GT TDI - White smoke on acceleration.

[AjayB]

Hey guys, noticed today that my 04 GT TDI which is remapped to 180BHPish has started to smoke quite abit to the extent that its noticeable in my side mirrors. It tends to happen most when in low gears starting off and when changing gears, i haven't noticed any loss in power. Really confused :(

Anyone had this before?

[SteveP]

Who remapped it?

[GrayMK5GTI]

I think grey smoke is fuel vapour. Are you running a decat? 

[AjayB]

It got remapped at Awesome GTI last year (thinking about getting it removed). Only thing ii've done to the exhaust is remove the rear back box about 2 months ago.  

[Jibba]

Are you getting smoke on startup? If so does it smell sweet? Check your coolant regularly. If you are getting through it then it could be a porous/cracked head. I had it and no noticeable loss of power. This is what I had

 Dunno if that'll work as I'm on my phone.

Hope it's not that though as its pricey!

J

[AjayB]

Are you getting smoke on startup? If so does it smell sweet? Check your coolant regularly. If you are getting through it then it could be a porous/cracked head. I had it and no noticeable loss of power. This is what I had

 Dunno if that'll work as I'm on my phone.

Hope it's not that though as its pricey!

J

I think it might smoke on start up, not 100% i'll go out to check it and see if it smells sweet. The car has lost coolant once last year for no apparent reason but hasn't lost any since then. I hope its not costly

[Jibba]

Sounds like you need to get it checked. From what I was
Told it should not lose any. When the car has been stood overnight if you take off the coolant cap and hear a hiss then something's not right {iirc}. If your car is under 5years old and you have a good dealer they might do you a goodwill gesture. They paid for all parts for me I just had to pay labour.

[AjayB]

Ahhh, I'll check the coolant hiss thing cos its been stood overnight without been driven. My cars on an 04 so isn't anywhere close to 5 years old. I've read about a guy over on edition38 who after having written to VW UK got a new cylinder head free of charge as its a big problem which hasn't been officially acknowledged. Hopefully I can get something similar done if it is that.

[AjayB]

Just checked the coolant and it did 'hiss' and let some air out after being stood still overnight :( and the levels were slightly low so i've just topped it up! Anyone have rough ideas on how much it costs to replace the cylinder head if this is what is causing my problem.

[Jibba]

Oh dear, well don't panic. Just be sure to only top up with the 'G' coolant from vw. They charged me £1000 for labour and I think parts were about £800 this all from VW. At first I just bought coolant and drove around with a coke bottle ready mixed though so you can do that as an option for a while. But start checking it every time you drive.

Contact VW an see if they are willing to help fight your corner for a goodwill gesture.

Good luck!

[mortygttdi]

The coolant system is pressurised so will always hiss when you take the cap off

Any way the price of the head from VW is around £1200 plus your labour has Jibba said thing is its not just the head that will need replacement, you'll need a new head gasket, cambelt kit and water pump, new seals and bearings, oils and coolant.

It all adds up and if I was in your boots I would be getting rid Ive just ended up paying out £1500 to have the cylinder head replaced, on another note it does sound like fuel vapour unused diesel, also rather than the head it could be the EGR cooler thats leaking coolant into the exhaust which will give you white vapour cheap fix.

Darren

[AjayB]

Hey Darren thanks for your response.. i remembered reading a few months ago that you were having trouble with cylinder head! I did notice some liquid on the tips of the exhaust today when i went out to check if the car was still doing it.. so im hoping this is pointing out to the EGR problem and be an easy fix cos ive spent a lot of money on the car doing it up to how i want it  If it happens to be the Cylinder head then the car will be going for sure.. Fingers crossed though.

Ajay

[mortygttdi]

Have the EGR cooler taken off and check for damp, you'll know for sure then.

Darren

[AjayB]

DOes anyone know the Labour prices i would be looking at to replace the EGR Cooler, the garage i took the car to said around £180?

[dodds-gttdi]

Have you considered removing the EGR cooler? If you were to fit an EGR Delete pipe then I think the EGR cooler becomes redundant as well. Darren/MortiGTTDi removed his, possibly best getting advise from him regarding what you can all remove. This might fix you problem.