i have a audi 2002 a6 2.7t and it started smoking alot from the exhaust. The car seem to run ok. no loss of power. What could be the problem. I also smell gas or something cant pinp point inside the car..HELP

 

first, are you sure it's smoke, not steam. It being winter-time, when you first start up the hot exhaust gasses condense into steam, by the time they make it all teh way to the end of your cold, cold exhaust-pipe. At least until the exhaust heats up, then the steam-ee-ness goes away.

now, if THAT'S not what you're dealing with...

smoke out the tail-pipe generally falls into one of two categories. Either piston rings, whch can be moderately expensive to repair, but, it only gets worse, and potentially more expensive to repair as time goes on. Or, head-gasket, which can also be moderately expensive to repair, but, if the head-gasket BLOWS (which, it eventually will, sooner later, if it's what the problem is), and, if it does go you MAY need to replace the engine, itself, depending on how much collateral damage is done.

go see a mechanic and have them check for oil in your coolant, or coolant in your anti-freeze (head-gasket), if yes to either, there is the very real possibility that you have a cracked head-gasket. If not, get a leak-down test, to find out which cylinders' rings are worn, then, replace all of them, just to be safe!

Now, *I'M* not a mechanic, my advice is based solely on my personal experiences. For qualified advice, I'd recommend sending a PM to rayveedub, oe avant80@2.6, or rbtech. They are actual mechanics who hang around the AF, and tend to give better guesses than anything *I* could ever "know."

 

I recently bought a 2000 A6 2.7t and it has done the same thing twice to me. Alot of smoke from the exhaust for about 5 min. and then it stops. A couple of people on here have said it may be a blown turbo but with no lose of power and the fact that it doesnt do it every time i am at a lose. my local audi dealer said it to be normal with turbo cars but its like a crop duster going down the road and that doesnt seem normal to me. if you come up with anything please let me know

 

my 2000 a6 2.7t recently had alot of smoke coming from the exhaust. i took it to a mechanic and he told me that the turbos had gone.. it had dropped more than 2 quarts of oil in the intercooler and was dripping out of the exhaust.. i got the car fixed for around 3 grand and within 200 miles of getting it back it did the exact same thing. i took the car back to where i got it fixed and now they tell me its a breather valve thats causing high oil pressure.... just thought i would leave my advice as to get the breather valve checked first to make sure its working properly, then check to see if the turbos went... now ill never know if the turbos were actually the cause or just the breather valve.

 

I used to have a '95 BMW that blew a head-gasket due to overheating. Any time a european car overheats (ie. due to a bad thermostat) the head gaskets are the first to go bad...then the engine will eventually totally be blown out.

For whatever reason, if there is a lot of exhaust coming out of the tailpipe (way too much smoke, not just a lot until the car warms up) you should definitely check into it IMMEDIATELY. Head gaskets will cost you about $1k to $1200 at the dealer I believe.

If there is a burning smell, and/or a scent of gasoline/coolant coming from the exhaust...this is another sign of a blown head-gasket. The leaking head-gasket is leaking coolant into the head of your engine and it is being combusted along with the fuel. This will totally fudge up your engine if you let it go for too long. Also, to check if it is indeed a blown gasket you'll need to remove the cap to the coolant reservoir and check to see if there is too much pressure. MAKE SURE THE CAR IS COMPLETELY COOL BEFORE YOU OPEN THE COOLANT RESERVOIR!!!!

Hope this helps...and I hope it isn't a blown head-gasket!


LampyB.

 

The first basic thing that everyone who posted should of asked, what color is the smoke. Color of the smoke will tell all.

 

yeah good call GK2...with my blown gasket the smoke was very thick white/light gray. Black smoke would mean what then...?

LampyB.

 

Oh boy, I had my head gasket replace and the fix was so expensive. The mechanic has to remove everything that gets to the audi head gasket, and i see it was a hard work. But it is better to have it check and fix to prevent further damage.

 

Black = Rich Mixture
Blue = Burning oil

 

white smoke means a coolant leak so have it checked for fault codes