Blue/white smoke after first start of day

My daughter ran her 2001 New Beetle TDI though standing water after heavy rain recently in Savannah, GA. The engine died and her boyfriend found water in the breather box. The visible water in the breather box was cleaned out and the car was restarted. Since then when the car is started the first time of the day, blue/white smoke comes from the tailpipe and the engine sputters slightly. Within a minute or two, the smoking quits and the engine runs fine. Acceleration is normal. I have the car at the local Volkswagen dealership now for diagnosis and they are telling me the mass airflow sensor should be replaced regardless of findings. They are going to perform a compression check (after they recharge the battery in the VW compression tester!) to see if something got bent when the water was injested with the engine running. In the process of pulling the glow plugs the harness broke in several places and will have to be replaced. There isn't any water in the AT fluid. If anyone has experience with this kind of issue, please let me know what might be going on. I want to trust the VW mechanics, but .................Thanks! Savannah Steve

i bet you did not hydrolock. i bet you got some water in a electrical connection or honked out your MAF...
did you disconnect the maf and run it that way yet?
btw, get it away from the dealership and to a decent mech. good luck.

Didn't try disconnecting the MAF. What would the expected result be? There are a couple of garages in the Savannah area that work on VW's. If any major work is recommended by the VW dealership, I will definitely seek a second opinion. Thanks for your input!

Did the water that got injested stop the engine?

disconnecting maf makes the computer run the car on baselined data, so it should smooth out for you.

The injested water stopped the engine.

Today the VW dealer complied with the compression check and found cylinder 3 has low compression (see readings below). The mechanic says the low compression explains for the blue/white smoke when the engine is cold because the fuel/air mixture in cylinder 3 isn't combusting properly. The mechanic believes the injested water caused hydrolock in cylinder 3 and probably bent the rod.

Next step is to open the engine to have a look see. I think this is going to be expensive! I've contacted my insurance company since it's technically weather/flood related and hopefully the comprehensive coverage will pay.

Has anyone modified the air intake so it's not down low in the left front wheel well? That seems like a really daft place to put the intake!

The printout reads:
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KFZ.-Kennzeichen
-----------------
Kilometerstand

Zyi. Bar
1: 34.4
2: 32.3
3: 23.6
4: 32.9
5: 0.0
6: 0.0
7: 0.0
8: 0.0
9: 59.1
---------------
Datum
---------------
Unterschrift

Is there a PSI conversion available for the Bar readings on the VW compression tester? The VW dealership can't seem to work that out for me!

It dosn't take too much water to bend a rod! I bet when they pull the head off the piston is only sunk into the bore a mm or 2. I've fixed a few of just late with the floods in our area,. one car a passat drank that much water it broke the rod in two and punched a few holes in the cylinder block. your lucky really.

Hey I think you need to take that car to a shop that has a clue. Dont trust the dealer. When a car hits a flood its no holds bar at the dealer. Just like anyshop needs to CTA (cover their @$#) you know. But the dealer takes it to a whole new level.
Good luck and please keep us posted

04TDIBEW said:

Hey I think you need to take that car to a shop that has a clue. Dont trust the dealer. When a car hits a flood its no holds bar at the dealer. Just like anyshop needs to CTA (cover their @$#) you know. But the dealer takes it to a whole new level.
Good luck and please keep us posted

Click to expand...

I don't know why but I automatically think when folks go to the main dealers they go because of warranty. If this is not the case, get it out of there.

bummer. i concur on fleeing the dealership if this is non warranty work. don't know your mileage, but you might think about timing belt service since the engine will be torn down.

Steve, the air intake isn't "down low" but it is in the wheel well. It is actually at or above the top of the tire, but it IS in harms way if you take deep water too fast. And yes, the compressions figures look like #3 bent a rod. And the readings in PSI are 499, 468, 342, and 477.

I've taken the car out of the dealership! Insurance is going to cover the "flood" damage and the car has been taken to a privately owned repair center. It's likely the engine will be replaced with a LKQ "Like kind, quality" salvage engine. I'll insist on a new timing belt and water pump before installing the replacement engine. I really appreciate the input from everyone!