'00 2.5tdi clouds of white smoke!!!

Jason said:
:think: :think: :think: :think: :think:

How many miles has the old girl done? 160k

Is that smoke at tickover? it does smoke a bit at tick over but as you can seee when you hit the gas ...............

does it stink of diesel? yes

Does it do it from cold or only when warm? all the time

Only other things that I can think of are that the timings out for some reason, jumped a tooth on the cam belt or there is a heat sensor that over fuels and advances the timing on cold start, if this is faulty it might be telling ecu that engines never up to temp?
Click to expand...
yes you may well be barking up right tree, as the water temp never seems to want to reach 90, what i dont understand is when i unplug the egr valve and de presurise the system the car runs great and has no smoke.

im planning a over haul soon,
New Theromstat
New Water Pump
New Cam & Aux Belts
Change the Fuel Pump as i v got one from a 04 plate V6 that was smashed up for £100 as they are over a grand for a new one. It may as well be done as all the front will be off and iv had other peoples fingers point in the pump direction then a raised eyebrowes as they are mega bucks from Audi, So when i got the chance to get one for £100 i concidered it to be worth a gamble,
 
Turkster said:
yes you may well be barking up right tree, as the water temp never seems to want to reach 90, what i dont understand is when i unplug the egr valve and de presurise the system the car runs great and has no smoke.

im planning a over haul soon,
New Theromstat
New Water Pump
New Cam & Aux Belts
Change the Fuel Pump as i v got one from a 04 plate V6 that was smashed up for £100 as they are over a grand for a new one. It may as well be done as all the front will be off and iv had other peoples fingers point in the pump direction then a raised eyebrowes as they are mega bucks from Audi, So when i got the chance to get one for £100 i concidered it to be worth a gamble,
Click to expand...

It's normal that it runs like a pile of sh*te with the EGR conected! Egr valves should be banned!!!Did you change it your self? If so did you clean all the pipes,manifolds etc?? Maybe some craps come loose and is preventing it closeing again!!

Easiest way to check if the egr is stuck open is to touch the inlet manifold if it's tooo hot to touch the valve is stuck open recycling hot exhaust gases all the time into the inlet manifolds as appose to occasionaly at certain revs.

On ever single car forum the general census of oppion is to BIN the EGR!

If it runs OK with out just leave it disconected:) :)

What do you mean by "de presurise the system"?

I dont think it's your injection pump, be careful too as the pump has it's own ecu and might have to be re-programed to car!!
 
It's normal that it runs like a pile of sh*te with the EGR conected! Egr valves should be banned!!!Did you change it your self? If so did you clean all the pipes,manifolds etc?? Maybe some craps come loose and is preventing it closeing again!!
yes i changed it myself, i cleaned everything i touched, the EGR was brand new, i even got new skin on my hands now,

Easiest way to check if the egr is stuck open is to touch the inlet manifold if it's tooo hot to touch the valve is stuck open recycling hot exhaust gases all the time into the inlet manifolds as appose to occasionaly at certain revs.

On ever single car forum the general census of oppion is to BIN the EGR!

If it runs OK with out just leave it disconected:) :)

What do you mean by "de presurise the system"?
iv not closed the end of the pipe that is ment to be connected to the egr valve, this means the Turbo egr valve is not active too. if i was to block it with say a screw the Turbo egr would start to work alone, iv tried that but its still soggy when driving,

I dont think it's your injection pump, be careful too as the pump has it's own ecu and might have to be re-programed to car!!
yep the pump will need re programing, so thats not a shock to me, the price of that may well be :gun2: but thats the joys of this problem solving quest,
 
You only have ONE EGR (ENGINE GAS RECYCLE) which if disconected should have a suitable bolt in it!

On the turbo that's your wastgate that is also operated by a vacuem pipe!It has nothing to do with the EGR.
 
Jason said:
You only have ONE EGR (ENGINE GAS RECYCLE) which if disconected should have a suitable bolt in it!

On the turbo that's your wastgate that is also operated by a vacuem pipe!It has nothing to do with the EGR.
Click to expand...

yes but when that is connected the car still runs bad even with the egr vlave unconnected and the pipe sealed to keep the vacum strong,

Im now thinking it could be valve stem seals ********, but im going to do a few other things to it before i get to that "heads off" stage,

Will be doing an oil change in the next few days when the shops re open for parts,
 
Turkster said:
yes but when that is connected the car still runs bad even with the egr vlave unconnected and the pipe sealed to keep the vacum strong,

Im now thinking it could be valve stem seals ********, but im going to do a few other things to it before i get to that "heads off" stage,

Will be doing an oil change in the next few days when the shops re open for parts,
Click to expand...

We seem to be going round in circles here! Valve stem seals would burn oil and smoke would be blue, yours looks white and stinks of diesel yes?

I dont think that it would be valve stem seals and besides they would'nt noticably effect performance.

White smoke stinking of diesel is either massive EGR failure or timing out, sensors playing up.

Happy New Year

Bye

Jason
 
Jason said:
We seem to be going round in circles here! Valve stem seals would burn oil and smoke would be blue, yours looks white and stinks of diesel yes?

I dont think that it would be valve stem seals and besides they would'nt noticably effect performance.

White smoke stinking of diesel is either massive EGR failure or timing out, sensors playing up.

Happy New Year

Bye

Jason
Click to expand...

I dont seem to be loseing any oil, timing out, sensors playing up, if it is then fingers crossed ir will be an easier fix,

Happy New Year Jason,

Paul
 
Update.

Its not been the best news iv had this year,

the car started to run realy bad, rough, engine was jerky/lumpy and juddering far to much, so i decided that id scrapped my hands more than enough times, so it was time to give it in to the people who know more than me,

Cars in at Audi , the main dealer for my area

after a few hours of investigating it has turned out that the Timing was well out, So yes Jason you get the tipped hat to you sir, But the reason why the timing is well out is because the 4 cams are worn out, there is a dip/groove on the rotation section of the cams on all the bits that move the valves, So its front off, Cam belt off, 2 Heads off,

The bill is massive, parts on there own are about £1200 but the Total bill was hitting £3200 as Labour and the 4 hour investigation,

Iv had a heart 2 heart with the service guy, i got the 4 hours investigation knocked off and cried a bit harder and got the bill down to £2550

So i will get 4 new cams and other bits that need changing, New Cam Belt, New Water pump, New Theromstat, new other belts, new coolant,

It feels like iv been raped by this car as iv not had it long, but i do feel i will be keeping it for a while now as im forced to get my moneys worth out of it, it took me a few hours to get over the shell shock i can tell you,

all i can say at this point is i pray that this will cure the cars running and smoking problems, also make it stop over fueling the system and cut some costs for fuel bills, i realy cant aford any more faults to be found with this car, i even sat and concidered the option of just breaking the car up for parts or even dropping another enging into this car, but after i did all the numbers is just was not worth doing anything else but to fix it,

Roll on March for the Audi Meet up,

More news as it comes in,
 
Sorry to hear about that mate!

I have heard of this before and did think about cam's but did'nt want to mention it:w00t:

Jason
 
I understand your pain. My bill was over twice yours, i think you did well to get so much knocked off. I just hope they fix it quicker than the bunch that rebuilt my engine. Maybe we should start a help line for broken V6 owners
 
@jason, TBH i did have a small feeling it could have been the cams, i was just forcing that idea to the back of my mind as i knew if it was that then it would be a big bill, i was just having wishfull thinking that it was something else, you have to go past all the small cheap options before you head for the most expensive fix, all i can say is iv changed almost everything else that could have caused this problem, heading off any other worn out parts for the future, so fingers crossed my audi ownership should be more hassle free and i can now start to feel how the car should be performing, i dont feel iv had the full force of this car under my lead foot yet as its always been ill from the get-go. Iv always wanted a Quattro car and now iv got one i want to feel my dream can now be granted and i can get some real driving action out of it, the nurnberge ring in germany is on the hit list this summer, then a race down to Ancona in Italy then 3 days on a ferry back to Turkey for my 4 week summer holiday! and then theres the return trip via mt blonc, i normaly do this whole trip on my own as the wife and child fly to Turkey, the last time i did this was in my e36 m3, *sits and grins and remebers all the action on the french autobarns with my foot jammed to the floor*

@ fjtwelve just like the beatles song, "lonly club hearts band" could be the "lonly v6 owners band"

it should all be done for monday at some point, im not to fussed when its done as i get to hold the money in my pocket a bit longer, it will be a hard time when i have to part with it, i was planning to buy a mk2 golf gti 16v for about £1500 and use it as a fun toy, but that idea has gone well out the window now, in fact thats been shot into ourter space for a whilel,
 
I have replaced the crankcase breather on my 98 A6 2.5tdi quattro about 12 months ago - but the other day the white cloud started again. I've read all of this thread and see from Jason that the EGR is a likely culprit ( but then also that the crankcase breather could be knackered again).

One concern is that Jason said in an earlier post ( as in Jan 06!) that there would be a loss of power. I don't have that - just plenty of white smoke at idle. I'll try the inlet manifold test vs the pressure test on the oil filler cap to maybe narrow this down. I think it probably is the EGR as although it has just started it doesn't/ didn't seem to do it every time at idle (unlike with the crankcase breather) and it smells much more dieselly than previously. if it doesn't do it does that indicate that the EGR valve is closed ? - if so could I then disconnect it to stop it opening ?...and would this work ok (apart from at MOT time ?)

Thanks
Nick
 
nicknick said:
I have replaced the crankcase breather on my 98 A6 2.5tdi quattro about 12 months ago - but the other day the white cloud started again. I've read all of this thread and see from Jason that the EGR is a likely culprit ( but then also that the crankcase breather could be knackered again).

One concern is that Jason said in an earlier post ( as in Jan 06!) that there would be a loss of power. I don't have that - just plenty of white smoke at idle. I'll try the inlet manifold test vs the pressure test on the oil filler cap to maybe narrow this down. I think it probably is the EGR as although it has just started it doesn't/ didn't seem to do it every time at idle (unlike with the crankcase breather) and it smells much more dieselly than previously. if it doesn't do it does that indicate that the EGR valve is closed ? - if so could I then disconnect it to stop it opening ?...and would this work ok (apart from at MOT time ?)

Thanks
Nick
Click to expand...

The problem is Nick that the EGR is quite a precision valve so once they are full of crap they can't close anymore.Mine was sticking full open & as a result the ECU was going belly up hence the lack of power!Disconected,scraped,destroyed Egr is not an mot failure,.I also have a Land Rover and like the other 99.9% people that get one binned EGR valve and blanked it off with a plate, new hose from the intercooler to the inlet manifold as soon as I got it-Sorted!

Jason
 
Turkster said:
@jason, TBH i did have a small feeling it could have been the cams, i was just forcing that idea to the back of my mind as i knew if it was that then it would be a big bill, i was just having wishfull thinking that it was something else, you have to go past all the small cheap options before you head for the most expensive fix, all i can say is iv changed almost everything else that could have caused this problem, heading off any other worn out parts for the future, so fingers crossed my audi ownership should be more hassle free and i can now start to feel how the car should be performing, i dont feel iv had the full force of this car under my lead foot yet as its always been ill from the get-go. Iv always wanted a Quattro car and now iv got one i want to feel my dream can now be granted and i can get some real driving action out of it, the ring in germany is on the hit list this summer, then a race down to Ancona in Italy then 3 days on a ferry back to Turkey for my 4 week summer holiday! and then theres the return trip via mt blonc, i normaly do this whole trip on my own as the wife and child fly to Turkey, the last time i did this was in my e36 m3, *sits and grins and remebers all the action on the french autobarns with my foot jammed to the floor*
Click to expand...

Nice one Turkster sounds like a good run out:icon_thumright:

Got to be careful out here in France now, Dammed automatic raders have been popping up here for a few years now, all over the ****** place, the wife got an instant on the spot 2 month ban (106km's in a 50km Zone) and that was in the Audi 100 not the V6:hubbahubba:

A mate did Nurdburgring a few years ago in an M3, after about 3 laps his brakes were smoking that much that he was forced to stop!

Have fun!

Jason
Click to expand...
 
Not the EGR valve - mine is a blocker crankcase breather again. I won't be paying Audi to do it again - but I will try the newer part. Do you think this is a job I could get a competent friend with tools to help with - or are there specific tools neeeded ?

Also - as a guide how long would this take so I have a clue as to what my local garage should charge...
 
nicknick said:
Not the EGR valve - mine is a blocker crankcase breather again. I won't be paying Audi to do it again - but I will try the newer part. Do you think this is a job I could get a competent friend with tools to help with - or are there specific tools neeeded ?

Also - as a guide how long would this take so I have a clue as to what my local garage should charge...
Click to expand...

When I did mine our local stealer managed to sell me a new modified oil filter/filter (for £120 :faint:) unit that was supposed to stop this problem, looked exactly the same as the old one though:wacko:

To change that it was a right bitch,injection pipes off,turbo,egr etc........

Just to change the filter's going to be a bitch as it's right down behind the oil filter and the injection pipes would have to come off for better access, I reckon 1hr.

Jason
 
nicknick said:
Not the EGR valve - mine is a blocker crankcase breather again. I won't be paying Audi to do it again - but I will try the newer part. Do you think this is a job I could get a competent friend with tools to help with - or are there specific tools neeeded ?

Also - as a guide how long would this take so I have a clue as to what my local garage should charge...
Click to expand...

I did this one, yes take off injector pipes , place then in a safe place and keep them in order so you know how they go back on,

you will need a star threaded head for the 2 screws that hold the crankcase breathers metal cover, you will also need a rachet moverble elbo socket so you can get the angle on the star screws,

unclip the brather hose from the top of the filter.

use a long flat nose screwdriver to gently leave the egr bottom pipe up a bit to give yourself a bit more room,

Then lift and turn the filter in such a way that you can pull it out on its side,

before fitting the new one clean up all the inside areas of the housing

i did not remove the turbo unit, just its cover.

TIP, let the engine cool down and watch your knuckels! :scared2:
 
Thanks for the advice Jason and Turkster...

I think I will get the newer filter that's mentioned in this thread to try and avoid having to do this again in another years time.

As an aside I can stop mine smoking if I keep the revs above 1000 when sat in traffic. I wonder if by doing this it gets the crank case pressure high enough to force the breather to operate ?


Last time this happened my engine went into limp mode a couple of times and threw a 00575 error code for boost not matching demand. I think that was because the turbo was getting caked with the crap that the crankcase breather wasn't taking. Once the new breather was on it took a day or two before the lack of power / fault codes went away and until this week all had been fine for a year.

So ..for now I've taken the oil cap off and have used a very handy shaped (bit like a dumbell ) sponge to sit in it's place.
Is this likely to cause any problems short term ? I'll be ordering the part this morning from Audi and won't be going far in the car.
 
Just to update - I got the newer part as suggested in this thread and had my local dealer replace for me. Just over an hours labour and all is working fine now - so thanks for the advice. Hopefully with the new part this is the last time I have this problem ...
 
Nicknick - Good to hear you got yours fixed as well. Mine has been fine since replacing with the newer oil mist seperator part. IMO audi should not be selling the older one as the problem comes around again too quickly. But in a lot of cases the dealers dont even know that this is a problem and go straight to replacing turbos and the like. Scandalous!
Anyway just replaced a load of bushes on the back end for MOT and passed for another year.
Fingers crossed nothing else for a while!
John.
 
Hi guys,


Thanks to this forum I have been able to sort out the problem with my Audi.

I had the dreaded white smoke pouring out of my exhaust.

Wasted money on a new turbo!

Am please to say The problem is cured!

****** Oil mist filter.!!!!!

Will get pic of my A6 up soon.

Thanks guys!

:applaus:
 
Richie said:
Hi all,

My 2.5TDi began pouring oily smoke out of the exhaust a while ago and I was (wrongly) advised it was the turbo so went through all the expense and hassle of finding a turbo as cheap as possible and getting it changed - it made no difference.

I then found this forum and there was lots of good advice. I got my local independent VW/Audi garage to change the breather unit and hey presto all is well. £50 for the part (as opposed to £500 for a turbo!). Seems to be a common fault on this engine as it ages.

If only I had come here first.

Thanks for the advice - I thought I'd add to this thread to share my experience as it may help others.
Click to expand...

Hi I am so happy to read this.I just had 2 new breather pipes changed and when I picked up my car there was smoke pouring out of the exhaust.
The independent mechanic said that is was my turbo, however I had changed my turbo 2.5 years ago.

i am guessing that he didnt install the pipes correctly or I need an Oil Mist Filter.
maybe i will go to the dealer and get this filter

if anyone has any comments, just let me know
thanks
 
Hi Audigemini

I believe I had the dreaded oil breather problem on my A6 2.5 TDi that had done 220K miles.

It was OK on start-up but once warm (after about 10 mins) left a cloud of white smoke whenever I stopped. It frightened the life out of other road users when I had to stop in slow moving / stopped traffic. It continued to perform OK.

My independant Audi mechanic said it was the valve stem seals gone due to the high mileage. As the car was getting tatty I sold it for spares or repair on ebay.

Whilst selling it I researched further & felt sure it was the blocked breather. This pressurises the crank case & forces oil out through the weakest points.

DO take the oil filler cap off & if there is pressure pop / noise then I would definately say its the breather. There is an excellent account of how to replace it (on this forum somewhere I believe) - but I donr have the computer to hand that I saved it as a favourite.

The part costs about £35 from Audi & you should buy the later one - which is updated. I now have an 03 2.5 TDI & bought a filter straight away - which is the later one.

The job involves removing the fuel pipes & lots of other bits of plumbing & takes about 3 hours - if I remember the account given.

Hopefully someone else on here will point you in the direction of the link.

Let us know how you got on!

Good luck - John C
 
did my breather yesterday and alll seemed fine as there was no smoke when pulling up to tickover but loads on startup this morning which makes me think valve seals as it was standing over night?
 
Ok, Im new to the forum. Ive got an A6 2.5 TDi AFB, 2000 W reg, 159k FSH. Paid £1400 at auction (thinking Id got a bargain) Took it home, and it smoked all the way, after further investigation realised it had high pressure blowing out of the dipstick and oil filler, so I had the following work done. Crankcase breather, changed turbo, cat was full of oil so bashed the guts out of it, replaced the exhaust with brand new, intercooler was full of oil, so replaced it (weighed about a third of the blocked one!) serviced it. Now, its still off the road, because it's still smoking, not quite as much as before, but it definately diesel smoke - its bluey grey and stinks of unburnt diesel, so much so you can taste it! It puffs it out every 10 - 15 seconds. Ive scanned it, no codes. Ticks over nicely - seems to run ok. Could the car be overfuelling and what would cause it? Im running out of ideas (and money). Could it be injectors? Pump timing? or something simple like a MAF? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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