Is the vrt gunna go boom! soon? :s

[kie_dub 0]

I have noticed that i am getting alot of exhaust smoke when i put my foot down in the car. Its not like a big black cloud behind me, not that extreme, looks more whitey i think. Also found that the top right plug and bottom right plug (as you look at the engine) are black, now this doesnt seem to be oil i dont think, more carbon. also had problems with the power cutting and bucking every now and again when i put my foot down.

Anybody got any ideas of what it is and how it can be solved. I have got a fast car sat outside and i am sh*t scared of putting my foot down incase it blows up then itll be thousands down th drain

Cheers in advance people!

p.s could do with getting this fixed before spring fest

[Ben Seabrook 4]

Have just put a sticky up regarding the plugs for you mate - with the power cutting/bucking the obvious culprits are MAF, leads, plugs and if yours is obd1 coilpack

[kie_dub 0]

nice one ben, any idea about the smoke? anybody?

[kie_dub 0]

bump!

[Bobtrude 0]

It may be coolant. . . . Is your coolant level low or getting low fast?

When did u change your plugs/leads?

And is your coilpack ever been replaced?

[Dave Lea 4]

if it is missing the smoke poss is unburnt fuel

[kie_dub 0]

It may be coolant. . . . Is your coolant level low or getting low fast?

When did u change your plugs/leads?

And is your coilpack ever been replaced?

I did have a coolant leak from the radiator, i have just replaced the radiator last weekend. Plugs where changed for ngkbkr7e plugs and gapped down which was about a month ago. Coilpack has not been changed to my knowledge. I have heard it could be a piston ring or valve seal or stem

[kie_dub 0]

if it is missing the smoke poss is unburnt fuel

unburned fuel, this means plugs? im getting sick of trying to find the right plugs to put in this car :'(

[Ben Seabrook 4]

wip the coilpack off and have a good look at it mate - noticed a tiny crack on mine and when we took it off it was cracked all over the place - will run like a bag of spanners if it's knackered

[Phat VR6 3]

what software are you running?

Sound like the smoke is piston rings (on acceleration) although that would be Blue/ greyish

[rodney 17]

I know there are a few responses here but just to re-enforece...

ok so the basics are...

What colour is the smoke????? (Very Important!)

If blue you know what it is.... If white then this may be a few things... If black then just carbon and or fuel/timing combos...

So White... Causes may not be basic if you see what I mean.

Is the white-ish under acceleration and/or deceleration/lift off/over-run? (Very Important!)

looking to see if the engine management is doing what it is meant to do?

The fluid levels are all where they should be - HEAT issues

The vales - BOF/Dump/re-circ is doing what it is meant to more importantly when it is meant to?

There is no issue with air/water flow including charge/intercooler?

Basically we are trying to understand if the choke is on all the time/ Its running hot / you using fluids / the air & Fuel flows are where they should be.

Hope it helps. Have a look and report back to us all......

Oh as an aside where is your air filter/MAF mounted and is it clean?

[kie_dub 0]

wip the coilpack off and have a good look at it mate - noticed a tiny crack on mine and when we took it off it was cracked all over the place - will run like a bag of spanners if it's knackered

Any posts on how to get it off? or is it easy to do like just screws and bolts? how much did you pay for your new coilpack ?

[kie_dub 0]

what software are you running?

Sound like the smoke is piston rings (on acceleration) although that would be Blue/ greyish

im running c2 software so nothing cheap

im getting the smoke on acceleration, noticing it alot more when turbo kicks in (i think)

[kie_dub 0]

I know there are a few responses here but just to re-enforece...

ok so the basics are...

What colour is the smoke????? (Very Important!)

If blue you know what it is.... If white then this may be a few things... If black then just carbon and or fuel/timing combos...

So White... Causes may not be basic if you see what I mean.

Is the white-ish under acceleration and/or deceleration/lift off/over-run? (Very Important!)

looking to see if the engine management is doing what it is meant to do?

The fluid levels are all where they should be - HEAT issues

The vales - BOF/Dump/re-circ is doing what it is meant to more importantly when it is meant to?

There is no issue with air/water flow including charge/intercooler?

Basically we are trying to understand if the choke is on all the time/ Its running hot / you using fluids / the air & Fuel flows are where they should be.

Hope it helps. Have a look and report back to us all......

Oh as an aside where is your air filter/MAF mounted and is it clean?

I will have to take the car out for a hard drive to answer some of these questions, but the smoke is when i accelerate and very noticable when the turbo comes into play. i got told the air filter could do with a clean, and it is mounted in the common usual place, where the old airbox was.

i had a coolant leak but i think that i have sorted this as i fitted a new radiator, i do have an oil leak but what vw doesnt lol!

Been told that the sump or sump seal could do with being replaced as this is where the oil is coming from. where talking an oil stain the size of a 10 pence piece in 24/48 hours roughly

ill try and find the answers to the other questions asap rcf!

Really need this sorting dont want to blow her up this car wont be worth a fraction of the price of what i paid if its blown

[Ben Seabrook 4]

wip the coilpack off and have a good look at it mate - noticed a tiny crack on mine and when we took it off it was cracked all over the place - will run like a bag of spanners if it's knackered

Any posts on how to get it off? or is it easy to do like just screws and bolts? how much did you pay for your new coilpack ?

it's easy mate - just four allen keys and removing the sensors from the top

[Phat VR6 3]

what software are you running?

Sound like the smoke is piston rings (on acceleration) although that would be Blue/ greyish

im running c2 software so nothing cheap

im getting the smoke on acceleration' date=' noticing it alot more when turbo kicks in (i think)

[/quote']

If you take the pipe off the turbo outlet (one that goes to the intercooler and then TB/ engine)

Is there any oil in there? could be oil blowing past the oil seals in the turbo.

If it is rings then i would expect smoke to get worse on boost

Do a compression test mate, easy job and the gauge cost around £20 from halfords

Try and work out what colour smoke you've got. Check your not loosing coolant ... will help narrow it down a bit

VAG.com it to see if you have any sensers down (also check no wires are broken going to your lamber sencer

[Bobtrude 0]

Take the coil off first . . . . if its cracked then change. . . Mine was and the car was hesitating like crazy on boost. . . . it couldnt burn the fuel, but it wasnt white smoke though.

If this doesnt solve it then I would lean towards headgasket leak, but dont get depressed, it might be other things also!

[kie_dub 0]

If you take the pipe off the turbo outlet (one that goes to the intercooler and then TB/ engine)

Is there any oil in there? could be oil blowing past the oil seals in the turbo.

If it is rings then i would expect smoke to get worse on boost

Do a compression test mate, easy job and the gauge cost around £20 from halfords

Try and work out what colour smoke you've got. Check your not loosing coolant ... will help narrow it down a bit

VAG.com it to see if you have any sensers down (also check no wires are broken going to your lamber sencer

well i was loosing coolant but i think that is now solved as i say, i hit the front of the car on a high kerb (well high for my car) and punctured the bottom of the rad so hard to say at the minute. what am i looking for when i do a compression test? eg. what reading means what roughly?

[Phat VR6 3]

If you take the pipe off the turbo outlet (one that goes to the intercooler and then TB/ engine)

Is there any oil in there? could be oil blowing past the oil seals in the turbo.

If it is rings then i would expect smoke to get worse on boost

Do a compression test mate' date=' easy job and the gauge cost around £20 from halfords

Try and work out what colour smoke you've got. Check your not loosing coolant ... will help narrow it down a bit

VAG.com it to see if you have any sensers down (also check no wires are broken going to your lamber sencer

[/quote']

well i was loosing coolant but i think that is now solved as i say, i hit the front of the car on a high kerb (well high for my car) and punctured the bottom of the rad so hard to say at the minute. what am i looking for when i do a compression test? eg. what reading means what roughly?

Its around 145-200 psi on a normal N/A motor (non turbo) But guess your running low compression so would be lower..

Just check that they are all close to each other. do the test and right them down on a bit of paper. if one or more are a lot lower than the others then you have a problem

But as everyone said do a visual inspection on the coil pack first. all though there's a lot of stuff you can check before spending money

[kie_dub 0]

If you take the pipe off the turbo outlet (one that goes to the intercooler and then TB/ engine)

Is there any oil in there? could be oil blowing past the oil seals in the turbo.

If it is rings then i would expect smoke to get worse on boost

Do a compression test mate' date=' easy job and the gauge cost around £20 from halfords

Try and work out what colour smoke you've got. Check your not loosing coolant ... will help narrow it down a bit

VAG.com it to see if you have any sensers down (also check no wires are broken going to your lamber sencer

[/quote']

well i was loosing coolant but i think that is now solved as i say, i hit the front of the car on a high kerb (well high for my car) and punctured the bottom of the rad so hard to say at the minute. what am i looking for when i do a compression test? eg. what reading means what roughly?

Its around 145-200 psi on a normal N/A motor (non turbo) But guess your running low compression so would be lower..

Just check that they are all close to each other. do the test and right them down on a bit of paper. if one or more are a lot lower than the others then you have a problem

But as everyone said do a visual inspection on the coil pack first. all though there's a lot of stuff you can check before spending money

the comp ratio is 9.0-1 i just asked the previous owner

how do i do this test then?

[Phat VR6 3]

disconnect coil pack, muti plug on top

Some would also recommend unplugging fuel pump (under round black circular panel in boot) remove 3 screws. lift flap and remove plug (stops engine filling with fuel)

Remove number one spark plug

screw in gauge

Turn engine over untill gauge stops going up

Right down compression on bit of paper.

Press button on side of compression tester to release pressure

Unscrew and replace spark plug

Remove number 2 spark plug and repeat above process untill you have done all 6

In the end you might have somthing like

(1. 145) (2. 148) (3.143) (4. 98) (5. 144) (6. 88)

From this you can see that number 4 and number 6 are down on compression.

add a few pumps of engine oil down the bores though the spark plug hole on number 4 and 6 and repeat test

If compression then goes back upto 145ish then that suggests the piston rings have had it

If you get the results

(1. 120) (2.122) (3.121) (4.122) (5.121) (6.120)

I.e there all close to each other then you've got a healthy engine (as far compression is concerned)

Its best to run the test while the engine is both hot and cold.

hope that makes sense

[Bobtrude 0]

Again, take an allen key and remowe the coilpack, if u have a crack in the casing I would be surprised if its not broken. If your car has over 120000 miles on it its gonna go soon anyway.

Nearly all vr6 have this problem, and when you are running boost you really need a good coil to burn all that extra fuel.

A new coil makes your engine more responsive and faster aswell .

[Ben Seabrook 4]

looks like peeps have given you a good few things to check mate - let us know how you get on

if your going to attempt all this yourself well worth signing up for premium membership as all the how to guides for things like the coilpack etc are in the premium section

[kie_dub 0]

i know thanks for the replies so far people! Good post from bodge there about comp testing aswel! Going to get this done at the weekend because when i get home through the week its dark. How much is a coil pack? Hope the rings havent gone, heard its expensive to replace the rings. Do you guys think that a cracked coil can cause smoke?

[jims13 6]

coilpack, turbo seals, or headgasket.. unlikely to be anything else..check side of the head fpr weeping by the afm, its a tell tale sign of headgasket failre, check the coilpack for cracks. and gets someone to stand behind it , when you rev it or follow you and see what colour smoke you have..

grey/black is unburnt fuel, anything else is trouble, but varying degress of. you dont want blue.white..

but tis always difficult to tel from in the car.