Hi, I recently bought 2001 A4 2.8q with 103k miles. A few times a day, when I come to a stop with the windows down I smell a burning smell, and a couple of times I have seen some light white smoke coming from the passengers side of the front of the car. Is this a common issue with this cars? So far I am pretty unfamiliar with the car, so I don't have many clues as to what it could be. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

it could be a bad gasket or maybe a vaccum leak. also check ur coolant lvl.

 

Vac leaks cause smoke? (serious question, I've never heard that before)

 

Yea I don't understand how a vac leak could cause my problem either. Is there an easy (or cheap) way of diagnosing the problem, or checking the vacuum? You're refering to the head gasket correct? Is there a way to tell if that's the issue without removing the head?

 

It's typically the valve cover gasket. Look around for excess oil. Sometimes tightening the valve cover bolts fixes the leak.

 

could be a coolant leak. its got a very distinct smell when coolant burns from the hot engine, cant quite describe it b/c its been awhile since i've smelled it but its a bad smell.

 

The only car that type of issue is common for is a Ford.

Have you done general maintenance on the car; ie changing the oil, checking the coolant? Most of the time it's some trivial stuff that you can fix pretty easily. Unless it's something that is a byproduct of neglected maintenance, but I'm not a mechanic. You'd have to ask auditech.

 

Now that you mention it, I think it could be burning coolant. It's not an oil or rubber smell. Sometimes it almost sounds like the coolant is boiling inside the reservoir, or maybe I'm just crazy. I'll check around for coolant leaks. Thanks for all your responses guys.

 

Almost like a metalic bacon smell? I still have that and I'm not leaking anything![:@]

 

Alright, well I founda break in my vacuum line, and repaired it with yellow electrical tape (it's temporary) I started the engine up and let it run for a few minutes, and the smoking started again. I saw it is coming from right behind the passenger's side valve cover (between engine and firewall.) Here is a pic of where it's coming from:


Here's a video, it's almost impossible to see the smoke on youtube, but it's there, very very light.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4s0K4H_qeDI

Okay also I was trying to run some Seafoam through the engine to clean it up, it's worked real well on my other vehicles. I took out the vac line right next to the yellow electrical tape where it connects to the engine while the car was running, but I felt absolutely no suction at all. So I couldn't run the Seafoam through. Just to be completely sure, this IS the vac line right?

Vacuum Line:



Thanks a lot