Help! TDI lost power with white smoke

philh · Jan 20, 2019

Hi everyone,
I hope the new year is treating you well. My family and I are on a road trip from California to Texas in our 2003 Jetta TDI. Today while going up a hill, the car seemed to lose power and didn't really recover (wife was driving). We stopped a truck stop to troubleshoot and I noticed the car is producing a ton of white smoke. Otherwise the engine starts fine and doesn't sound bad (thinking that there might be some other obvious sign if it was a head of injector).
My instinct is that the turbo is either out or on it's way. I would appreciate any troubleshooting tips, as we're stuck about 2 hours from a "big" town and I only have basic tools.
TIA!
--phil

WildChild80 · Jan 20, 2019

philh said:
Hi everyone,
I hope the new year is treating you well. My family and I are on a road trip from California to Texas in our 2003 Jetta TDI. Today while going up a hill, the car seemed to lose power and didn't really recover (wife was driving). We stopped a truck stop to troubleshoot and I noticed the car is producing a ton of white smoke. Otherwise the engine starts fine and doesn't sound bad (thinking that there might be some other obvious sign if it was a head of injector).
My instinct is that the turbo is either out or on it's way. I would appreciate any troubleshooting tips, as we're stuck about 2 hours from a "big" town and I only have basic tools.
TIA!
--phil

Are you loosing coolant or is it unburned fuel? If it's fuel you need to look at your timing belt and see if you're timing is moving. How many miles on the engine? How many timing belts on the cam? Are your injection pump bolts tight

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Check all your intake connections from outlet on the compressor to the intake manifold. Are you up on all your service, intake cleaning, crankcase vent system, timing belt?

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

And drained the intercooler.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

WildChild80 said:
Are you loosing coolant or is it unburned fuel? If it's fuel you need to look at your timing belt and see if you're timing is moving. How many miles on the engine? How many timing belts on the cam? Are your injection pump bolts tight

The smoke is white, so I'm assuming it's not fuel.

I haven't had time to check anything, as we needed to figure out hotel, etc before nightfall. I will check coolant tomorrow but I have not noticed it being lower.

140,000 miles and it's on the second timing belt. I had it inspected and adjusted about 10,000 miles ago.

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Any recent repairs?

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WildChild80 · Jan 20, 2019

philh said:
The smoke is white, so I'm assuming it's not fuel.

I haven't had time to check anything, as we needed to figure out hotel, etc before nightfall. I will check coolant tomorrow but I have not noticed it being lower.

140,000 miles and it's on the second timing belt. I had it inspected and adjusted about 10,000 miles ago.

Unburned fuel will be white, that's a sign of low compression or very late injection and either should make it run pretty bad.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

TLH_TDI said:
Are you up on all your service, intake cleaning, crankcase vent system, timing belt?

Service is current. Intake has not been cleaned in a while. I have one of the aftermarket billet crankcase vents. Will check those items.

philh · Jan 20, 2019

WildChild80 said:
Unburned fuel will be white, that's a sign of low compression or very late injection and either should make it run pretty bad.

thank you for the clarification.

philh · Jan 20, 2019

TLH_TDI said:
Any recent repairs?

None.

WildChild80 · Jan 20, 2019

Look around the glow plugs and injectors for signs of carbon or leaking,

Do you have a check engine light

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Maybe unlikely, but look at the timing pump pulley and see if it looks like it has moved.

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WildChild80 · Jan 20, 2019

TLH_TDI said:
Maybe unlikely, but look at the timing pump pulley and see if it looks like it has moved.

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That's where my bet would be, IP pulley bolts came loose of has moved for whatever reason...

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

WildChild80 said:
Do you have a check engine light

I did not notice it before, but yes. I guess it's time to see if I can resurrect a VAG COM.

philh · Jan 20, 2019

I found my VAG COM cable!

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Be sure and check your timing! Line up the mark on the flywheel and look to see if the alignment hole in the pump lines up. If the belt has jumped one tooth it could cause the problem maybe without damage yet. If it has jumped it would be on the crank pulley. May want to try and get a mirror with a light down in there to look at the timing belt tensioner and see if the marks are where they are supposed to be.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

VAG COM reading

Sunday,20,January,2019,18:50:06:47956

VCDS Release 18.9.1 (x64): Generic OBD2

Mode 03: Emission related fault codes

Address 0A (Engine): 2 Faults Found:

P0252 - Injection Pump A Rotor/Cam: Range/Performance (Injection timing out of range)

P0299 - Boost Pressure Regulation: Control Range Not Reached

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Timing jumped.

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Or the pulley moved.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

Now, to figure that out.

Your help is much appreciated!

WildChild80 · Jan 20, 2019

Put a 22mm wrench on the IP nut and see if it moves independent of the pulley. Might be a 21mm, been a while

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Nero Morg · Jan 20, 2019

It's definitely a 22, good memory

philh · Jan 20, 2019

Just for clarification, is it being suggested that the injection pump has shifted one tooth?

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Not the pump, but a tooth on the crank pulley.

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Pump and cam should still be in time with each other, but the crank would not be.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

TLH_TDI said:
Not the pump, but a tooth on the crank pulley.

So in that case, the cam timing is still in sync with the injection pump, just not the crank (pistons)?

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

Yes

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TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

You can verify that by lining up the timing mark on the flywheel and then check the pump alignment hole.

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philh · Jan 20, 2019

If that is actually what happened, I’m amazed that it starts and runs with a seemingly normal idle. Albeit a smoky one.

TLH_TDI · Jan 20, 2019

May have to turn the motor another full turn if you don’t see the hole in the correct position the first time.

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Help! TDI lost power with white smoke

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