is cooled by the engine coolant (unfortunately this is in German). I cannot understand that Skoda will alter the engineering. And it will explain the OP's problem, as the head gasket has been proven to be ok.

Edited 13 May, 2017 by fatzy

[maverick54]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to try a coolant uv leak dye as a first option. The leak is very slow and there are no visible signs of water under the car or in the engine compartment etc. Maybe the dye will reveal something though.

 

If the coolant is exiting through the exhaust and is a cause of the white smoke, will the dye show at the tail pipe or will it lose its  fluorescent properties as it passes through the engine and exhaust system?

Edited 14 May, 2017 by maverick54

[Ootohere]

If it is not a simple loose hose / cip then possibly a leak at the water pump.

If coolant is blowing through the exhaust system you really have a bigger issue.

Dont mess about too much trying to find it yourself since you are also using some oil according to your other posts.

& dont try the Italian Tune Up for the Oil Use, get the coolant loss sorted ASAP.

(Do you just fill the coolant to between MIN & MAX and not to MAX each time.  Then between MIN & MAX how many miles until the coolant is a MIN or below?)

[okku12]

Did you sort out this problem or what was the cause for problem? 

[Zash]

Same problem with Octavia 1.2 TSI 20111,

 

1- So If Intercooler or air cooler is leaking than cooling water level should drop ?

2- If we stop feeding water in aircooler , how this can effect engine. Engine scavenging will reduce but we wont get smoke . any one tried to run Skoda with out water cooler?

3- Is this cna be due to any other sensor fault , like dirty oxygen sensor after Turbo and before butterfly valve?

 

[Zash]

Car driven over 10 km , Engine Cooling water Temperature at 90 Deg C. 

[okku12]

Just 100% confirmed head gasket blown. Motor 1.4tsi code caxc a3 8p. Driven 216 thousand kilometres. Apparently no internal leaks -> fluids not mixed