Something seems fishy about this

[97 Talon Esi]

Ok well i know this is not a straight forward question but it has been bothering me since i got home from picking up my new TSI. Earlier today i went to go pick up my Tsi that i had purchased a few weeks ago really excited i pulled into the driveway to be greeted by the previous ower of the car meanwhile he has the car idling in the driveway. Now when i went to look at the car a few weeks ago i had pulled into his driveway an the car was idling then also. He told me that he likes to warm it up before he drives it. I didnt think nothing of it at the time i actually thought it was a plus that this guy liked to let it idle before driving it. So I went for a ride in it and it seemed to be running great. Now today when i went i put my plates on ita nd pulled out of the driveway an got about half way down the street an started noticing white smoke coming from the tail pipe. When i got to the light it was really coming out so bad that i couldnt see behind me. After a couple miles the smoke disapered so i thought it might of been from sitting to long an the moisture. So i get about halfway home an the belt starts squeeling real bad an then out of nowhere my p/s goes out an half my lights on the cluster come on an the temp gauge spiked oh no!! i quickly got it into a gas station about .5 miles down the road an quickly shut it down an got out to investigate. What happended is the belt got shredded. Now im starting to think that this guy was trying to hide something from me but letting this car idle in his driveway for god knows how long before i came an got it. I am starting to think that the head gasket might be blown on this car.I pulled the stick an didnt notice an unusual color in the oil it was a light brown. Before all this happended the car was running great an i must say i have never felt boost before but i must say i love it !! Any ideas on what this guy might be pulling on me would be greatly helpfull.I just got the car tonight so i have not looked at it in detail yet but its on the top of my to do tommorow when i get out of work.

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

Well white smoke on long idles like in traffic, or warm up etc can or could be valve stem seals. I had problems with those causing smoke like crazy even under boost. White smoke is coolant, so it could be the turbo or the headgasket. Couple things to look at

Edit: forgot to add this

You have to remember that the water pump is on the belt that broke. It that is slipping or broke off it won't spin it properly causing you to over heat. So I mean it's a used car, so replace the belts, any hoses that look old, the thermostat and the radiator cap just to make sure that is all just in proper working condition.

 

[97 Talon Esi]

Thank you for the help. I am deffinetly going threw this car from top to bottom an replacing what is needed god knows how long it has been the guy didnt seem very smart when it came to a car. Atleast he knew how to change the oil though which is a plus. I never thought about the turbo that could be causing the white smoke i thought that would only happen under boost which it seemed to go away after i got up to speed. what should i be looking for. I know the turbo is cooled by the coolant.

 

[thomcasey]

Thank you for the help. I am deffinetly going threw this car from top to bottom an replacing what is needed god knows how long it has been the guy didnt seem very smart when it came to a car. Atleast he knew how to change the oil though which is a plus. I never thought about the turbo that could be causing the white smoke i thought that would only happen under boost which it seemed to go away after i got up to speed. what should i be looking for. I know the turbo is cooled by the coolant.

Sounds like the seal is going bad. When it is cold, it will be smaller and seal less. So, by letting it idle for a while, he gave it time for the coolant to heat up, thus heating the seal and causing it to swell and seal better.

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

Well under load it will produce the most smoke it it is the coolant seals going bad but it can leak just under normal driving too. If the seal is going bad it'll leak just like a failing gasket. So diagnose the problem, Is it every time you drive the car or it just on start ups and long idling periods? If it's both than i'd probably say the turbo is just going bad. If it's just after idling or start ups than i'd say your valve stems seals. Under heavy load I'd check your turbo and your head gasket. For the head gasket check your compression to see what each cylinder is at. If any cylinder is more than 10 off from another it's probably a head gasket issue.

But check the easiest things first. Start the car and watch the coolant see if it's green like it's supposed to be or if it's bubbling and discolored.
Change the oil and make sure no coolant is in the oil.
Once that is checked than start with the compression and stuff.

 

[97 Talon Esi]

I also did notice that the water pump is driven by that belt that snapped. I guess im more worried about if this belt problem has happended in the past an this guy was to stupid to know too shut the car off before he smokes the head gasket. I guess i am just gonna have to by a compression tester when the snap-on guy comes into work just so i can sleep better at nights.

I will check all them things out but it seems like it might be the valve stem seals as you described it. Thank you for the help.

 

[DeadsEvolution1]

Doing a compression test is always good, infact I would've done that before the purchase to be honest. And about the belt, my old 2G always was snapping that same belt. I would replace it every month or so which was quite annoying. Come to find out that the parts place was giving me the wrong one. Once I had been given the right one no more problems. I got so good at swapping that belt it took all of 5 minutes to switch it out. Amazing

But start small like I suggested and go from there.

 

[rstchris]

+1 on the valve seals. While the car sits oil slowly runs down through the seal into the cylinder giving a smokescreen on startup.

 

[slickers111]

I cant believe you kept Driving it when it started smoking.
Check the compression, then Look up maintenance for these cars. Do it.