2009 TDI exhaust steam

Hello,

Need some help diagnosing a problem. 2 days ago my 2009 Jetta TDI with the DSG started to produce a bunch of steam upon startup after a cold soak. The steam lasts about 10 seconds, then clears up. At first I just wrote it off as the relative dew point but now I smell the antifreeze. The car has 166,000 miles, has all the deletes done to it with a Malone stage 2 and DSG tune. The steam smells like burning antifreeze but the car does not run rough or miss. If I drive it to a restaurant when I come back out, there is no steam upon startup but there is a faint antifreeze smell.

My first thought was a head gasket but the car has never overheated and doesn't have a miss. Other than the steam, there are no driveability concerns, or Check Engine Lights etc. I'm wondering if it could have a bad seal in the turbocharger which would allow it to leak coolant. I'm assuming here that the turbo is water cooled.

Is it common on these to have a head gasket problem? Is there any way to pinpoint the coolant leak without digging down into it? I'm a little bewildered. If it is a head gasket, that doesn't scare me but I don't want to go through all of that if there are other, more common failure points to look at first.

The turbocharger has no coolant going through it.

How has your EGR(s) been deleted? Is the cooler still there?

I have never seen a head gasket fail on one of these, but it doesn't mean it couldn't happen. Is the coolant level dropping?

Cooler is removed from the engine and the hoses were just connected to each other. Expansion plug was pushed up into the turbo inlet and I'm running a Buzzken exhaust down pipe. Front intake just has the tube removed and block-off plate installed on it.

I'm monitoring the coolant level for the next few days to see if it's going down and by how much.

To be honest, I'm starting to wonder if it's just regular exhaust steam and a funky exhaust smell I'm not used too. I run Hotshot Secret in every tank so what I'm thinking is coolant smell could just be a foul exhaust smell.

UPDATE - Coolant seems to be dropping ever so slightly but I kinda think THAT may be a small leak up front...radiator tank/hose fitting. This car has always used a little coolant ever since Ive owned it and there is a raw coolant smell that seems to originate around the grill area.. The coolant consumption hasn't increased.

Odd thing, the start up smoke at cold start-up went away for a few days. Now the smoke has suddenly returned but does it at warm start-up. There's much more smoke when warm than when cool. It goes away within 30 seconds of start. No knocking/roughness/slow starting. I'm starting to think I have an injector leaking after the car is turned off or a turbo seal is leaking. The white smoke would indicate unburned fuel more so than a leaking turbo seal. The car has 170,000 miles. I have a VCDS. Is there any way to perform some tests to see what might be the problem? Any help is appreciated.

Both my 09 CRTDIs smelled of coolant around the radiator. I was never able to find any leak of any kind (one traded at 35k miles, one bought back around 95k miles)
Coolant odor seemed to be a common occurrence with the 2009s, and I don't recall anyone finding the exact cause.

Never had any steam nor coolant odor from the exhaust.

Well, after further testing it's definitely coolant. Coolant tested positive for combustion gasses and bubbles in return line to expansion ball.

Think I'm going to start looking for a replacement engine instead of doing the head gasket. By the time I pull the head, have it rebuilt, buy and install a new timing belt and all the labor, I would still have an engine with 170K miles on it. For only slightly more, I can get a lower mileage engine.

So, what years had the CBEA engine? I know Audi was using them longer than VW and I'm thinking the newer the car model, the better chance for a lower mileage engine.

Kolb said:

So, what years had the CBEA engine? I know Audi was using them longer than VW and I'm thinking the newer the car model, the better chance for a lower mileage engine.

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My 2010 Jetta TDI was manufactured in June of 2009, and it already had the CJAA engine.

Anyone know if a CJAA will work in place of a CBEA with the deletes done?

Kolb said:

Anyone know if a CJAA will work in place of a CBEA with the deletes done?

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I believe the only difference between the two engines is the modified oil pump (CBEA had that hex that tended to strip over time), plus the one-piece catalyst / DPF, which was split into two separate units on the CJAA, but that's technically not a part of the engine, plus you got rid of that stuff, anyway. There may be more than this, but these are the two I know of. Malone may be in the best position to answer whether CBEA ECU will work just as fine with a CJAA engine.

Soot1 - I emailed Malone per your suggestion. I'll post back with their response. Hopefully the CJAA is an option. Would be nice to get as many upgrades to the engine as possible if I'm going to be swapping. I'm already ordering head studs for whichever engine stays in there.

Per Owain at Malone, CJAA should be fine. Said there's a minor difference in the glow plug module but not to worry about it. SOOO, looks like I'll be on the hunt for a new engine. THAT engine will get some head studs before it goes in.

As a side note, the bandaid repair Blue Devil head gasket sealant I put in SEEMS to be working for the time being but I'm not comfortable seeing how long that will last.

The 2010+ CJAA also has different pressure sensors than the 2009 CBEA. The engine proper will work just fine, though.

Oilhammer - Which pressure sensors are you talking about? What do I need to do to change them over? I THINK the pressure sensors are built into the glow plus, correct??

I have the chance to buy either a CBEA and a CJAA and was thinking the CJAA was supposedly a better engine with less to go wrong. The CJAA is also cheaper.

The EGR and DPF pressure sensors, up on top of the engine, each with two tubes attached.

Mine has all the deletes done...I think those connectors are tied up out of the way but I'll keep an eye out for them.

Is my thinking right on the best engine to get would be the CJAA instead of the CBEA? I use this thing for work and reliability is my biggest concern.

Kolb said:

Is my thinking right on the best engine to get would be the CJAA instead of the CBEA?

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I think the CJAA is the right choice for anyone trying to replace their worn-out CBEA as this engine was in production for a few years past the 2010 model year. If I'm not mistaken, the CBEA was used on the Jetta only during the 2009 model year. That reason alone should make it a lot easier to find a CJAA in good shape than the CBEA.

CBEA was used in the Audi A3 through 2014.

Soot - the CBEA continued on in the Audi A3 until 2013-2014. Not sure why other than maybe they were perceived to be a more "refined" engine with the balance shaft?? Never driven a CJAA to compare to but I can't immagine there being much difference.

The numbers are still overwhelmingly in favor of the CJAA because the Audi A3 sales numbers were only a minute fraction of the number of VWs sold during the same period. I am convinced you will spend a lot less time finding a CJAA than the CBEA unit.

Soot - Agreed. And I'm finding the CJAA is cheaper to boot...all else being equal.

Just ordered head studs and the timing tools. While it's out I'm doing everything I can to never be here again. My current DMF has about 50K miles on it and I'll probably replace that as well.