Hi,

About a month or so ago i noticed that my car smelled like burnt rubber. I seemed like it was comming from the passager side, i ignored this problem since it was happening occasionally. Today however, i noticed that there is white smoke comming from under the hood, where the right front tire is. So, I opened up the hood and noticed that the smoke was comming out from the back, right, side of the engine. I have also noticed that there was some oil residue on the engine. Does any one know what the problem could be?

 

What engine is your car? Check to see that nothing is rubbing on the tire or belts. And then see if it looks like its comin from a valve cover gasket. Common on 1.8s to drip on the manifold from there

 

Sounds like an oil drip.

 

It's a V6, 2.8, 1998. I checked the tires and belts and they are not rubbing against surface. I'm not sure if it is comming from the valve cover gasket. I'm not sure where that is. The smoke is comming from behind the engine, to the right and down of the coolant container.

 

my car does the exact same thing. i actually have a v6 2.8 liter 1998 as well. going to go to the mechanic soon. the smoke is coming from the left side of the engine when looking at it from the front of the car. so the smoke originates from around the area where the oil dipstick is. i noticed the burning smell too. not a sweet smell either. although, when i opened the hood, the smoke subsided quite quickly. car runs fine otherwise. a little loud but nothing to go crazy about. how do i know if it is misfiring?

 

Your check engine light will flash if you are misfiring. You car will run like ***...

hehe...get it...

 

lol. yeah my CEL is not on. no light comes on at all. so nothing is "too" wrong. im just afraid people are saying smoke can be from misfiring or bad coils but id have to say though, switching from a prelude to an a4 2.8l, the gas has some kick. quick acceleration. so i dont know if its the car or just me.. i like!!!

also, im gonna stay off of it and try and get it looked at by an audi tech by my house. i hope he has reasonable pricing. gonna change my t-belt soon as well. im at 60k miles. this will be my first time with this mechanic although ive heard good things. anyone know the pricing i should be looking at for the problem i currently have? how much should the actual diagnostic check up be(where he actually tries to find the problem)?

look at my earlier post.

 

Clean off your engine fully with engine cleaner or regular degreaser, add a bottle of UV dye to your oil (your local parts store should have what you need - make sure you're getting UV dye that works in motor oil and not, say, AC system oil) and run it for a bit, looking with a black light to see where it's leaking from.

P.S. oil leaks are a fire hazard so don't leave this be.

 

The more work you can do yourself, the cheaper it is going to be in the end if you do eventually have to go to a shop...just be careful when you clean your engine bay that you watch out for electronics, sensors, intake, things like that. Oh yeah, don't be dump and use a pressure washer. Some people have done this ane ended up getting water in places that it shouldn't be causing some major problems...just my opinion.

 

you might need to replace the camshaft plugs