[Biturbos4] White smoke

[Mark R]

Good call, Greg.

Of course, it could still be turbos.  Remember, they're water cooled, too.

Heated garage overnight would confirm Greg's scenario.  Or set the car on
fire.  =)

Mark Rosenkrantz (who also adores his S4 2.7T)

On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 3:40 PM, Greg Amy <grega at pobox.com> wrote:

> Advanced apology for the mucked-up headers, I'm on digest.
>
> Dude, I'm gonna make your day: it's probably not the turbo(s).
>
> I'm guessing you live in a very cold climate? Someplace where it's below
> freezing right now? If you are, then rest easy: your PCV system is probably
> frozen.
>
> Same thing happened to me last winter, freaked me out. I thought for sure I
> was about to spend $10k plus with APR (in for a penny...) Did some research
> - can't recall where I found this - and the symptoms matched.
>
> That's the good news. The "other" good news is that it's a relatively cheap
> part. The BAD news is that it's a MAJOR PITA to fix. What you have to do is
> remove and replace the "octopus" breather system under the intake manifold
> (part number 078 103 235B or J, depending on your VIN). It's a series of
> plastic hoses that connect together all the intake and valve cover fittings
> for the PCV system.
>
> I don't recall if the Bentley says to remove the intake, but I suggest it
> would be "easier", if you feel up to it. I tried it without removing the
> intake, and while it can be done it takes patience. Lots of patience.
>
> Alternatively, I suppose you could remove the octopus and clean it out --
> it's probably clogged with oil and water vapor, and freezes up at night,
> causing the system to pressurize and blow oil out the valve cover and into
> the intake - but by now it'll be all brittle and you'll probably break it
> anyway. Since you're in there, buy a new one.
>
> To check and see if this is actually the problem, note whether it does the
> white smoke ONLY when below-freezing temps are around, and also ONLY when
> the engine is stone cold. And/or, trying leaving it in a heated garage
> overnight to see if it still does it. I think you'll find a correlation with
> outside and engine compartment temperature.
>
> Mine has never done it again since I replaced that hose. And we've had some
> pretty serious cold up here in CT.
>
> Now, if I could only find a cheap airbag computer to replace the one that
> died during LAST winter's sub-zero temps...sigh...
>
> Have fun. I did. - GA
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