Smoke plume and Boggy on fast acceleration

**ireilly13** · 06-28-2016 09:12 PM

'08 avant tiptronic 2nd owner 76000 miles. I drove the car across country with no problems. Live in San Diego. Never drive the car over 50mph. I work 1 mile from home. Starting to blow white smoke when I accelerate hard getting on the freeway and then feels boggy. enough smoke to make a huge smoke screen. Smell of burning oil/coolant too. Have a pic of some oil residue near the gasket at the head just below the spark plugs, but can't upload them. Any help please.

**hemantpd1** · 06-28-2016 10:36 PM

Are you always getting smoke while accelerating or sometimes? Are you loosing coolant? White smoke is from coolant. Most of the time it is difficult to determine the color of the smoke. If you are loosing coolant then possible head gasket or oil cooler seal. If you are loosing engine oil then there could be many possibilities: valve cover, valve cover gasket, PCV or turbo seals, valve stem seals, piston rings.

Do compression test first. That will give you more clarity. Good compression will rule out piston rings, valve seals or head gasket.

**ireilly13** · 06-28-2016 10:53 PM

thanks man, calling for apps tomorrow to local shop or maybe the dealer around here. not always getting smoke but sometimes i do, it's exactly like a two stroke bike when you open the choke kick start her up then forget to close it and ride it around and blow smoke and when you gas it she gets boggy, SAME EXACT feeling and that funky smell. but it only happens sometimes on the freeway ramps. thanks for your input and ideas.

ian

**Denio24** · 06-29-2016 06:38 AM

A little bit of misinformation here, a compression test will not tell you if your valve stem seals are bad, nor if your oil control rings are bad. All it really does tell you if your engine is able is to compress air on the compression stroke before the a/f mixture is ignited. A leakdown test will really only tell you if your valves are not sealing, but still then does not tell you if your valve stem seals are bad. It will also tell you if your hg is bad, or if your piston rings are starting to go; it's more accurate than a compression test for determining condition.

Did you replace your PCV yet? If your rear PCV is bad there will be oil accumulation due to nowhere for the blowby gasses to escape so it goes to the top and usually through the oil filler cap, and near the coil packs. A leakdown test also wouldn't hurt as you say you smell coolant too. A pcv failure will also cause you to create oil smoke at wide open throttle

I would get a compression and leak down test just to be sure it isn't anything else.

**ireilly13** · 06-29-2016 07:59 AM

Thanks for more input I was wondering about a leak down test from what I read on here earlier. Gonna ask for both when I call today. Thanks a ton guys

**KJack** · 06-29-2016 08:36 AM

I had the exact same issue last year. Your valve cover probably has a crack on the underside and it's causing the oil leak and create a James Bond-style smoke screen. Your intercooler pipe probably has a lot of oil sitting in it as a result. Check the valve cover. Being made of plastic, this seems to be a common issue.

**hemantpd1** · 06-29-2016 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Denio24

A little bit of misinformation here, a compression test will not tell you if your valve stem seals are bad, nor if your oil control rings are bad. All it really does tell you if your engine is able is to compress air on the compression stroke before the a/f mixture is ignited. A leakdown test will really only tell you if your valves are not sealing, but still then does not tell you if your valve stem seals are bad. It will also tell you if your hg is bad, or if your piston rings are starting to go; it's more accurate than a compression test for determining condition.

Did you replace your PCV yet? If your rear PCV is bad there will be oil accumulation due to nowhere for the blowby gasses to escape so it goes to the top and usually through the oil filler cap, and near the coil packs. A leakdown test also wouldn't hurt as you say you smell coolant too. A pcv failure will also cause you to create oil smoke at wide open throttle

I would get a compression and leak down test just to be sure it isn't anything else.

I compelety agree with you what are you saying. What i meant to say that if compression is good then, leak down test is not needed and we can focus on PCV, VC , VCG or turbo. Please correct me if I am wrong.Most of the time culprit is cracked valve cover or gasket.

**QuattriumMT6** · 06-29-2016 02:23 PM

Sounds like the problem my cousin had with his car. Under load the car would bog and blow a huge cloud of smoke. Driving the car conservatively (keeping rpms under 3k when shifting) it was fine. Ended up being a bad turbo. Oil was found all throughout his intercooler piping too. Problem is fixed now.

**ireilly13** · 07-01-2016 03:27 AM

thanks guys for all the feedback, always appreciate it. headed in on tues for compression test and leak down test. will also mention the valve cover. Have a good buddy who thought right away it was the turbo. Whenever i see the smoke screen i think its an oil/carb/deposit buildup that gets blown off, but then I have that bog after; so I'm not sure about it after that boggy feeling. ill update this post, thanks to you all.

**Avant4me** · 07-01-2016 11:59 AM

I have the exact same problems.

did my compression test and leak down test and my numbers are rock solid. PCV system has been replaced along with new VC gasket.

Valve cover cracking I believe is only really a problem with the silver valve covers?

I'm leaning on my turbo seals being blown.

**ireilly13** · 07-12-2016 12:13 PM

you and I have the same results. probably the turbo. not looking forward to replacing that. I've heard its just long and time consuming to even get to the turbo. but i guess it has to be done or other problems evolve and its a total shit show.