Coolant burning

[NF_TSi]

As far as I know, the only way for white smoke to be coming out your exhaust is if there is coolant burning, and this is caused by one thing: a blown head gasket. Is there any other way for this to occur, ie, turbo seals or an improperly placed line or something? Thanks.

 

[Glliw]

Yes, it can be the head gasket, or turbo seals, or a number of other things. First check to see if there's oil in your coolant reservoir or coolant in oil. After that, check compression, that'll see if its the headgasket. Come back with the results.

 

[diablos991]

Well, for the turbo to be putting coolant into the system, the center section would have to be cracked all of the way through.

A turbocharger that is pushing oil past the seals into the exhaust sytem can make a whitish smoke. (put some oil on your exhaust manifold and see what color it burns)

There are a couple of ways that coolant can get into the engine and combustion chamber. The first steps taken towards diagnosis should be:
Smell the smoke. (sweet or nasty oil smell)
Check for fluid mixing. (check your coolant resivoir and your dipstick)
Find out what recreates the smoking. (upon boosting, after boosting after idling, all of the time, etc...)
Checking the turbo for shaftplay. (NO in-and-out play, a little side-to-side is acceptable)
Compression test. ( http://www.dsmgrrrl.com/FAQs/compression.htm)

Keep us posted on your findings.