Hi all,

My 4 year old VRS has started blowing huge amounts of white smoke/vapour out the back recently.

It happens with engine fully warmed, and liquid  sprays out the exhaust to the extent that it sets off the auto wipers of trailing vehicles, and covers my boot in liquid (clear liquid).

I also noted a loss of almost a complete coolant tank very rapidly. Though has now not dropped since the initial loss.

There is no overheating at all

No obvious leaks

Engine oil looks normal, no milky residue etc

Driving maybe slightly sluggish, or could be my imagination..

Only happens on strong acceleration 3500-4000 rpm

MUCH more than normal exhaust smoke from acceleration (and as I said, liquid spraying out the back).

I took it to a local trusted garage who advised they pressure tested and felt no evidence of head gasket problems, but due in at Skoda dealership next week.

Anyone any history of this, or thoughts?

My worst fear is Skoda say it's fine, when it really seems it isn't!

Thanks all

Chris x

 

If I was losing that amount of coolant I would not drive the car for fear of causing further, severe, damage. I note your comments on the other post about paying for diagnostics. Unless this is not the whole story, then it is clear that you DO have a problem.

Edited 13 January, 20197 yr by gregoir

31 minutes ago, gregoir said:

If I was losing that amount of coolant I would not drive the car for fear of causing further, severe, damage. I note your comments on the other post about paying for diagnostics. Unless this is not the whole story, then it is clear that you DO have a problem.

Yep, there is definitely a problem. Odd that the non Skoda garage found nothing, though to be fair I'm not sure how hard they looked as they knew it was under Skoda Warranty.

Will see what happens when it goes in!

So you're losing a bottle of coolant a day and white smoke and liquid are coming out of the exhaust? What do the smoke and liquid smell like?

 

Barring any evidence to the contrary, I think the problem is pretty clear and you ought not to be driving the car except to its garage appointment.

Yeh not good possible head gasket issue or maybe a leaking EGR cooler

Did the entire coolant system drain, or just the header tank?

 

If it's the header tank can you be sure it went from the maximum line to minimum line quicky, or could it have been a gradual loss?

 

Is your vRS petrol or diesel? There have been several threads on excessive condensation out of the exhaust on the petrol vRS, especially the estate with it's vertical rear screen, so the condensation licks up the back of the car.

 

You say it did it once, and hasn't done it since? How long / many miles are we talking?

 

A batch of bad water pumps were fitted a while back, but the symptoms involved overheating rather than fast coolant loss.

I'd be straight back the garage with that.

 

If the car has lost a severe amount of coolant in such a short space of time, it's either the coolant side (radiator, piping or pump) or the engine side (gaskets, internal channels).

Excessive steam/vapour can be normal on occasion, at least for the petrol 2.0TSI, as moisture can accumulate in the exhaust. I've seen it a few times on mine. However, the cooling/coolant system is a sealed system, you should not be loosing coolant under any normal circumstances at all. Obviously the level in the header tank will vary between being cold (lower) and hot (higher), but you definitely should not be loosing any coolant from anywhere. For it to drop suddenly as you say it definitely sounds like a fault, and the head gasket isn't the only place coolant can leak and end up in the exhaust. You say they did a pressure test and ruled out the head gasket, which sounds like just a compression test to me, which will only test the pressure within the cylinders for leaks. It needs a proper pressure test on the cooling system itself and a test drive by the garage to witness the fault at the minimum.

1 hour ago, LightRain said:

So you're losing a bottle of coolant a day and white smoke and liquid are coming out of the exhaust? What do the smoke and liquid smell like?

 

Barring any evidence to the contrary, I think the problem is pretty clear and you ought not to be driving the car except to its garage appointment.

Hi,

I noticed one day over Xmas that I'd turned the ignition off, and walked round to the back of the car to open the boot. I noticed smoke coming from the exhaust for a few seconds, which smelt of burnt paper..then it stopped. At this point, I popped the bonnet and noticed the coolant had dropped to nearly empty. (Never stopped before, and I do check often).

After this I've not noticed anything similar. It only smoked under firm acceleration and fine the rest of the time. The liquid is odourless .

1 hour ago, silver1011 said:

Did the entire coolant system drain, or just the header tank?

 

If it's the header tank can you be sure it went from the maximum line to minimum line quicky, or could it have been a gradual loss?

 

Is your vRS petrol or diesel? There have been several threads on excessive condensation out of the exhaust on the petrol vRS, especially the estate with it's vertical rear screen, so the condensation licks up the back of the car.

 

You say it did it once, and hasn't done it since? How long / many miles are we talking?

 

A batch of bad water pumps were fitted a while back, but the symptoms involved overheating rather than fast coolant loss.

Hi,

Header tank had a few cm in it. I check it quite frequently, but suppose it could have been over a week or two.

It's a petrol VRS, and yes, I've read the condensation threads too, though thought this would only be on cold engines. The smoking happens when it's been used all day, which seems odd.

It's only lost coolant once over Xmas, but been smoking a few weeks before (wasn't sure if I was being OCD, until the coolant confirmed something right. Plus, I hadn't noticed the spray coming out of the exhaust). Probs 3-400 miles?

1 hour ago, FluffyEyeball said:

Excessive steam/vapour can be normal on occasion, at least for the petrol 2.0TSI, as moisture can accumulate in the exhaust. I've seen it a few times on mine. However, the cooling/coolant system is a sealed system, you should not be loosing coolant under any normal circumstances at all. Obviously the level in the header tank will vary between being cold (lower) and hot (higher), but you definitely should not be loosing any coolant from anywhere. For it to drop suddenly as you say it definitely sounds like a fault, and the head gasket isn't the only place coolant can leak and end up in the exhaust. You say they did a pressure test and ruled out the head gasket, which sounds like just a compression test to me, which will only test the pressure within the cylinders for leaks. It needs a proper pressure test on the cooling system itself and a test drive by the garage to witness the fault at the minimum.

Hi,

Thanks, I'll ask to take the technician out so we can both replicate.

The pressure test is interesting, I didn't know the different types (plus, the local garage who are ace, didn't charge anything for checking it AND topped up the coolant for free....I felt like a bankrobber.....so they probably weren't that thorough, as they knew it wasn't likely to be a job coming their way.

9 minutes ago, Bertieboy74 said:

Hi,

Header tank had a few cm in it. I check it quite frequently, but suppose it could have been over a week or two.

It's a petrol VRS, and yes, I've read the condensation threads too, though thought this would only be on cold engines. The smoking happens when it's been used all day, which seems odd.

It's only lost coolant once over Xmas, but been smoking a few weeks before (wasn't sure if I was being OCD, until the coolant confirmed something right. Plus, I hadn't noticed the spray coming out of the exhaust). Probs 3-400 miles?

 

The petrol vRS's had a known problem with one of the water pumps at roughly the same time yours was made, loads were repaired under warranty as one of the water pumps leaked. It was a common fault with that engine/pump. If yours has not been replaced under warranty since new then it could well be that. Of course, it could be something else too, but it's something to bare in mind for sure. Mine was replaced under warranty within 1-2 years (I can't remember) of it being new.

 

5 minutes ago, Bertieboy74 said:

Hi,

Thanks, I'll ask to take the technician out so we can both replicate.

The pressure test is interesting, I didn't know the different types (plus, the local garage who are ace, didn't charge anything for checking it AND topped up the coolant for free....I felt like a bankrobber.....so they probably weren't that thorough, as they knew it wasn't likely to be a job coming their way.

 

Yeah, there are different types. For a coolant loss, I would expect a pressure test on the cooling system; a pump is fitted to the coolant header tank and it's then pressurised. This pressurises the coolant system and thus if there's any leaks the coolant will escape from the source of the leak and hopefully be visible. It's possible to leak through the head gasket etc. and not be seen because it's within the cylinder(s), but then you would run more diagnostic tests.

 

A cylinder compression test tests the compression within the cylinders as the piston moves up with the intake and exhaust valves closed. A drop in pressure on any cylinder from the norm can indicate a number of things, including a broken head gasket. If this compression test was ok, and therefore they are able to say the head gasket is ok, it does not mean anything for the coolant system, except that the coolant probably isn't leaking into the cylinders.

 

A pressure test on the cooling system, whether or not it loses coolant, cannot in itself be a diagnostic for the head gasket. 

3 minutes ago, FluffyEyeball said:

 

The petrol vRS's had a known problem with one of the water pumps at roughly the same time yours was made, loads were repaired under warranty as one of the water pumps leaked. It was a common fault with that engine/pump. If yours has not been replaced under warranty since new then it could well be that. Of course, it could be something else too, but it's something to bare in mind for sure. Mine was replaced under warranty within 1-2 years (I can't remember) of it being new.

 

 

Yeah, there are different types. For a coolant loss, I would expect a pressure test on the cooling system; a pump is fitted to the coolant header tank and it's then pressurised. This pressurises the coolant system and thus if there's any leaks the coolant will escape from the source of the leak and hopefully be visible. It's possible to leak through the head gasket etc. and not be seen because it's within the cylinder(s), but then you would run more diagnostic tests.

 

A cylinder compression test tests the compression within the cylinders as the piston moves up with the intake and exhaust valves closed. A drop in pressure on any cylinder from the norm can indicate a number of things, including a broken head gasket. If this compression test was ok, and therefore they are able to say the head gasket is ok, it does not mean anything for the coolant system, except that the coolant probably isn't leaking into the cylinders.

 

A pressure test on the cooling system, whether or not it loses coolant, cannot in itself be a diagnostic for the head gasket. 

Wow, thanks so much. That's really helpful when I take it in. At least I'll know if they are properly investigating it.

Interesting about the water pump, though I would have thought it would overheat. Mind you, I'm ignorant!

1 hour ago, Bertieboy74 said:

Wow, thanks so much. That's really helpful when I take it in. At least I'll know if they are properly investigating it.

Interesting about the water pump, though I would have thought it would overheat. Mind you, I'm ignorant!

 

It depends how low the coolant gets. Mine never overheated, I just got a low coolant warning light on the dash, there was obviously still enough to cool the engine somewhat. I didn't drive it much after that until it was fixed though. 

HI Bertieboy74

 

I have a 2010 superb estate.  I have had the same issue with my car since 2019 - losing coolant via the exhaust, no overheating (engine temp ok), No obvious leaks, Engine oil looks normal, no milky residue etc, Driving slightly sluggish, 

Since it first happened it has had is had had 5 fixes, all by skoda garages, each fix cures the symptoms.

 

2019 - pressure tested - no leaks.  EGR cooler replaced

2020 (10 months later) - same issue.  - EGR cooler replaced under parts warranty

2021 (approx 4 months later) - same issue - cylinder head gasket replaced and head skimmed

2021 (only weeks later) - same issue -  EGR cooler replaced - no other issues detected

2021 (weeks later) - same issue - small impellor water pump found to be seized so replaced

01/06/22 - same issue (AGAIN).  However, this time noticed drivers front wing VERY HOT but cooled quickly when engine switched off

 

Any ideas?

1 hour ago, Sarah44 said:

Any ideas?

Other than that Bertieboy74 last visited the site on 08 July 2020, I'm afraid not. If you'll say where you live, I may be able to recommend a specialist though.

South West scotland

11 hours ago, Sarah44 said:

South West scotland

Best suggestions would be A for Audi in Clydebank or Bedrock VW in Motherwell.

Or @AnnoyingPentium lives near Ayr and may know somewhere down his way.

@Sarah44  Welcome.

Are you near Girvan?

https://www.thomsondiagnostics.co.uk

 

 

If you're near Ayr then Deutsche Tech at the back of the Aldi seem to be reasonable for a VW/AG tech.

 

Unit 18, North Harbour Industrial Estate, N Harbour St, Ayr KA8 8BN.

Thank you

21 minutes ago, roottoot said:

@Sarah44  Welcome.

Are you near Girvan?

https://www.thomsondiagnostics.co.uk

 

 

No, below Ayr

11 minutes ago, Sarah44 said:

No, below Ayr

 

Probably entering my neck of the woods then.

As this first happen with me during first lockdown, the nearest skoda garage open at that time was Ayr so we took it there and when it kept happening we decided to keep going there to avoid another garage repeating the same checks and suggesting the same fixes.  We thought that replacing the small impeller pump (Aug 21) had fixed the problem but 10 months later its happened again!!!! We are now asking our local garage to have a look at it next week  giving them a list of symptoms and what's been done do far. We just wondered if anyone out there had any ideas of why this keeps happening. Is so maddening as its a lovely car.

2 hours ago, Sarah44 said:

any ideas of why this keeps happening

Well, Skoda Main Stealers are rather inclined to just load the parts cannon rather than try to diagnose the actual fault. It keeping happening just means that they've not done the actual fix yet I'm afraid (hence the suggestion of an independent VAG specialist).

As an example, I phoned A for Audi to ask for a quote for a replacement cambelt for my Skoda and got the reply "That's £X, including a new water pump and retiming the fuel pump." A main stealer would not change the water pump unless explicitly asked but it's a good precautionary change when the belt's out anyway.

Edited 2 June, 20224 yr by KenONeill