Hi people something is wrong with mine car. White smoke starts coming from exhaust after the car gets heated up. It look like it'son fire (but it's not)and it smells wierd too. I think it's the turbo's because the car is kind of lazy and doesn't accelerate . do you thinkit's the turbo or could it be something else?

 

Hejnis,

I'm not sure this will help, but I remember from my old wrenching days that white smoke usually means water, and water in the exhaust means a blown gasket around the water jacket somewhere. I don't know if the turbos are air- or water-cooled. Lastly, does the white smoke dissipate, like steam? Or does it persist?

john

 

If its like a "fizz" off almost white smoke from both sides of teh engine, I would say its the rocker cover gaskets. I just did mine and the problem went away. I had an awful smeel coming thru the air cond. Check the tops of the exhaust manifold when the car is cold and see if it looks wet. This is a big clue. A bit labour intensive to repair but not a big problem. Let me know. Rodd

 

My penny's worth:
Black smoke from exhaust + excessive fueling. ie: fuel injection / carburetor.
White smoke = burning oil. that would explain the smell as well.
White steam from exhaust (disapears into the air soon aftewr emitting from exhaust = water. (Blown head gasket /Cracked Head etc.)

In your case it seems like it's contestant number two who is going to walk away with your money.

Broken turbo? maybe..... It definitely seems that oil is getting into the intake or exhaust circuit. When a turbo bush fails it does usually take the turbo's seals with it. This opens a path for the oil to get into the intake and / or exhaust.But there is another (much cheaper to repair) possibility.

The oil that is fed to the turbo bush by the oil pump needs to get back to the oil pan. This happens via an oilreturn line. Iffor whatever reason the oil cannot return to the oil pan fast enough it startsbacking up behind the seals until it eventually builds up enough pressure to push past the seals... ANDWHOOOSH ! the cars behind you disappear in a cloud of white smoke!

Now what causes this ? The oil usually has only gravity to help it run back to the oil pan, so ANYTHING that will hamper this flow will cause it. Coking on the inside of the return line due to dirty / old / wrong oil ( very common on diesel turbos). Or the oil can simply be too thick (ie: wrong grade and type.) In your case a full synthetic should be in there. The turbulence from the turbo shaft (typically running at at anything from 30 000 to 250 000 (not a typo) RPM ) turns ordinary supermarket variety motor oil into froth!

To make shure the turbo is not on the way out have it inspected. BUT have the return line checked as well! And make shure you have good cleanoil of the correct specification in there. Nowhere else is the right oil more important than in a high performance turbo application such as your car.

Hope this brings some insight for other audi owners. I'm guessing but I think a lot of uninformed people have been "pursuaded" by uneducated / dishonest mechanics to put gazillions of dollars into turbo replacements that where not neccesarry because theywhere told"oil smoke from the exhaust is a sign of a failed turbo". BEWARE!