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Update from dealer on white smoke ordeal

Mk7GolfDisease

Ready to race!
Location
Canada
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8T TSI
So I did drop my car earlier this morning for a complete diagnostic on whether there is something wrong with head gasket or turbo and they found nothing to why my car is blowing white smoke like that.

I did attach my invoice of their side of the story.

I guess for now I will believe them as I had to pay for it wasnt covered under warranty to have them run a compression test.

I will leave my car be no more stress just stick to minimal maintenance of oil changes twice a year, sometime will get on to changing spark plugs and thats it moving forward. Also, cabin or ac filter when its dirty enough I will change them easy to do yourself thats about it.

Run this damn car til it dies basically.
 

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StorableComa

Autocross Champion
Location
SoCal, USA
Car(s)
17 GSW S FWD
Looking at the invoice they just did a coolant system pressure test again with a visual inspection of the oil. If you still have a lot of white smoke when you pick it up I'd ask to speak to the tech. How cold is it where you are right now? I'm curious how they could say it's normal exhaust in cold weather - Granted We've been in the 80+ degrees Fahrenheit here.
 

VDubberinDE

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
2018 VW Golf R
So I did drop my car earlier this morning for a complete diagnostic on whether there is something wrong with head gasket or turbo and they found nothing to why my car is blowing white smoke like that.

I did attach my invoice of their side of the story.

I guess for now I will believe them as I had to pay for it wasnt covered under warranty to have them run a compression test.

I will leave my car be no more stress just stick to minimal maintenance of oil changes twice a year, sometime will get on to changing spark plugs and thats it moving forward. Also, cabin or ac filter when its dirty enough I will change them easy to do yourself thats about it.

Run this damn car til it dies basically.

On cold mornings when starting up, what appears to be white smoke (which is actually just steam) will come out. After car is at operating temp and outside temps warm up it should disappear. If it was a head gasket failure, you would see thick white smoke all the time, cold or hot especially on acceleration.
Water out the exhaust is 100% normal as the catalytic converter changes Carbon Monoxide into Carbon Dioxide and Water. Water is not coolant.
Sounds all normal to me.
 

PRRGG1

Drag Racing Champion
Location
USA
If you want to work another route, you could send an engine oil sample to a lab like Blackstone. Coolant in engine oil leaves traces of elements found in glycol.
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
If you want to work another route, you could send an engine oil sample to a lab like Blackstone. Coolant in engine oil leaves traces of elements found in glycol.

It's conclusive that the dealer proved it's not a head gasket or turbo seal problem. She is seeing vapor from the exhaust because of the low ambient temperature.
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
You guys need to start a gofundme to reimburse the OP for the money she spent at the dealer because y'all made her all paranoid about a little condensation.

Instead of going "the dealer is an idiot"/head gasket/blown turbo/alien invasion for this issue, nobody stopped to ask "look at the transparent liquid coming out of the tailpipe - is it coolant or water? Since the car has no water anywhere in the system, any water in the tailpipe would be condensate. Asking when and how much white smoke there is would have helped too.
 

Mk7GolfDisease

Ready to race!
Location
Canada
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8T TSI
It's conclusive that the dealer proved it's not a head gasket or turbo seal problem. She is seeing vapor from the exhaust because of the low ambient temperature.
Yeah since i paid them up the ass cost i agree with dealer conclusion its probably just that vapor stuff
 

Mk7GolfDisease

Ready to race!
Location
Canada
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8T TSI
You guys need to start a gofundme to reimburse the OP for the money she spent at the dealer because y'all made her all paranoid about a little condensation.

Instead of going "the dealer is an idiot"/head gasket/blown turbo/alien invasion for this issue, nobody stopped to ask "look at the transparent liquid coming out of the tailpipe - is it coolant or water? Since the car has no water anywhere in the system, any water in the tailpipe would be condensate. Asking when and how much white smoke there is would have helped too.
Yeah ur right instead of causing mayhem it could have been just water and vapor this entire time and i went all in their faces hunt at the dealer lol
 

Mk7GolfDisease

Ready to race!
Location
Canada
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8T TSI
Looking at the invoice they just did a coolant system pressure test again with a visual inspection of the oil. If you still have a lot of white smoke when you pick it up I'd ask to speak to the tech. How cold is it where you are right now? I'm curious how they could say it's normal exhaust in cold weather - Granted We've been in the 80+ degrees Fahrenheit here.
Ill test car today still havent since i got car yesterday late evening and will see what i get
 

VDubberinDE

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Delaware
Car(s)
2018 VW Golf R
You guys need to start a gofundme to reimburse the OP for the money she spent at the dealer because y'all made her all paranoid about a little condensation.

Instead of going "the dealer is an idiot"/head gasket/blown turbo/alien invasion for this issue, nobody stopped to ask "look at the transparent liquid coming out of the tailpipe - is it coolant or water? Since the car has no water anywhere in the system, any water in the tailpipe would be condensate. Asking when and how much white smoke there is would have helped too.

Its not that hard to see other cars on road with same steam coming out in the morning.
Not sure why everyone always wants to find problems and looks for faults with their cars.
 

cb1111

Newbie
Location
Virginia, USA
Its not that hard to see other cars on road with same steam coming out in the morning.
Not sure why everyone always wants to find problems and looks for faults with their cars.
It is like the "what's wrong with my car, I get a puddle behind the front wheel whenever it is really hot outside?" - AC condensation that we all recognize but confuse people who haven't had a "nice" car in awhile.

While the OP perhaps overstated the "white smoke", much of the blame falls on the guys that jumped in with doom and gloom and scared an inexperienced owner - especially given recent repairs done to her car.

This post also points out the pitfalls of telling the dealer what to do - as it can actually hinder a diagnosis and end up costing money.

Instead of saying "do a compression check" it might have been wiser to say:

"You guys just replaces the waterpump under warranty because it was leaking. Now I see white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. I've heard that this is often caused by a head gasket leak or some other coolant leak. Could you please recheck your work."
 

Mk7GolfDisease

Ready to race!
Location
Canada
Car(s)
2017 Golf 1.8T TSI
It is like the "what's wrong with my car, I get a puddle behind the front wheel whenever it is really hot outside?" - AC condensation that we all recognize but confuse people who haven't had a "nice" car in awhile.

While the OP perhaps overstated the "white smoke", much of the blame falls on the guys that jumped in with doom and gloom and scared an inexperienced owner - especially given recent repairs done to her car.

This post also points out the pitfalls of telling the dealer what to do - as it can actually hinder a diagnosis and end up costing money.

Instead of saying "do a compression check" it might have been wiser to say:

"You guys just replaces the waterpump under warranty because it was leaking. Now I see white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. I've heard that this is often caused by a head gasket leak or some other coolant leak. Could you please recheck your work."
Yeah i know but i wanted to pay for that still to double check and when all of that smoke was happening i wasnt running ac or heater period just windows rolled down anyways.
 
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