Hey forum,
I have some white smoke coming out of both my tail pips right now. It's not constant but when I rev it a little bit and get out and check I can see it .
Questions:
1. Is it my turbos?
2. What would the smell be like? (it smells like gas more than anything)
3. Would I hear any other noises from my engine? Whistling or anything? (there are none currently
4. If it is my turbos, how long before they're completely done?
5. If they are and they go out, can I still drive my car with "dead" turbos?
6. If it is my turbos, should I try to get some more k03s or get ko4s?

I would really appreciate any and all info you guys can give me. I need as much help/advice I can get.
Thanks.
Cheers,

 

take off your belly pan(skid plate) and see if there is any oil on it. mine was covered in it when my turbos went.

 

blue grey smoke is oil
black smoke is rich
white smoke might be nothing, or headgasket issues. does it smoke at all times?? or only on initial startup/run of the day?? water/condensation can build up in exhaust, and then you notice it as you get on it. if its a lot of white smoke, may be headgaskets, not sure if turbos can leak coolant in the exhaust or not. ive been running my car hard for 3 years now, and cant say that ive experienced a turbo failure. .. yet..

 

Thanks for the reply...
Well I started up the car a couple more times and the smoke dissipated a lot and now only comes out of my left tail pipe only when I rev the engine. It doesnt come out at idle... It only did it at startup/run of the day before, not like I described in the thread. I would have a significant power loss if it was my turbos right? I'm thinking head gasket or maybe at second to worst a cracked head. But I talked to my buddy and he said that if the block was crocked I would have lost a lot of power. Also there is ZERO smoke coming from the engine bay. Everything sounds normal.

 

how do your valve covers look?

 

I haven't checked yet. Newest update is that I started my car up today for work and a little smoke came out of the left pipe again. Not very much and went away fairly quickly. I turned off/started up the car a few more times throughout the day and no more smoke. So I think its oil somewhere getting burned off?
I will check the covers and the belly pan as soon as I can. Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

check the dipstick.... to see if the oil and water have been mixing...(aka blown gasket/ cracked head)... you'll be able to see water not mixing on the dipstick... or it will look like oil only (normal)....

are you having any drivability issues? noises?..... just the smoke may not be an issue, might be normal....

 

Im gonna check the oil today. And no, no drivabilty issues at all. No weird noises, no power loss, no jerks, none of it. Thats whats confusing

 

'01 A4 1.8T
I've been having the same issues with the smoke. But, before I started seeing smoke, I noticed a little rattling nose that is only noticeable when I drive past a wall or something that can reflect the sound back. Could this be connected? I did check my coolant today and I had a little loss from when I filled it last (maybe two months ago). I'll check my oil in when I wake up.
If there is any advice that anyone can give me, please do!

 

since you have a 1.8t you can actually see your turbo. disconnect the inlet hose and see if there is any excess oil or play in the turbine wheel. Also check the intercooler for oil. hopefully its just a valve cover gasket.