Tdi 90 103k white smoke

spike said:
Still can't get my head round the dense white smoke being from burning oil though
tdige - if you don't have a good independent garage close by would it be practical to get the car to Star Performance - http://www.starperformance.co.uk/
Cheers Spike
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As I said before Spike I was suprised also I thought it was the car behind overheating as it does look like steam - however thinking back I have seen cars on the hard shoulder filling the motorway with white smoke and passed through the smoke it smelled like oil burning but never thought much about it.
Star performance would have been my first call if it was nearer Spike unfortunatly its about 30 miles away in the "Kingdom" as the locals like to call it but I don’t think I would risk it.


chesteradrian said:
Hi Guys,
This is as much a question as it is an answer. If the head gasket goes and you are losing compression on a cylinder, wouldn't it create the white clouds of unburned diesel, as described?

It may be worth trying a bottle of Steel Seal to see if that will fix it - I know that it's £30 but might just work - any thoughts?

Regards,
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Hi chesteradrian Im sure I would have felt the loss in performance if it was the head gasket especially with only a 3 cyl to start with - I would rather take the head off if it was as Im not a fan of such sealants unless its an emergency fix

Thanks again Chaps

Tdige
 
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A quick update on the smoking A2

I took the inlet pipe completely off this morning, my neighbour that saw the car smoking the other day came over and had a look and he said he'd seen a lot worse, however he was also convinced the other day it was the turbo that had gone.
I have added a pic below is this normal?

I drove the car up to a VAG specialist and on the way it was running fine never missed a beat, after about 3 mins it started smoking again white smoke. I got to the garage and the smoke had stopped(to make a liar out of me). The mechanic started it up listened to it and revved it up a few times but it wasn't smoking. I booked it in for further investigation on Monday. On the way back home the white smoke started again. I pulled over and could here the fan running the temp gauge was just under 90C I put the heating on full to cool the engine to see if the fan would go off, it never but the temperature gauge dropped down to 70C which it has never done before. It has never dropped below 90 once its up to temperature regardless of outside temperature or anything it never budges.

Im have a VCDS but a real amature with them I carried out a scan but brought up no errors. I managed to get the G62 temp which was showing 73C and the dash gauge was showing 90C.

So I will try a new temp sender (G62) and fit it on Saturday

Thanks again guys it looks like you may have been right all along I really hope so. I will keep you posted fingers crossed- you can tell the wife then Spike :)

Tdige inlet pipe-001.jpg
 
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When my turbo was screeching I looked inside that same pipe. Mine had oil in it, but somewhat less than yours. I would say mine had a mist but it didn't drip out like yours is doing. My car did not smoke at all.

I could make my temp gauge drop if the car went down a long hill on a cold day using engine braking, it would drop to about 70 like you say. I had the thermostat checked and it was declared OK. I think the TDI puts out so little heat at low load you can pull that heat out easily. I never tried using the heater.

Again, not much help for you, just gives you a comparison data point with an identical car.

I would guess if the smoke is intermittent and the cooling fan is running the temp sensor could well be the problem. If it was the turbo it should smoke every time you put it on boost? Let's hope so.
 
Hi, when I first got my 90 this pipe was the first thing I checked after boffin up on here before buying. It was exactly like yours (I was alarmed!)but didn't smoke and performed lovely iv since driven every day for 18m (admittedly only 11k miles) in it with no problems, it feels as strong as an ox!
oh dear what have I done it will blow up on way home from wk now!!!!!
always been in the back of my mind though, re the amount of oil in there don't know if I'm wrong but its reassuring to see yours.
 
tdige said:
I drove the car up to a VAG specialist and on the way it was running fine never missed a beat, after about 3 mins it started smoking again white smoke. I got to the garage and the smoke had stopped(to make a liar out of me). The mechanic started it up listened to it and revved it up a few times but it wasn't smoking. View attachment 16847
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When the seals fail on a turbo, the oil can escape in two ways. It can enter the compressor side and enter the engine intake or it can enter the turbine side and into the exhaust. If it enters the exhaust, depending on the temperature, it probably won't burn initially but will give off profuse white smoke. It will only do this under running conditions; idling will not generate sufficient heat. Even after replacing the turbo, it will be quite a few miles before the exhaust is smoke-free!

Is it possible that the turbine is not turning periodically? This will cause the seals to fail since they only function when the shaft is turning. If the shaft is still intact, the cheapest option might be to overhaul the turbo.

RAB
 
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Hi Rab

The performance is not affected how would I tell if its not turning periodically the engine sounds the same and still does its wee distinctive whistle as it spools up same as it always has. Its got me beat to be honest the smoke is not a quarter as bad as it was and its less grey than before when it starts it had more of a blue tinge to it. What I cant under stand it that it only starts once the engines up to temperature and been sitting at idle for a while.
I changed the temp sender yesterday and took it for a steady 20mile drive on the dual carriageway just in case it was the cat choked in oil and she was running fine pulls ok no smoke until got back into Edinburgh again in traffic for a while she started smoking again. I topped the fuel up as I dont have DIS so I usually measure brim to brim and mpg is down to 34mpg.
I connected up vag com and the coolant temperature went up to 87C this time. Im not that sure what im looking for on it to be honest however I have added some of the measuring blocks below in case anyone has an ideas. One thing that is strange is the oil temp stays at zero even after a run it doesn't budge, the level is ok though. Is it possible the oil temperature sensor could cause her to overfuel/run to rich? Has anyone come across this before I though it would have thrown up an error code?

Any help welcome

Thanks

Tdigevag com.jpg
 
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Perhaps there's not enough smoke to be noticeable when driving. A better test would be to drive at night with another car behind. The oil flingers are not secured to the shaft and are free to turn of their own accord. If the shaft bearings are worn the flingers will touch the casing and not turn. You are probably not far away from complete failure in that case. You can rebuild a turbo that hasn't failed but a failed turbo, i.e. broken shaft, cannot be rebuilt. The first option is much cheaper. One way of checking is removal of the air inlet (from the air filter) and see if you can feel any play in the turbo shaft, either sideways or lengthwise. Also, I'm not sure that you should be able to hear your turbo spool up!

RAB
 
Just to add to rab'so post. Yes on a 90 you will hear the turbo spooling up. In fact 90's are very loud turbo wise. Cheers Mike
 
I've booked her again for Monday, I cancelled last week until I tried the Temp Gauge, I will let you know how I get on though.

Thanks for your input everyone


Tdige
 
If the smoke is related to turbo seals then the amount of oil getting past the seals can be influenced by turbo boost pressure. Under load, the high boost levels is counteracting oil pressure which is trying to force oil past the seals. This can result in more oil getting into the cylinders under light engine loads when boost is low and could explain the varying amount of smoke.
Many turbos have 'floating' shaft plain bearings. The plain bearing literally floats on an oil film on the inner and outer face of the bearing. The bearing spins at roughly half the speed of the shaft to reduce wear. This means its important to check bearing wear against the spec rather than just rely on feel. Certainly the floating bearings have almost double the free play of a normal plain bearing. It can also lead to the assumption the bush (or bearing) has come loose in the housing

These two features apply to truck turbos so although its likely, I'm not 100% sure they also relate to our A2s, just something to be aware of.

Cheers Spike
 
Hi All

A quick update I parked my car at the garage on Sunday and posted the keys had a call on Monday saying they had a problem starting it anyway put the fault down to faulty fuel temp sender. A new one got fitted a new one called me back to ask what I had done when they remapped and had the EGR delete how it was mapped I don't know much about mapping so I called Vince at Stealth, he very kindly agreed to speak with them to say what he had done(what a good man he is) any way after more of there investigation it looks as though its a faulty injector Cyl no 1
£200+vat per injector I agreed to have them all checked if the other 2 are ok its £60 each.

Do you think I should ask them to fit a new injector loom whilst its all stripped down?

Many Thanks

Tdige
 
To be honest, it's more likely to be the injector loom than the actual injector so get that replaced first would be my suggestion.
 
A faulty, over-fuelling injector could explain the white smoke

Certainly worth changing the injector loom as it's likely to fail once disturbed. There is always a first time but generally a faulty loom results in a misfire / low power and not excess smoke.

Cheers Spike
 
Great news I got the car back today and I must say she's running like a dream. All 3 injectors were sent off to be overhauled, 2 of them were in need of it. So that was the cause of all the smoke. Even the mechanic said he could not believe the smoke screen when he first checked it.
It would quite interesting to see if there has been an increase on the dyno as I dont remember her being as nippy as she is now.
Injectors, loom and sensor came £634.44+vat and £192.50 labour.

Thanks everyone for all of your input

Tdige
 
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