Paludi

Hi all,
This happens on my '02 A6 wagon with the 3.0 non-turbo and 139K on the clock. Just wondering, based on previous experience... is there anyway this story does not end in disaster and financial ruin?
Anyone living with similar on an older car, for ex?
Thanks in adv.

jseklund

The first guess on this is that you have coolant leaking into your combustion chamber, obviously. Typically this is caused by a failing head gasket.

When is the last time you had your timing belt replaced?

This won't be cheap to fix, but doesn't need to end in financial ruin. If you let it go, it will only get worse and could toast the engine.

Run a compression test on each cylinder, or have someone do this. If you need new head gaskets, they can be had for about $30-50 each and I would just do both while you are in there. You will also need about $50 worth of new stretch bolts for the heads, and maybe $150 for valve cover gaskets, intake gaskets, etc. you'll need while you're in there...$300 in direct parts. If you haven't done your timing belt - I'd plan on another $350 in parts and have that done at the same time. So, $600-700 in parts, and you can do it yourself or MAYBE find someone to do it for $1000-1500 in labor. It's a big job. Step 1 in the Bentley will be "Remove Engine" and while it is not necessary to do this, it gives you an idea of what you're looking at.

johnkk

there is another way to check for coolant in cylinders without a compression test. Pull the plugs and the plugs in any affected cylinders will be incredibly clean(better than new), due to your unintended water injection system.

The A student would do the compression test, but for the rest of us the plug test will work.

4Driver4

Leak down test or coolant gas analyzer is the correct approach. I doubt there is a headgasket issue. Probably just a leak somewhere.

5v/cyl

Agree. Unless the engine was overheated badly in the past then it is unlikely to have a head gasket issue. Possible, but unlikely.

jseklund

4Driver4 knows much more about this stuff than I do - but I am assuming that when he says "White smoke at startup" he means that there is white smoke coming from the exhaust?

I mean, if the engine's cold and you start it, you wouldn't get white smoke in the bay - it would be out of the exhaust.

If it's a leak, how is it getting into the exhuast?

Not doubting - just looking for more detail so I can understand better.

I guess it could be a leak at the throttle body...but not sure what else.

Leakdown test would also work, but I personally found there's a lot of room for error in a leakdown. As you gain experience with it, it's easier ...but a compression test seems to be relatively fool proof and easy.

4Driver4

My thought process is this:

When people start trying to diagnose, they start looking for problems (basically the idea of diagnostics: find the problem). But in doing so they can suddenly notice things that have been there all along and suddenly become suspect of them. A little white smoke at startup is normal condensation burning out of the tailpipe.

Balance this with the extremely low failure rate on head gaskets (except, as 5v says, on overheats). No mention of overheat, so I'm going to assume that there is just coolant leak somewhere.

Jus' playin' the odds here. Always pays to look for the simple fixes first.

jseklund

Very good - it is what Einstein was always looking for, an answer that was SIMPLE, yet ELEGANT.

You could be right, the simplest solution is usually the right one....

kellervernon

having a similar problem with my 03 allroad 2.7t

have a lot of smoke coming out of tailpipes not at startup but once it warms up. I figured either my turbos are leaking and pushing oil or I have a bad head gasket but i dont seem to be losing much coolant.

If not a headgasket leak how would coolant get into the exhaust? how would it enter the cylinder? I would love to not have to pull this motor...

4Driver4

Is your PCV system working?