White smoke from exhaust while idling
 

Hi guys i got a 03 a4 1.8t. past couple of days ive been noticing light white smoke coming out of my exhaust also coolent level is going down.. can this be my turbo?? theres no smoke while i drive only when idling..

-thanks

This could be a failing head gasket. Anyone else want to chime in?

The white smoke and coolant loss are tell-tale signs of a head gasket issue. Any loss of power?

No the car drives fine. also my fan turns on when i start my car and goes off after it warms up. I just did cyillinder head and head gasket. today my check engine light came on and shows p3081 with no description could that sensor be the problem??


Thanks

hmm i would think it might be ur coolant sensor in the rear of the engine. g62 sensor i think.

But is that causing the smoke?? Thanks for that i will change the sensor tomorrow.

white smoke usually means coolant being burned in the combustion chamber. might wanna get a compression check also.

ok ill report back tomorrow.

thanks

If the turbo seal is starting to leak, you can get a little light blue almost white smoke coming out of the tail pipe at start up and it will get worse as the seal continues to fail. The K03s are cooled by coolant and will start to burnt it off when they start to go bad. Head Gaskets usually only fail when you overheat the engine really bad. I have never seen a head gasket "just go" on a 1.8t. I would check your turbo first.

Or the head gasket replacement was not performed correctly...

If your getting white smoke out of the exaust u might have a headgasket going bad. Or like king said u have a bad turbo seal.

im also having this issue and i would agree with the coolant leak but i know that coolant smells sweet... as to mine smells very sour almost like clutch burn.. any thoughts??