White smoke on idle

Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
Hi all, recently been getting alot of white smoke after short while idling.. the longer I leave the car idling the more smoke comes out when i set off.. once ive set off the smoke clears... car seems to run spot on, no power loss.
I went through KFC drive through today by the time I got to the window to pickup my food the staff was choking as the smoke smells really bad lol.

It's a leon cupra AUQ 1.8T

I took it to a garage last week the mechanic looked underneath for 2 minutes and said its the turbo.. so before I get it changed wondered if anyone's had this exact problem and changing the turbo has resolved the issue?

I've heard the eBay turbo' s aren't worth bothering with and eurocarparts want 5-600 for one. What other options do I have?

Cheers for any replys.
 

Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
It doesn't lose any water from coolant , does use a bit of oil not much tho to be fair... But the smoke does smell as if it's burning oil
 

Stuart09

Active Member
Dec 24, 2016
145
0
I would check to see if there is any oil in your coolant tank and vice versa. I would think that if it was the turbo it would be blue smoke.

mk1 Leon cupra 1.8T 20v.
 

Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
Coolant is clean and no mayo in the oil, only had the water pump and cambelt changed a couple of months ago as the water pump failed.
 

mty12345

Active Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,728
451
bristol
It will probably be the valve stem oil seals mate. It's a cylinder head strip down job if so. Very much doubt it's the turbo as it would do it all the time and more so when driving on boost.

As you say the ebay turbos are cheap chinese crap. OEM turbo is the only way to go if one was needed, unless you want to go down the big power route. In that case a hybrid turbo would be the best, but they are expensive and you will need all the mods to go with it.
 
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Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
Is there anyway of testing things to find out for certain what's causing this?
 

mty12345

Active Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,728
451
bristol
Not as far as i know mate, not without stripping the head. From the symptoms though i'd struggle to see it being anything other then the valve stem seals.

The reason i say that is when on boost, you have positive pressure in the cylinders and that keeps the oil out. When at idle, the vacuum conditions in the cylinder will cause oil to be drawnl past the valve seals and that creates the smoke.

If you take it to a 1.8T/VW specialist then they should be able to tell from experience.
 
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Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
Spoke to a vag specialist today, he said try bypassing the turbo by connecting the air flow meter to the inlet manifold?? Not really sure how that would work... and another guy from a different garage said try doing an engine flush and put some decent oil in.. then spoke to a vag tuning place but they want £100 to look at it for a hour with vagcom diagnostics
 

mty12345

Active Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,728
451
bristol
Spoke to a vag specialist today, he said try bypassing the turbo by connecting the air flow meter to the inlet manifold?? Not really sure how that would work...

Neither am i mate, or how it would help diagnose your problem....

and another guy from a different garage said try doing an engine flush and put some decent oil in..

Can't see this doing any good, usually avoid engine flush, even more so on a high milage motor.

then spoke to a vag tuning place but they want £100 to look at it for a hour with vagcom diagnostics

Not sure this will help either, vagcom isn't going to help diagnose where the oil is coming from.



I'd look for a local engine shop, but one with a really good rep, not one of those "engine swap" garages that are run by pikeys..... They'll just tell you that you need a new engine, and then charge you £3k to fit one that they either stole to order, or had rusting in a field behind their gypo wagon.
 
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DrewCole

Spannering the Cupra
Oct 19, 2015
697
1
Braintree, Essex
Mine does the same, it's the oil seal on the Turbo, I'm having mine rebuilt.

If it were the valve stem seals then it would puff on gear changes, head gasket you would be seeing oil in the water or vice-versa.

Mine suffers from a build up of oil on the exhaust side of the turbo, as I suspect the oil seal on the journal bearing has gone
Slight smoke on start up and then after it builds up, there is a HUGE cloud, the smoke won't always be blue... if it is then it's a slight tint.

Mine has covered just over 100k miles, so the turbo is past it's best!
 

DrewCole

Spannering the Cupra
Oct 19, 2015
697
1
Braintree, Essex
How much is a turbo rebuild pal and are you fitting it your self?

A rebuild will set you back anywhere from £180 - £300
A reconditioned unit will be roughly £350 from a reputable place.

I've bought all of the OEM (Borg Warner) parts and will be doing it myself, you'll also need to ideally change fluids and filter too.

There isn't much to a Turbo, and as long and you know the workings and are VERY careful to work clean and mark the locations of everything to ensure it is put back together correctly, then it can be done without needing to be balanced, as some will tell you.

If you are putting in new compressor wheels, shaft or cassette then it defiantly needs to be balanced, but if just replacing seals and the journal bearings it doesn't, if done right.
 

Goodall

Active Member
Nov 10, 2016
15
0
Could it damage anything by still using the car if it is the turbo that is failing?
 

DrewCole

Spannering the Cupra
Oct 19, 2015
697
1
Braintree, Essex
Could it damage anything by still using the car if it is the turbo that is failing?

There is always a chance it could yes, but then it could let go at any point and lunch the engine regardless of whether the seals are going or not.

If the seals are going then the smoke will get worse, as will the smell of burning oil and it probably won't do the CAT much good either.

If you need to drive it, then keep the revs low and stay off boost as much as you can to keep the pressure down.
 

mty12345

Active Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,728
451
bristol
Mine does the same, it's the oil seal on the Turbo, I'm having mine rebuilt.

If it were the valve stem seals then it would puff on gear changes, head gasket you would be seeing oil in the water or vice-versa.

Mine suffers from a build up of oil on the exhaust side of the turbo, as I suspect the oil seal on the journal bearing has gone
Slight smoke on start up and then after it builds up, there is a HUGE cloud, the smoke won't always be blue... if it is then it's a slight tint.

Mine has covered just over 100k miles, so the turbo is past it's best!

If it's the turbo seals, then wouldn't it happen all the time, and more so on boost? The oil pressure at the turbo is pretty high, so i would of thought that oil would be continually forced past the seals if they were leaking.

I've bought all of the OEM (Borg Warner) parts and will be doing it myself, you'll also need to ideally change fluids and filter too.

There isn't much to a Turbo, and as long and you know the workings and are VERY careful to work clean and mark the locations of everything to ensure it is put back together correctly, then it can be done without needing to be balanced, as some will tell you.

If you are putting in new compressor wheels, shaft or cassette then it defiantly needs to be balanced, but if just replacing seals and the journal bearings it doesn't, if done right.

With the extreme accuracy needed to rebuild a turbo, i think this is well beyond the capabilites of 99.9% of people (myself included) who might read this!

With something that's spinning at over 100,000rpm, the tolerances are insanely small! The vast majority of people would be MUCH better off buying a new or reconditioned one that has been properly balanced, rather than attempting to to do this themselves.
 
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DrewCole

Spannering the Cupra
Oct 19, 2015
697
1
Braintree, Essex
If it's the turbo seals, then wouldn't it happen all the time, and more so on boost? The oil pressure at the turbo is pretty high, so i would of thought that oil would be continually forced past the seals if they were leaking.



With the extreme accuracy needed to rebuild a turbo, i think this is well beyond the capabilites of 99.9% of people (myself included) who might read this!

With something that's spinning at over 100,000rpm, the tolerances are insanely small! The vast majority of people would be MUCH better off buying a new or reconditioned one that has been properly balanced, rather than attempting to to do this themselves.
When the seals fail completely then yes, unless it's a total failure a small amount of oil will.pass a seal.

Mine only smokes when on boost

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