White Smoke?

[vanhoesenj]

Got a weird one here. I've got a 2000 Passat Turbo Wagon w/70,000 miles (mostly highway). When I start it I get billowing white smoke from the exhaust. My first thought was damm, head gasket already!? If I let it idle for awhile the smoke gets real thin, but if I drive it then the smoke gets pretty intense and it smells like burning plastic? Maybe not burning plastic, but NOT the traditional sweet smell of burning antifreeze.

Why is wierd? Because I don't see any chocolate in the oil (so no water contamination that I can see) and there's no bubbles in the overflow tank (no blow back). My other idea was the turbo, it's water cooled as well as oil cooled right? So can is there a seal or tube that might be putting water through the turbo directly into the exhaust?

I've never worked on the new stuff, worked for 6 years on Bugs, Rabbits, Buses, Jettas, Golfs, etc. Nothing newer than 97 though. So I'm about to embark on a new journey. Any help or thoughts would be GREATLY apprecietd. Thanks folks!

cheers
John

[veedubmechanic]

Sounds like the coolant seal on the turbo might have given out. The turbo has oil and coolant lines goin in and out of it. The coolant is to cool the turbo as little as it does. IS the coolant level going down any?
If so than it might be the turbo. THe only real way to check this is to take the pipes off the turbo and check for coolant.
Also, white smoke can also be water in the exhaust at cooler temperatures. it also smells kinda funky.

[qmsmith]

My Passat was doing a similar thing. I complained to my mechanic but he could not find anything. After a few oil changes it just quit on its own.

[vanhoesenj]

Just an FYI for everyone...

Apparently VW changed the oil specs to 5W30 or 5W40 and I didn't know that. So what I "think" happened was I was running the wrong oil, the oil lines got a little restricted and the turbo started burning oil. The reason I say this, is I read a tech report on the earlier 98-99 Passats that the oil coked up in the turbo lines or overheated (hence the new heat shield around the turbo).

So I'm thinking that if people are having this issue, take a long 2 hour drive (which is what I did), change the oil, and see what happens.

Thanks for the input guys!
cheers
John

[limacina]

John thanks for the update, very useful