Hi all, new here and in need of some serious help!

I got a 1.6 tdi Monte carlo, love it! 

Last few days I've noticed it starting to throw out white/blue smoke from the exhaust. There's no pattern to when it happens, did an hour drive with no issues last week then driving to work this morning there was a huge cloud of smoke, if you'd seen it you'd think there was a fire. 

I've taken it to a garage, who forced a dpf regen, even after this it was still happening. They said give it a good drive on the motorway in 4th which should sort it. Done that but no change.

I've had a second mechanic look at it, all the fluid levels are ok, no leaks as far as they can see, the car isn't giving any issues when they hooked it up for diagnosis. It was driven soft and hard up b roads and dual carriageways with no issues. But I'm still having the same problem.

When it happens there's no change in performance or sound of the car just the smoke. I know white and blue smoke are different but I could only see blue today.

The next step is to film it well the mechanic asked me to do that.

There is a smell, not sure if it's oil or coolant, best way I can describe the smell is, if you open the bonnet after a drive and you just get that engine smell...helpful I know...

Luckily this mechanic hasn't charged for the work as he did nothing (what a hero). The car is probably due a service which will be done next month.

At the moment I'm just scratching my head about what could be causing it!! 

I've seen it could be oil in the turbo, head gasket, cracked engine block, coolant getting in the system or even compression....really shouldn't web MD my car...

Anyone have any ideas about this mystery??

How’s the brakes? My ex had a Honda jazz and that had a dodgy brake pipe that was leaking onto the exhaust and it smoked so much you’d thought it was on fire. 

Brakes are pretty good, I did have to have a valve or something changed in the rear driver side wheel, it was leaking brake fluid but can't remember the exact part that was replaced 

1 hour ago, Gareth616 said:

Brakes are pretty good, I did have to have a valve or something changed in the rear driver side wheel, it was leaking brake fluid but can't remember the exact part that was replaced 

Might be that? Worth having a look

Definitely will do, thanks a lot pal appreciate it!

I would take the airbox and the pipe that goes into the turbo (2 x torx i believe) and look/touch pipes, surfaces and check if there's much oil residue. There should be a little as it's normal but if you got lots then there might be an issue somewhere.

That's one thing I don't think that's been checked, I was thinking it could be oil getting in the turbo or leaking near by. Sounds like a fairly easy job so will give that a go too! Thanks a lot!! 

also, the mechanics might have checked this already, look at the oil cap and see if there any white gue around it. A simple test for the head gasket. 

50 minutes ago, Bertie90 said:

also, the mechanics might have checked this already, look at the oil cap and see if there any white gue around it. A simple test for the head gasket. 

When I spoke to a mechanic on the phone they asked me to check that but all looks good! Thanks for the advice pal!

you didn't by chance put a small quantity of petrol in by mistake?

4 minutes ago, 2ndskoda said:

you didn't by chance put a small quantity of petrol in by mistake?

I wish I did at this point at least I would know what's causing the chaos haha!! 

...As per Mr Crow's post, did the puff of smoke happen after a bit of a drive, when you came to a halt at say, a set of lights, etc? You get your own personal smelly cloud?  Had this and seen this in the past when a turbo is failing. Oil gets in and burns as the heat is so high so its like evaporating the residual oil. Stinks like heck and a tad embarrassing!

12 minutes ago, mrgf said:

...As per Mr Crow's post, did the puff of smoke happen after a bit of a drive, when you came to a halt at say, a set of lights, etc? You get your own personal smelly cloud?  Had this and seen this in the past when a turbo is failing. Oil gets in and burns as the heat is so high so its like evaporating the residual oil. Stinks like heck and a tad embarrassing!

It happens 10-15 minutes usually after starting the car, get a little but come out now and again when halted too. I got a sneaking suspicion it's oil in the turbo since there are no leaks and fluid levels are all good. It does have a proper stink embarrassing is right can't imagine what other people think when they see it :| thanks for the advice pal

Oil will be in the turbo, so to speak but if the turbo seals leak and it blows, that is the issue. Sounds slightly like that but they can do that for ages, prior to having to change them. Not a great way to drive, though. Hope its something simpler and cheaper!

now I remember something, a few times my car had to do a regen when stuck in traffic, and I did see lots of white smoke every time I was inching forward. But only then.

 

I'm thinking, if fluids are ok and no head gaskets are blown, then it must be something with the DPF. The particles are accumulating in the DPF and forces them out with the pressure.

 

Have you got a Bluetooth ELM/OBD scanner? It's maybe worth checking how much life have you got left in the DPF using VAGDPF app. 

So a small update, took it in to the garage today. They did all the same checks as the last 2 garages and couldn't find anything but they managed to get it smoke when they took it for a drive. The mechanic has taken a guess at the injectors but said they'd need the car for a few days to check it all over. I'm not going to say he's wrong but would the issue be as temperamental if it is the injectors? 

Injectors are known on these engines to fail, £300 each plus vat plus coding. 

On 28/02/2019 at 19:38, AMD87 said:

Injectors are known on these engines to fail, £300 each plus vat plus coding. 

£800 it cost me at a skoda stealership for just 1 injector.

2 minutes ago, Bertie90 said:

£800 it cost me at a skoda stealership for just 1 injector.

fs darksides +50 race injectors are cheaper!