OT: I think it’s time to let go of my audi…sniff….

[FlyerInHi]

Actually, most people replace their cars before 10 years. So it’s not a problem for them

Most people just trade in their cars and consider transportation a monthly expense that takes up x% of cash flow.

If you don’t want buy a new car, just makes sure to maintain it so it runs cleans. Some old cars are not worth fixing and should be crushed. There’s a life cycle to everything.

If you like to enjoy and drive your car hard, modify it for more performance, whatever… Your choice. But chances are it won’t run like intended forever.

[spdrun]

Average age of a car in the US is about 11 years, so they might change hands more often, but they last longer than 10 years. Most people are blithering idiots.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]Average age of a car in the US is about 11 years, so they might change hands, but they last longer than 10 years.[/quote]

And they do last more than 10 years. Hence the smog program to make sure they run clean and are well maintained.

People who drive old cars will generally defer maintenance and not fix anything if they can get away with it. They need to be forced to at least fix the emission system.

Do you want leaky old cars running around? Leaking oil or whatever on parking lots and roads? Just add a quart every tank kinda mentality.

[Coronita]

Hobie and Hatfield…

Thanks for your technical support and suggestions….

After further examining thing, I am suspecting the culprit might be the turbo….

The 1.8T’s single turbo sits on the lower passenger side, and that’s roughly where I’ve been seeing an occasional droplets of coolant on the ground. (I checked the radiator and hoses, and those were fine. The water pump is also fine (it’s in the middle/center position, so that’s not the source of the leak…

I suspect that somehow coolant is leaking within the turbo into the xhaust outlet, which would explain the white smoke coming out of the tailpipe.
Thoughts? Here’s a rough picture of how things are (not my car)

Unfortunately, the catalytic converter is right after the turbo, and with a coolant leak, that probably means my cat is dead too. Interestingly, I’m not seeing any fault codes for from my O2 sensors, and from the ECU scan, everything looks ok. So it’s just weird.

Man, this is going to be a bitch and half to fix.
Parts cost aside is the least of my concern.. Labor is up the ying yang, even if it’s my own labor…
I think most of the front will need to come off again…. And dealing with bolts on the cat and turbo after they’ve been heated and cooled for 16 years is not going to be fun…

I really don’t want to revisit this again:

[img_assist|nid=25707|title=timing belt hell|desc=|link=node|align=left|width=600 | height=500]

On the plus side. Maybe this is the solution to my track car. Maybe the cat has to come off, and maybe the turbo is shot. Maybe would be a good time to put in a larger turbo, take the cat off completely and just run a straight pipe, and just PNO the car and leave it for track duty…. heh heh… I do need to swap the tranny too, but I’m guessing those should be pretty easy to find in the junkyard.

[moneymaker]

I’m about to do the timing belt on my 2002 VW Jetta TDI. Instead of taking the front of the car out I just need to lift the engine. Makes me wish I had my grandpas old 1960’s F-100. Dealers want 1000-1800 to do it and since it is supposed to be done every 80,000 miles I guess I need to learn to do it myself.

[mike92104]

Have you witnessed the “white smoke” any other time you have started it? After sitting for a month, I would assume a significant amount of condensation would have built up in the exhaust, and was probably steaming off once it was warmed up enough. If you haven’t seen it since, I wouldn’t worry about it.

As far as the turbo, I thought most were oil cooled.

The Rotella T-6 is also available at Walmart in 1 gallon jugs for $22. Chevron has their Delo synthetic diesel oil for $19 or so. I run the Rotella in my diesel liberty.

[bearishgurl]

Just an FYI … BJ’s Rentals has chain pullers with stand for your engine (by the day, week or month):

http://catalog.bjsrentals.com/equipment.asp?action=category&category=3

[Coronita]

[quote=moneymaker]I’m about to do the timing belt on my 2002 VW Jetta TDI. Instead of taking the front of the car out I just need to lift the engine. Makes me wish I had my grandpas old 1960’s F-100. Dealers want 1000-1800 to do it and since it is supposed to be done every 80,000 miles I guess I need to learn to do it myself.[/quote]

Lol… I bought my timing belt kit from amazon. Gates timing belt kit. (Don’t buy the water pump from gates). I think I spent $250 total for the kit + waterpump and another $26 for the special coolant.

I also changed out all the accessories belts and the thermostat, and some additional belt rollers for about $150 more, because once you have front off, you might as well do all those things too.

I guess I didn’t need to…

Don’t lift the engine, just take the front off. It’s easier. If you’re really good you don’t even need to take the front off. The audi/vw’s front can be pivoted forward about 4-5 inches and you can get your hand in between to work. I took everything off because if you remember, I had a fiasco with getting some of the bolts off one of the pulleys.

http://piggington.com/ot_garage_gurus_i_need_some_suggestions

Edit: Holy sheet. Just reviewing some of the pictures I took last time, I forgot what a PITA it was to work on this thing about a year ago. ….

[Hobie]

I’m not familier with your engine so this is a guess. Are you sure there coolent to the turbo? Maybe it is upstream that is leaking and since turbo is down low is could be pooling and burning off creating smoke. But again, turbo gets hot pretty quick and I would guess that vaporizes fairly quickly.

Plus, you probably would notice more coolent loss than a drip or two. hmm

Ya know…..

Suppose you had a leaking valve guide or turbo oil line and it dripped oil down and ended up in the turbo when engine off. Since the oil wasn’t burned the the cyldender it would heat up in the turbo and make whitish smoke just as mentioned an external oil leak onto a hot manifold, but this would still be internal and come out the pipe!

Unless it is a huge leak, after it burns it off it should run clean. And your coolent drip is a small external drip. Nothing more.

Bet new smog guy is all you need. Fingers crossed.

[Coronita]

[quote=Hobie]I’m not familier with your engine so this is a guess. Are you sure there coolent to the turbo? Maybe it is upstream that is leaking and since turbo is down low is could be pooling and burning off creating smoke. But again, turbo gets hot pretty quick and I would guess that vaporizes fairly quickly.

Plus, you probably would notice more coolent loss than a drip or two. hmm

Ya know…..

Suppose you had a leaking valve guide or turbo oil line and it dripped oil down and ended up in the turbo when engine off. Since the oil wasn’t burned the the cyldender it would heat up in the turbo and make whitish smoke just as mentioned an external oil leak onto a hot manifold, but this would still be internal and come out the pipe!

Unless it is a huge leak, after it burns it off it should run clean. And your coolent drip is a small external drip. Nothing more.

Bet new smog guy is all you need. Fingers crossed.[/quote]

Hmm good points…. Yes, literally the drip is maybe one drop every few hours or something like that.

There does seem to be a “burn off”….If I drive the car for 30-40minutes, I don’t get this nice white puff of smoke. I’m pretty sure it’s not condensation though. The nice white puff only happens on a really high rev and only within the first 15-20 minutes from startup…

Oh well, I’ll flog the car a bit and take it to another smog guy.

[Coronita]

[quote=mike92104]Have you witnessed the “white smoke” any other time you have started it? After sitting for a month, I would assume a significant amount of condensation would have built up in the exhaust, and was probably steaming off once it was warmed up enough. If you haven’t seen it since, I wouldn’t worry about it.

As far as the turbo, I thought most were oil cooled.

The Rotella T-6 is also available at Walmart in 1 gallon jugs for $22. Chevron has their Delo synthetic diesel oil for $19 or so. I run the Rotella in my diesel liberty.[/quote]

I think the white smoke did come up if I give it a lot of gas at startup. But if I drive it for 30minutes or so, no it doesn’t happen.

The turbo has both oil and coolant lines running through it…

[Coronita]

[quote=mike92104]Have you witnessed the “white smoke” any other time you have started it? After sitting for a month, I would assume a significant amount of condensation would have built up in the exhaust, and was probably steaming off once it was warmed up enough. If you haven’t seen it since, I wouldn’t worry about it.

As far as the turbo, I thought most were oil cooled.

The Rotella T-6 is also available at Walmart in 1 gallon jugs for $22. Chevron has their Delo synthetic diesel oil for $19 or so. I run the Rotella in my diesel liberty.[/quote]

BTW:

Thanks for the heads up about Walmart as a second source for the Rotella T-6. I was about to got there to pick a jug up, but It so happens that Amazon delivered my quarterly supply today. I have a subscription service for this stuff from Amazon and they deliver about 4 quarts of it to me every 3 months, since that’s how often I change my oil in the miata, being that it’s abused every month.

The Rotella T-6 is the most underrated oil. It’s a great product that I don’t think many people know about, and most importantly, it’s cheap. $18-22 for a 4 quarts. Mobil 1 will easily set you back close to $40… It might not make that much of a difference if you change oil every 6 months or a year, but I tend to do frequent changes on the miata.

[Hobie]

More I think about this, doubt coolent leak, or head gasket fail.

I’m thinking turbo oil leak. Turbo get hot enough to burn off oil after 1/2 hour running. High rev more oil pressure/flow past seal.

[svelte]

If you’re seeing white smoke, I’m pretty sure that means there’s a new pope.

[Coronita]

Ok Hobbie and Hatfield.

Riddle me this..

I drove on the freeway for about 30 minutes to work today.
And let’s just say that I was heavy on the gas most of the trip there.

I pulled into my parking lot and didn’t shut off the motor, but did let it idle for about 2 minutes…. And then this….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWE3JdNwGAg&feature=youtu.be

Notice the first time I give it a lot of gas, white smoke…2nd-4th time…nothing….

Ideas?

[Author]

Posts