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White smoke from exhaust?

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Derik

Probationary Member
3
0
Oct 5, 2014
Russellville, Kentucky
This is my first time posting. If it's the wrong area just let me know. I have a 95 eagle talon tsi (fwd) and today white smoke started soming out of the exhaust. It gets worse with acceleration. It smells like gas, not a sweet smell. The oil looks fine, and so does the coolant. The coolant level hasn't dropped at all, neither has the oil. There are 2 error codes which the car has had since I purchased it a few weeks ago. The codes are P0170 and P0202. The first code says "Fuel trim bank one. The powertrain control module uses the oxygen sensor to calculate the air/fuel ratio of the engine. The computer has recognized a rich or lean condition on one engine bank only. Probable cause: MAF, O2 sensor defective, Ignition misfire, and fuel injector problem. The second cose says "Fuel injector circuit condition-injector number 2. The powertrain control module monitors the fuel injection electrical circuits for opens, shorts and system overload conditions. Probable cause: open or shorted fuel injectors, open or short in electrical circuit, high fuel pressure-pressure regulator, defective fuel-return line, and check TPS and circuit for failure. The car seems to be running fine. No loss in power, no misfires, still runs strong. Gas mileage is definitely not as good though. Everything under the hood is stock. Any idea of what could be the cause?
 
White smoke is generally coolant, like you mentioned, and can be indicative of a head gasket issue. Just because the coolant doesn't appear to be dropping, it doesn't mean it isn't being burned. Are you positive it is white smoke and not light gray?

If you perform a compression test, it will show you how much pressure each cylinder is building. This will give a general indicator of the motor's health. Following the results of the compression test, you can do a leak-down test, which will show where the motor is losing compression (if that's an issue).

I would start with a compression test.

As for your codes, it's pretty much telling you what to check. Just start testing the various parts you mentioned. It's that simple ;)

On a turbo 1g, the fuel injector circuit code is usually caused by a poor connection to a fuel injector or an injector that's stuck open. You can test each injector's resistance (ohms) with a voltmeter to see if it is the problem. If all injectors are within spec, it is likely a problem with the wiring or the harness that plus into the injector.
Like I said, that's for a 1g, but the process is similar for a 2g.

Do you have a factory service manual? If you don't, get one! It will illustrate how to properly test every part in your vehicle.
 
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Thanks for the replies. And when i checked the smoke the sun was staring to go down. I'll recheck tomorrow. I'll test the injectors tomorrow, and if they turn out alright, I'll do a compression test. Just hoping it's not a head gasket or cracked head.. I'll post again as soon as I find out something.
 
Yep if it is white smoke, that's coolant. The first thing i'd do is a compression test. If that's okay, then it could be the turbo.
 
If the car sat awhile or the gas was bad it could be water your seeing. Ethanol is hygroscopic meaning it absorbs water and alcohols mix with water quite well. That's what dry gas is basically, alcohol. You can try adding a bottle and getting some good gas. How bad is the smoke show?
 
Just picked up a multimeter and all the injectors read 2.9 I don't have a service manual and can't seem to find what the numbers should be online. I'm assuming that's ok numbers though since all 4 read the same. Guess I'll run a compression test tomorrow and hope for the best. I haven't checked the vacuum lines yet, but I'll definitely do that before anything else. I've drove the car pretty much every day for the last few weeks, always use premium fuel from bp. Not sure if the previous owner let it sit though. The smoke isn't that bad. At idle you can barely notice, but once you rev it, it comes out pretty good with each rev with a strong odor of gas.
 
2-3 ohms is within spec.

Instead of copy/pasting, this thread has a little more info on testing injectors and resistor pack. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/i-think-i-have-a-dead-injector.253114/

Vacuum loss wouldn't cause you to burn coolant like that. Vacuum leaks (and the similar boost leaks) both will cause strange behavior, mainly stuttering, bucking, poor acceleration, etc.
Compression test will shed some light on the situation.

And you're sure the smoke's not just condensation?
 
A cylinder leakdown test is a more conclusive test to do to determine headgasket integrity, a compression test wont always be a clear indicator of a leak if you can get ahold of a leakdown tester try that.
 
I got white smoke out exhaust of my 96 RS thanks for the forum
 
Do a leak down for sure, I did the results were pulling the head for a valve job and of course a slight leak in cyl 3 hg, good luck
 
Do a what? Sorry I'm learning mechanics and engines right now
 
You can do a cylinder leak down test to see if you have bad a valve leaking a bad head gasket. You use a tool that hooks to an air compressor and puts air in the cylinder and has two gauges and you look for differences in the pressure. It's hard to explain but there is a good video of it on YouTube. When is your smoke primarily?
 
shouldn't be an injector stuck open. coolant is white, so is just condensation in the exhaust, blue is oil and a fuel injector stuck open would be black smoke. its not always going to smell sweet coming from the exhaust being deluted by the burnt fuel smell. a leaking head gasket won't always blow between 2 cylinders to. it can blow between a cylinder and coolant channel or oiling channel which could burn oil or coolant. a way to test this is by a leak down test. looks like a spark plug base that threads in but has a hose on top. put it in each cylinder 1 at a time. take the coolant fill cap off and oil fill. put some pressure in the cylinder. now, look for bubbles coming through the cooling fill neck. take out the spark plugs to the sides of that cylinder and see if it loses any pressure between the other 2. either way, bubbles in the coolant is a blown head gasket
 
You can do a cylinder leak down test to see if you have bad a valve leaking a bad head gasket. You use a tool that hooks to an air compressor and puts air in the cylinder and has two gauges and you look for differences in the pressure. It's hard to explain but there is a good video of it on YouTube. When is your smoke primarily?
I just have white smoke coming out the muffler when it's running.. but the inside of my window keeps following up and I had seen coming out dash.. now I'm trying to get my dash out to get to my heater core... funny thing is this is another used engine my first one was also blowing white smoke really bad
 
The inside of my windows keep fogging up and I had steam coming out the dash
 
Yea defitly sounds like you could have a pretty Leaky head gasket on your hands, the leak down would reveal that.
 
Just another note if you smell the steam coming out of the exhaust and it has a sweet smell to it that's more than likely the product of burning antifreeze.
 
ditto on the leak down test but with basic mechanical skills i would just start with a compression test. it only takes a few min and its as easy as changing a spark plug. if it ends up having low compression then there ya go, if not then you have other tests to continue diagnosing.
 
Ok thanks guys I will try that
 
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