White smoke, issues, out of ideas!

Hello!
Here is the quick and dirty on what my car (2003 Jetta, manual, stock) is doing:
After sitting: Cranks too much and coughs some white smoke every time. Temp doesnt matter. First drive it starts off fine, does well in first gear and below 2400rpm and easy driving in the lower gears. Then, when I can open it up on the highway, it coughs up more white smoke when getting on the throttle at 2200-2600 rpms, lugs badly, loses acceleration, actually makes a sound from the engine compartment, and then passes the smoke like a kidney stone, and from there on out drives and responds just like a TDi should. Snappy, responsive, no issues whatsoever. It's like it has to do this thing once every drive and then it's cool. I only drive it 15 miles to work and back so I don't get stranded, not sure how it would fare on a longer trip.

It will be good to go until it sits again, then repeat this process.

Here is what I have done to it. All within the last 1,000 miles while trying to figure out this issue. Bought it as a project car, it had issues when I got it. Nothing seemed terminal.

Replaced timing belt, water pump, pulleys, etc
VAG COM Timing set
New MAF
New coolant temp sensor
New injector nozzles, calibrated by KermaTDI
Replaced the IP with one from a wrecked tdi. Absolutely no difference, problem is not in the IP!!!
Tested glow plug resistance - all at 1.2ohm
Cleaned the intake and EGR
Tried another EGR off a parts car, no difference

I am almost out of ideas. Help! I'm not the greatest mechanic so I probably missed something or skipped a diagnosis step.

Thanks!

So when exactly did the issue start? Did it do it before all the work was done? Or after? Sounds like you're getting severe aeration in your fuel, or maybe a valve not seating all the way from intake gunk clogging it up. Just because you cleaned the intake doesn't mean the intake ports arent clogged up.

Have you checked your turbo? Is the car using oil?

A turbo will blow white smoke on its way to that vast boneyard in the sky.

So will coolant

If you don't notice your coolant level dropping in your bottle, it is not coolant, it is a cylinder not firing or a leaky fuel injector.

What does it smell like?

I noticed it after the TB and intake work. It may have been doing it before but it had other issues and I don't know if I got into the throttle enough to get this to happen.
PO told me it had a new turbo about 2,000 miles old and gave me paperwork for it from a reputable local shop.

It isn't burning oil or coolant as far as I can tell. I've been keeping an eye on it, and the way this problem happens once and then goes away makes me think it isn't a steady slow burning of something like that, but more of a blockage or collection of contaminant that happens when it sits/cools down.

I had the intake cleaned at a local machine shop. He did a good job but of course there was still some carbon in there, and it had carbon build up right on the inside of the ports where the manifold bolts up. Also, the sound it makes at 2400 rpms when it bucks and blows all the white smoke could very well be a valve clacking, it sounds kind of like a machine tapping. How would I go about confirming and fixing an intake clog like this?

Thanks for the replies everybody!

Have you had the valve cover off? What do the lifters look like?

Surprised no one has suggested this yet, but sounds like you need to send your injectors out and have them pop tested. You should send them to a reputable shop that has a Bosch bench. You may have an injector that's leaking and dumping a bunch of extra fuel (ie could be hanging open).

KrashDH said:

Surprised no one has suggested this yet, but sounds like you need to send your injectors out and have them pop tested. You should send them to a reputable shop that has a Bosch bench. You may have an injector that's leaking and dumping a bunch of extra fuel (ie could be hanging open).

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He already did that. Or at least, did something to the injectors, so it is doubtful the exact same thing is still happening.

I would try and verify the source of the smoke. Unburned fuel, oil, or coolant. Unburned fuel and oil are very similar, a blue tint with a quicker dispersal. Fuel will smell more like diesel. Coolant has a more white, like steam look, no colored tint, smells sweet like cotton candy. Coolant or oil loss is easy to monitor. Fuel, not so much, as the car normally burns some fuel anyway.

What I would do is check the compression when cold, with the air charge tube at the EGR removed (just to be 100% certain it is getting as much air as possible. Then I would also check the oil pressure. It can happen that the oil pressure relief valve can stick, causing sky high cold start oil pressure which in turn forces the hydraulic lifters to hyperextend and hold the valves slightly open. So you lose compression, which means no combustion, but fuel is still being injected, so you get clouds of unburnt diesel fuel and missing.

oilhammer said:

He already did that. Or at least, did something to the injectors, so it is doubtful the exact same thing is still happening.

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OP said he replaced the nozzles only, unless I missed something. If your injector is stuck open or leaking back this has nothing to do with the nozzles. The only way to test this is on the bench with a pop tester, in which case you're going to want to do it on a certified Bosch bench

ClemXP said:

...............................
New injector nozzles, calibrated by KermaTDI..........................

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Assuming this means they were pop test properly?

KrashDH said:

OP said he replaced the nozzles only, unless I missed something. If your injector is stuck open or leaking back this has nothing to do with the nozzles. The only way to test this is on the bench with a pop tester, in which case you're going to want to do it on a certified Bosch bench

Click to expand...

I am going to go out on a limb here and assume Kerma did indeed install the nozzles properly.

Not to rap on Kerma, but mine weren't either. Get your injectors checked out.

So Kerma said they pop tested the injectors and they are triple checked when they are calibrated. My timing is set right on the middle line, not advanced or retarded, and my IQ values/ranges are as follows:
1: -0.21 to -0.26
2: 0.02 - 0.07
3: 0.00 - 0.02 (mostly sits at 0.00)
4: 0.14 - 0.19

I have no idea what these numbers really mean, either...

The smoke is definitely not coolant, and it smells like diesel to me.
Also, when I got on the throttle to warm up the car tonight and I hit that ~2,200 - 2,600 range where it poops out and smokes a lot, it definitely makes a rat-tat-tat-tat machine gun sound that corresponds with the loss of power and smoke. Could this be a valve hitting something? Could an injector make this sound? It sounds weird for sure. But then when it works itself out, it all goes away and drives like a dream. So weird.

Just for the record, what injectors? DLC something or?
Did you do a tune for them?

DLC 520
Stock tune

Do what oilhammer suggested in post #8.
That will reveal a whole lot

Injector 1 is being told to underfuel to maintain smooth idle. I'd have that one tested.

plugged fuel filter?

you get too much vacuum on the inlet of the pump and it'll lose all timing advance. IIRC stock base pump timing is like 3 degrees after TDC so def. white smoke and no power city

if the filter doesn't get it, try a separate fuel can plumbed into the filter's lines to the tank

Nero Morg said:

Injector 1 is being told to underfuel to maintain smooth idle. I'd have that one tested.

Click to expand...

^^^This. Are we still the only 2 who think this is an injector issue??

If this is true, # 4 is being told to over compensate. Switch them to see what happens

If the numbers flip, injector. If not, something else

Update:
I flipped injectors 1 and 4, warmed up the car, and got the following number:
IQ - 3.6 to 4.8
Deviation
1: -0.09
2: 0.33
3: -0.19
4: -0.05

I ordered a diesel compression tester and it should be in on Monday.

Just so we're all clear, the above numbers and the numbers you posted on page 1 are considered well within spec.

I agree, but the closer they are together the better. Also, IQ shouldn't fluctuate more than 0.4 on a healthy system.

Your injectors are fine, IP is a question mark. Fluctuating IQ, is there anything that can cause that other than worn IP internals (asking cause I don't know)?
Double check air supply, fuel=diesel+air. Check pipes for loose fit.
Focus on Oilhammer's comments. You're on the right track, compression check will rule out more stuff.

I don't think its the IP - I swapped in one from a parts car that was working fine and I'm getting an identical problem.
My mityvac pulls fuel just fine from both sides of the filter and right out of the pickup under the back seat. I swapped/tested a good EGR, CCV puck, and have a new MAF and no change. I'll double/triple check all the air connections of leaks and loose fit when I get back into in on Monday.
I'll test compression Monday and report back. Thanks again everyone!

Could there be anything with the turbo where it collects oil when it sits and then burns it off when it spools up? Not sure how this would explain my start up issues, but maybe there are 2 problems?

I very much doubt it is the turbocharger.

Check the compression, report back.

Following! I have a very similar issue. I have one cylinder down to 410psi. Some seem to think the lower compression is the smoking cause, others not so much. I'm not sure. Have not had time to tinker with car much lately... Good Luck ClemXP!
Edit: My thread you probably already read link