Hey everybody, posting this for a friend of my father. The owner's description of the problem:

"1988 Audi, 4cyl, no turbo, 120K miles, 5 speed. He is driving along,cold outside, heater on high. car suddenly starts to lose power until it stalls, it will restart, runs rough, temp gauge spikes, huge clouds of white billowing smoke come out the tailpipe. Then it all stops and the car runs normally for weeks. Then it suddenly happens again."

Also says there appears to be a small amount of "gunk" (I'm thinking oil) in the coolant, but no coolant in the oil. No noticeable loss of coolant from the expansion tank, no oil consumption, no CEL. Car is 7 hours away so I've been unable to Vag-com it. Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

That car is pre obd of any kind except for fuel mixture checking. I would check the coolant temp sensor for corrosion. Not sure where the smoke would be coming from though.

BTW , It looks like there is a bear in your garage!

 

Thanks for the reply. I thought about a sensor issue as well but dismissed it because the overheating problem apparently only occurs in conjunction with the smoke. I'll pass that along!

 

*in best redneck voice*
Well there's his problem right there. It's missing 4 cylinders.

But seriously, bad piston rings or bad head gasket?

 

Hmmmm, piston rings could be part of the smoke problem. Thanks Pat!

 

It seems that the engine is loosing compression, making the car run rough. If it's not the coolant, then it can be oil, passing through the piston rings. But it's always better to use vagcom first before involving yourself into major repair.

 

This is a PRE OBD vehicle = Vag Com will do nothing on this vehicle.
Obd did not start until about 1990 or 1991 in vag vehicles here in the us.

 

Apologies for not looking at the year. But I think a compression test can be helpful.

 

Reading this post over again i would defiantly check out the coolant sensor. What i am thinking is the smoke could possibly from the vehicle flooding out & restarting. There is usually significant smoke from vehicles that were flooded & restarted.
Just my theory.
BTW , i have owned 2 of these vehicles. One on the best cars i ever owned.

 

Thanks for all the replies fellas, I'll pass this info along. Hopefully it helps!