what will cause white smoke besides a bad headgasket?

[yugotdonkey]

What will cause white smoke besides a bad headgasket? I went and looked at a 97 tsi awd today. The guy who owns it said that he bought it and a week later it overheated. he said that it started blowing white smoke out the exhaust, so he pulled over, said the coolant was low, so he put more coolant in, then limped home with it. That was three months ago, and it hasnt moved since then. He's pretty sure that it needs a new headgasket, and possibly the head is warped. I want to know if there is anything else that will cause white smoke besides a bad head gasket?

 

[kmartind]

I think it's pretty safe to assume you'd need a HG at the minimum, but it could be worse. If you're looking to buy it, I'd either have it checked out, or just make a super-low offer and see if he takes it, you never know he might just not want to deal with the hassle.

 

[midnght]

That is pronly about it unless he is mistaking WHITE with BLUE smoke to make a sale.

If he overheated it is a HG problem. Replace it all with ARP's and A Mitsu Metal HG. Also replace the thermostat with a better unit and the cap on the hose. Make sure it the turbo still boosts. If it is shot you can get some burnoff from that aswell. It could possibly be on its last leg if that is the case.

 

[SoFlaJDM]

it could even be a crack in the head

 

[dogpoop]

Don't even try to kid yourself that the white smoke is from something innocuous. Assume at least a blown head gasket. And yes, in addition the head may be warped and you certainly cannot rule out significant damage to the short block as well due to overheating.
There are plenty of 97 AWD TSIs out there. Personally, I wouldn't touch the one you're looking at unless I was going to rebuild the engine anyway. All that glitters is not gold.

 

[halik008]

well if it is a white smoke with blue tint to it you are burning oil....

I also get somewhat white smoke from my exhaust when i start up my car (when cold) which is the water and condensation off A/C, but it goes away quckily and never happens when it's warmed up or driven....

halik

 

[midnght]

...All that glitters is not gold.

All that is gold is not reality......


I agree totaly. You can atleast bet on those things being wrong.

 

[yugotdonkey]

heh I know all that glitters is not gold, I bought a not running 1g and found out the hard way. I'm not really interested in buying it, I just wanted to see if anyone knows of any other things that cause white smoke, so that maybe i could get a steal if it wasnt in need of as much work as he thought. The car has 32k miles and a lot of extras...660 cc injectors, fmic, intercooler piping, n1 turboback exhaust, t3/t4, external wastegate mounted on exhaust mani, type s bov, haltech engine management, greddy turbo timer. He wants 6k for it, which is too much for me for a not running car, but with all those parts, if I could get it running for cheap, it would be worth it. Thanks for the responses .

 

[e1337]

when i blew my t25, it blew white smoke from the exhuast, could that be also another reason?

 

[midnght]

when i blew my t25, it blew white smoke from the exhuast, could that be also another reason?

Yes, that is a tell tale sign of a blown turbo.

 

[draxus83]

ok i know it blows white when you burn up a turbo but will it blow as soon as it cranks of after the car warms t normal op temp ???

 

[midnght]

ok i know it blows white when you burn up a turbo but will it blow as soon as it cranks of after the car warms t normal op temp ???

Mine did it all the time. Except when I got up to highway speeds and kept my foot on the pedal to accelerate. Once I let off, white smoke.

 

[BaileyBoy]

It could be some coolant hose in the engine bay that has cracked or blew out. It happend to me on the way to a car show in my mustang. had to park it and let it cool and then drive home. still made it to the show tho