White smoke and no boost

that tdi guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Hope Indiana
TDI
2006 Jetta 1.9l BRM
White smoke, and no boost HELP!!!

Alright guys, I am absolutely stumped. Last Friday I was driving my car, and everything seemed normal, my buddy told me to get on it (he's a big fan of TDI exhaust noise), and I got on it, and let her eat. It handled it fine, but I came to a stop at a light, and when it turned green, and I took off, the car was making a terrible screeching noise. It wasn't uniform, but rather would vary between pitches. I thought maybe the turbo was blowing out, for the second time in 3 months, so I checked the inducer, it looked fine, checked the exducer, it looked fine, checked for shaft play, and there was a very minimal amount, felt exactly like it did when I installed it. I thought maybe there was a seizing bearing in the turbo, but the wheel spins freely.
After doing all that, I thought maybe I had a boost leak. So I checked my turbo boot, hot side charge pipe, and the boot between the pipe and the intercooler. The intercooler had oil on the bottom of it, like it had some iffy seals, and the boot that connects to it had about a tablespoon of oil in it when I loosened it up. I checked the piping on the cold side, and none of it was blown out. I ended up undoing the piping, just to see if maybe the intercooler was blown out, and was causing the issue. When I did that, nothing changed, aside from the pitch of the sound.
I pulled the valve cover, just for ****s and giggles, and it all looked as healthy, especially considering it has 236,000 miles on it. I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to make sure the actuator wasn't frozen, so I manually cycled it, and it seemed fine. After that I decided I would put everything back on, and see how it ran. After I did that, it ran, and the sound was gone, but it still had no boost. It also white smoked like a son of a b****. The oil level was fine, and the coolant level was well above minimum. For the past few weeks, the car has slowly been losing coolant, but it looked to me that it was a slight leak from a coolant line, and was evaporating away before it leaked onto the ground. Also, there was some coolant that had leaked down the side of the block, and had solidified on the bottom of the oil pan. The CEL is on, and it's throwing a "turbocharger underboost" code. Any help is appreciated, I'm going to perform a leak down test, because I'm thinking maybe it's the head gasket. Thanks in advance!!!:confused::confused::confused:
 
Last edited:

borjawil

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2015
Location
lansing, MI
TDI
2006 Jetta "Diesel"
When I had no boost on my BRM 1.9L it seems a DTC that was set kept it from working. Once cleared i had boost again. Feel free to go through my posts as I too have had an issue with smoke (white, black, and now bluish). Still resolving the issue.
 

that tdi guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Hope Indiana
TDI
2006 Jetta 1.9l BRM
When I had no boost on my BRM 1.9L it seems a DTC that was set kept it from working. Once cleared i had boost again. Feel free to go through my posts as I too have had an issue with smoke (white, black, and now bluish). Still resolving the issue.
I tried clearing all my codes, and still runs terrible.
 

Tdijarhead

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Location
Lawrenceville PA
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta Daughters Car, 2001 TDI Beetle, Wife’s car, 2005 Golf TDI Mine, all 5 spds
I’m more familiar with the BEW engine, however you said you’ve replaced the turbo twice in the past 3 months. The egr pipe has a metal gasket on each end, if the two nuts that hold the pipe on are loose the thin metal gasket acts like a reed in a clarinet and makes an awful sound. Check those nuts make sure they’re tight.

https://www.idparts.com/lower-egr-pipe-brm-p-3819.html
 

that tdi guy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Location
Hope Indiana
TDI
2006 Jetta 1.9l BRM
I have done an EGR delete, and the block off is on there tight. As I said, I got the sound to go away, after manually cycling the actuator.
 
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