New Member with cold starting & smoke issues

[fundulus]

Hey everyone!

I've been lurking on here for a while before I got my '93 AAZ Golf...

Sounds like many of you are pro's at diagnosing issues, and it just so happens that i've now got a problem 

One morning I went to go start my car, and I had to try several times to start the engine.

While the starter was turning the engine, it would POUR out white smoke (uncombusted fuel?).

Then when the engine finally started, it was very rough for a little while, and white smoke "poofed" out the exhaust pipe.

Revved it for a few seconds, and the smoke disappeared - motor ran normal, no unusal smoke.

It would also start without issue if started again within a few hours.

I've read posts about similar issues..and think my glow-plugs may not be getting power, though I have yet to check.

Sooooooo I called my local VW mechanic (not a dealership), and she said that the white smoke could be coolant, bad head gasket etc. But the smoke disappears after it cranks over?

I couldn't get an appt. until wednesday, but I really need my car for the weekend. Do you think i'm causing irreperable damage by driving it?

Any quick tests I could do in the mean time to determine if I could still drive my car or not?

Your help is greatly appreciated, sry for the long post

[Smokey Eddy]

on a cold morning, with the hood up, turn your key to the ACC possition (1 possition before it cranks) and walk around and put your finger on the glow plug (below the injector) it should get quite hot to the touch after about 7-10 seconds.

Paying a shop to change your head gasket may be a very expensive and unessisary bill.
Search on the forum for "pimp your glowplugs" and find Vincent Waldon's post. There is no damage done by driving a car that doesn't have functional glow plugs as they have nothing to do with the actual combustion of the engine once it's started.

nor is there damage done by a shot head gasket unless you notice the coolant light come on. That would indicate you've either burnt off lots of coolant or its leaking into your oil. But that light will come on very quickly if that is the case.

I'd bet $5 that your glow plugs aren't coming on.

[Rabbit on Roids]

or that he has a bad crank nose and his timing is extremely retarded..

that WILL CAUSE DAMAGE to the engine if you let it get too bad. or it will just throw the timing belt completely and more than likely ruin the head. make sure the harmonic balancer is still running straight and true, with no wobble whatsoever.

[Vincent Waldon]

Yup... the issue varies in severity from a bad 75 cent glow plug fuse to a bad crank nose that could grenade your engine if left unrepaired.

The fact that it happened suddenly points away from the serious side of the scale and more towards a glow plug issue, but a crank nose or head gasket issue is not out of the question.

If you have the tools... check for power at the glow plug buss, and then work backwards, if there's no power.

If there is power to the glow plugs  the white smoke is more sinister... I'd be inclined to drive it sparingly if at all until it's given a good once-over.