S-PAutomotive.com

Author Topic: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke  (Read 5998 times)

October 04, 2018, 09:17:09 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« on: October 04, 2018, 09:17:09 pm »
Recently started seeing white smoke on occasion. Started out any time the car would coast in 5th gear after acceleration to about 3k RPM. Would just be a puff.
Kind of smells like brakes or clutch.
Just the other day, it bellowed white smoke for a bit until I pressed the clutch in while driving in a neighborhood.
Today, did the same for a few moments after stopping. Was doing about 40-50 in 5th, letting it sit less than 2k RPM and it smoked mayvbe for a few seconds at most.

Just shy off 200k miles on the car, though previous owner said the engine that is in it now is not the original.
Has malone stage 1, EGR delete and 2.5in straight pipe from turbo to back.

I haven't entirely been able to tell if it is coming from the exhaust or somewhere in the engine bay.
No signs of coolant in the oil or vice versa, and the smoke does not seem to smell like coolant, though earlier I thought I might have smelt some after a quick drive with the heat on.

Planning on changing the oil, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter this month.
Turbo actuator needs replaced at some point, I keep getting overboosts, though I don't think that has anything to do with this.

Any idea? So far my guess is something with the clutch, but...

I should note too that the timing belt had to be replaced due to the tensioner failing causing it to jump a couple teeth at the pump as well, though that caused a no start condition. Not sure if it could be related to this at all.


1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #1October 06, 2018, 04:12:00 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2018, 04:12:00 pm »
Update
Got it to do it again and actually got out of the car to look.
Definitely coming from the exhaust
Smelt oily, I think. Had a bluish tint.

Checked the coolant, did not see anything out of the ordinary, other than it was a tad bit low.

Turbo or valve guides? I'll have to check the intercooler piping.

Could it also be the fuel pump dumping too much fuel into the engine? Too much fuel=white smoke, yes?
« Last Edit: October 06, 2018, 04:29:09 pm by vmb »
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #2October 06, 2018, 07:36:31 pm

ORCoaster

  • Moderator
  • Veteran

  • Offline
  • ***

  • 4383
  • Personal Text
    Restoring a Caddy as time and weather allows
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2018, 07:36:31 pm »
Too much fuel is black smoke.  Rolling Coal!  Or Dino Pee

White mixed with tint of blue with a smell not of diesel.  Hmmm.  Check valve guides and turbo for oil leaks that might be the blue tint.  Might be a bad injector too.

With engine running, place a solid bar, like a 1/2 inch long extension on the nut of each cylinder and put your ear to the top end.  All sound the same click and tick?  One particularly loud?  Pull it out, take it apart and clean the nozzle tip really well with a fine soft brass brush to get the carbon off of it.  Reassemble, with new or reformed heat shield and listen to it again.  More like the rest of them?

White smoke can be over advance as well.  Not sure where your timing is at.  IF it starts smoking again loosen the 4 bolts on the IP and push and pull on it and see if that changes it at all.


Reply #3October 06, 2018, 10:10:42 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2018, 10:10:42 pm »
I'll check the turbo as soon as I can.
I'll also give that a try with the wrench; hadn't thought of a potentially bad injector. Gets stuck open sometimes maybe?

As for timing, I would have to check with VCDS when I get the chance. The belt was replaced and the timing set correctly by the dealer last year around this time when that tensioner failed.
If I can think to, I'll try to get a video of it in the act.
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #4October 11, 2018, 07:34:00 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2018, 07:34:00 pm »
Tried the listening to injector trick.
Number 1 has a bit more of a "clink" sound than the others. I'll pull it and try to clean it. Also got some dieselpurge and a new fuel filter.

Others on tdiclub seemed to agree with the stuck injector diag. I should not that I've seen lower fuel economy lately and higher coolant temps. not outrageously high but higher than usual
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #5October 20, 2018, 02:50:20 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2018, 02:50:20 pm »
Well, changed the oil, didn't see any signs of coolant there
Ran a can of dieselpurge through the motor. It sounds nicer, but I'm still getting the smoke.
Would it still be worth pulling the injectors and checking/cleaning them out?
I didn't crack open the intercooler piping, but I did notice this on the connection from the turbo to the pancake pipe: https://imgur.com/a/lkW5Ktb
Folks on the FB group mentioned that it's normal and that there's a clip and O-ring that can be replaced to stop that.

Coolant temps still climb when accelerating hard, usually in 4th or 5th gear. It tends to get to around 100*C or more, and cool off from there. It's not enough to move the needle on the dash gauge though...
The smoke still appears, though maybe not quite as often. I'm able to replicate it fairly well in 4th flooring it. It'll sometimes do a puff just as the boost builds up, greyish white smoke, and sometimes will release a fair bit after letting off the accelerator, usually for a second or two.
Any other things to consider? Getting too much blowby due to bad rings? I have no clue when the engine was rebuilt last. I still need to check timing and IQ with VCDS.
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #6October 20, 2018, 11:14:36 pm

ORCoaster

  • Moderator
  • Veteran

  • Offline
  • ***

  • 4383
  • Personal Text
    Restoring a Caddy as time and weather allows
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2018, 11:14:36 pm »
Wouldn't hurt to clean the injectors and if you have a compression gauge check the PSI in each cylinder as you will have the injectors out anyway.  Might as well get the information in case the cleaning of the injection system still show the problem.  At least you might have the answer if the rings are bad or going in one of the cylinders.

Reply #7October 21, 2018, 12:37:44 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2018, 12:37:44 pm »
Before I set off to clean the injectors, anything I should know when getting them out and cleaning them? I've taken out 1.6 TD injectors, but from what I understand the ALH ones slide in. I've looked over that procedure, but it's the cleaning I'm not sure about. A soft brass brush was mentioned, any cleaning solutions or anything of that sort I can put it in before using the brass brush? Will the injectors need re-calibrated when put back together?
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #8October 21, 2018, 02:24:46 pm

ORCoaster

  • Moderator
  • Veteran

  • Offline
  • ***

  • 4383
  • Personal Text
    Restoring a Caddy as time and weather allows
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2018, 02:24:46 pm »
I try to stay away from the brass brush until the last part of the cleaning so I don't get to aggressive with it.  I like to soak in something that is made for cutting through carbon and soot.  So I soak the needles in some injection cleaner and then use a rough cloth sprayed with choke and carb cleaner.  Some talk about Automotive Transmission Fluid as a good cleaner but since all my cars are manuals I don't keep any of that handy. 

I have a 10 power hand lens that I use to look at the tips once I get some of the grime off.  You would be surprised at how they look after they clean up compared to where they start.  I can generally see all the bevels and flats on the tips when I finish.  Prior to that it looks like a glob of black goo on the end of the tip.  Getting them to shut off and not weep into the cylinder means getting those faces to meet inside the injector.

Good luck on getting it done. 

Reply #9October 22, 2018, 06:40:25 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2018, 06:40:25 pm »
Excellent, thanks. I had a buddy take a look at the car as well, said it smelt like oil. Fuel at first, then oily.
So, gonna take another look at that turbo and hope that's all that needs replace. Suppose I should check the intercooler as well and see if it needs drained out.
I'll still clean the injectors as well.


Is it possible that enough oil has accumulated in the intercooler that it's just spitting that out? Like the oil is just from there and maybe not a bad ring or bad turbo seal?
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #10October 22, 2018, 10:28:41 pm

ORCoaster

  • Moderator
  • Veteran

  • Offline
  • ***

  • 4383
  • Personal Text
    Restoring a Caddy as time and weather allows
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2018, 10:28:41 pm »
AS long as you are cleaning up you might as well do the intercooler and see what the results of that are.  I understand that they do accumulate oil after a while. 

Reply #11October 24, 2018, 02:06:22 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2018, 02:06:22 pm »
Sounds good.
IQ checked out fine when a friend with VCDS took a look. The deviation on cylinders 1 & 2 were negative though.

Also pulled the intercooler pipe, the boost pipe to pancake pipe. No more than what you'd expect was in there.
Was suggested that the turbo might be on the verge of having a bad seal or two. Or that the impeller shaft has enough play to let oil into the exhaust side.
Other than that, not entirely sure. Taking a trip to Texas next month, gonna replace the turbo before then just to be on the safe side as that seems to be the most likely culprit.
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

Reply #12November 11, 2018, 08:41:08 pm

vmb

  • User+

  • Offline
  • *

  • 23
Re: 03 Golf-occasional white smoke
« Reply #12 on: November 11, 2018, 08:41:08 pm »
Interesting, boost pipe was left loose after checking it again, pipe that goes from turbo to the pancake pipe. Clip was loose.
Did not see any white smoke while it was like that, nor smell the oily smell from the exhaust. I'm pretty convinced it might be the turbo after that, unless anyone has other suggestions.
1986 Jetta 1.6l TD
2003 Golf TDI, ALH with Malone stage 1, EGR delete & 2.5in straight pipe exhaust

 

S-PAutomotive.com