Today I was driving around and suddenly someone behind beeped and I noticed a huge cloud of white smoke. So I got into a parking lot and tried to recreate the scenario by stepping on the gas. Yeah, there was a huge cloud of white smoke. I took it to the dealer, but it was closed. However, a mechanic was kind enough to do a test drive, and upon start up and during high acceleration, there was a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust. The smoke smells like something burning. He also checked the engine oil, which he found to be fine.

Its a 2007 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro with a little under 20000 miles (32000 km). Before I go back to check on Monday, I would like to know what problem it has and what might have caused it. I don't recall doing anything before the symptom started to occur. Will the fix be under warranty?

Thanks.

 

How's your level of coolant holding up? Is there an oily film in your radiator fluid? Could be a head gasket and you're 'burning' coolant.

 

Thanks for replying. I just checked the coolant, and it looks like the amount hasn't changed since the last maintenance. I'm not sure what the radiator fluid is but every fluid I can see looks about right, and there's no oil in any of them. I've also noticed no loss in power and the engine still sounds right.

I think this may be related to leaking/burning engine oil because my car ran out of engine oil one month after the last maintenance. I did take it back to the dealer, and a mechanic insisted that the turbo uses a lot of engine oil. I don't know much about cars, so I took his words and just refilled the engine oil.

How likely is it a problem with the engine oil? And what causes it?

 

Others are quick to ask what the outside temps and relative humidity are, as they can deceive owners into thinking something is seriously wrong. But having lost engines in the past, I sit up and take note of white smoke as almost a knee-jerk reaction.
White smoke will not be related to engine oil, but rather coolant. Most likely a blown head gasket or.... worse case a cracked head. I'm new to the Audi line, so I don't have an extensive knowledge of Audi common failures, but blown head gaskets can happen to almost any motor. The biggest issue to worry about is if coolant were to get into the oil, as the two don't play well together when mixed. It can quickly lead to spun bearings (ie complete overhaul/engine replacement). Double check the oil, and look for foam on the dip stick. If you see it, do not start or run the car. Tow it to your nearest repair facility.

Hope it is just a humid.cold day thing, but I needed to get you the warning of the dark side to white smoke so you are alert to it.

Vince

 

Running out of oil one month after maintenance doesn't
seem right, unless you drove hell lot of miles in one month or the
dealer didn't do it right during the scheduled maintenance.

A4 Turbo is known to use up lot of oil. I also ran out of oil about
6 months(7K miles) after the 15K maintenance, had to top it off.

2007 A4 Quattro(23K miles)

 

Yeah, I'm beginning to think it is something wrong with the engine oil. I didn't drive much (little less than 300miles) after the last maintenance, and the engine oil light came up. I've also checked the eingine oil again, seems ok, and the mechanic who offered a hand did check it yesterday and it was fine.
Thanks for the help guys.

 

Hope you get er solved.

As an FYI: If your smoke was Blue or grayish blue, then you would be burning oil.
White smoke is water/coolant, black smoke is fuel.

Keep in mind that you may now be discussing two different issues.

Be aware that apparently Audi claims to use excessive oil as a normal part of its design (odd that so few other turbo makers have this problem). Many owners seem to have fought this with little luck. I read via another poster, that Audi produced a bad batch of rings, which were updated in later models. Seems they feel making you pay for extra oil was cheaper than them replacing/rebuilding the motor under warranty, so they re-wrote the books to make high oil consumption "normal" for their motors. (Keep in mind this is now "third party" information, and would warrant deeper research to validate, as I have only been studying the car for a few months now.)
The thread followed several owners complaining of oil usage, and their findings with Audi.
Either way, get your car looked at ASAP, and good luck with the stealership!
Vince

 

Hey guys,
I am having a problem with my Audi b5 1.8 as well.I took it to a mechanic and he says that the reason of the black smoke is the throttle body.Is that the reason of the high fuel consumption ,which the car has as well.

Your help is apreciated

 

not true. alot of subaru owners complain about oil consumption too.

 

Try turning your AC on and see if it works. You may have blown a compressor seal or an AC line. Usually will come out as white smoke but not in the exhaust pipe. My leaning is toward a cooling problem and worse case a head gasket. When you said you "ran out " of oil was that only the low oil light coming on or did you actually need to put 4 1/2 quarts of oil in the engine. Does the exhaust smell like antifreeze? Kind of a sweet smell. Good luck.