OK, so I was driving to work this morning and there was hardly any traffic so I was having some fun and basically putting my foot in it a lot more than I usually do. I stopped at a light and thought I saw some white smoke coming from under the hood, but since the car hasn't given me any trouble before I convinced myself it was just exhaust from the guy in front of me. Pull in to work and get out and there's a fair amount of white smoke blowing out under the hood and passenger-side wheel well. Pop the hood and the smoke is coming from the turbo/cat area. Smelled like a cross between burning paper and melting plastic. There wasn't any obvious source of the smoke, it seemed like the whole area was just hot. I haven't checked any codes yet (CEL is always on due to vacuum leaks), but I'm guessing the cat is clogged.

Car is an '01 1.8t Quattro tip with ~130K miles. Anyone have any insight? Is the cat most likely, or a turbo problem? Something else?

 

Did you see any smoke coming from the exhaust? Any loud noises? How are your oil and coolant levels? Could be a number of things.

 

No smoke from the tailpipe, haven't had a chance to check the water or oil levels, but temps were all where they should be. No unusual noises, still rides nice and quiet.

 

probably a small oil leak you might want to look for it.

 

Yeah I don't think it's a blown turbo. There would be lots of smoke, noise, and you wouldn't be making boost. Sounds to me like one of the oil or coolant lines in or out of the compressor housing has sprung a leak. Check your oil and coolant levels