The White smoke Mystery

[Green16v 0]

Hi,

 

I'm new to the world of Corrado's, but loving the experience previously I Had a Golf Mk2 GTI and two Golf MK1's.

 

I bought this Corrado last saturday High miles but hey its a Volkswagon with apparently a new head rebuild due to Gasket failure in April 2005.

Now it has white smoke from the day i bought it I assumed the car was cold and a cold day so white smoke on start up, which would suggest a faulty headgasket and yet there is no coolant loss after 215 miles.

A Garage did say that if it had a cat it may cause it to smoke more in this kind of weather????

Any advice please Its a H plate.

[dr_mat 0]

Is it smoke or steam? That's the first question ..

[Green16v 0]

Well I've had a terrible cold so i can't smell the smoke :roll: , I think it is steam though as when i put my hand close to the exhaust i got alot of droplets on my hand.

The Coolant is clean without oil contamination and so is the oil clean.

I am seriously confused.

[dr_mat 0]

And it's still steaming when the engine is fully warmed up? I mean it's natural that some tiny amount of water vapour is produced, but once the exhaust is hot all the way to the end, it doesn't usually condense out until the vapours have long since left the car..

[Green16v 0]

Thats what i thought, I was wondering if it might be a dodgy cold start unit or as this mechanic said possably the cat causing the problem.

 

Well I'll take to the local garage at lunch and get a check on it. Luckily I haven't paid all the money yet as i was slightly concerned at purchase so held back £300:00 against any such nonsense

[dr_mat 0]

Dodgy cold-start valves would just result in it running rich I would think. Usually that gives you black smoke, particularly under power I think.

[Green16v 0]

Oh well, heres praying on the bright side i eithor get my money back or I won't pay anymore in which case i will buy a 2.0 litre engine and put my 1.8 cams in it :twisted: for a little more flavour

[Green16v 0]

Been to the garage and left them scratching their heads, strangely wasn't smoking very much at all very fine mist in the air while cold.

 

Could it be just that the morning and evenings when I'm driving to and from work are just showing the smoke due to the temperature like your breath???? as the coolant is still sitting on max

[Musicman 0]

Have you elected a Pope recently? :)

 

[ I swear that's the last time I'll use that joke ]

[vr6storm 0]

H reg 16v's don't have cats IIRC

[dr_mat 0]

How hot does it get when you do your drive to/from work?

[Green16v 0]

Doesn't even reach the 70 degree mark, it stays in the very bottom it had a new radiator fan and all thermostats changed for new ones. I know the thermostat works as when i got the car i drove 30 miles home and it sat at 70 dead on after about 20 miles of travel, the fan comes on as well.

Apart from this smoke the car drives beautifully

[dr_mat 0]

Wow, that's low.

Does the radiator get hot (top *and* bottom hoses)?

What happens if you sit there with the engine idling and not moving. The temp should creep up till the fans come on. But then you've already said the fans come on, so sounds like your temp gauge is fubar to me.

Weird symptoms though. I really wouldn't expect to see hardly any steam, even in this weather, after a 20 miles drive.

[Green16v 0]

Sorry I was a little vague, my travel to work lasts about 15minutes and is 12 miles this is basicly all motorway. The one time I was sitting in traffic it did creep up to around 85 degrees and sat there, the guy I got it of did reckon he put in a low temp thermostat to maintain low temperature running and lower the risk to the new head gasket.

[dr_mat 0]

Not kidding...!

Sounds more like the gauge is under-reading by about 15 degrees though, which would make it a far more sensible "sitting at 85", "rising to 100 in traffic".

Still doesn't explain the steam. How much steam do you get after your 12 mile sprint? Got any pics?

[Green16v 0]

Maybe mate, I will get some photos tomorrow afternoon and upload them for the critical analysis.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

No oil or water loss, then it's steam. Mine steams for ages in this weather....lot of heat and gas flow going into thick cold air.

 

I once filled my exhaust up with a hose for a laugh and that used to steam all the way to and from work in the summer, LOL! So your baffles might just be wet mate and not drying out fully....

 

It's a 16V, they don't run hot like VR6s. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

It's amazing the amount of people I see pointing at steaming exhausts and saying "Cor that's a smokey old engine" as exactly the same kind of steam comes out of their mouthes as they say it, LOL! That's not a dig at you Green btw :-)

[Green16v 0]

Cheers bro nice to hear I’m not the only one out there, the fear has lifted a bit. To be honest the engine only has to live till next June/July as I have a 1.8t to put in her but still I need it to run till I can do the conversion way to cold this time of year :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Ah don't worry about it then, just cane it and enjoy it in the meantime :-)