Help smoke exhaust coolant lost no WARNING LIGHTS

Hello,

I need some help and maybe a referral. This is my second 2005 TDI Passat Wagon. I just bought 5 days ago in NC. When I left NC the first thing is I noticed gargling behind the dash and no heat. I had the car inspected and no mention of heater not working. I "googled" and came to the conclusion that it was air in the coolant lines and I could have them drained and pumped out when I got home.

Unrelated or not I just got on the interstate and a horrible noise coming from under the car. I pulled over on the interstate and discovered the plastic cover that covers almost the entire front half of the car had come off. I maneuvered it to hold until I got off the interstate and at a auto store purchased the nut that had fallen off and also the 3 plastic bolts that held the cover on that had come off. I mention this but not sure if it was related. I did open hood, oil fine and coolant.

4 days after purchasing I noticed on the forth day a rough start a couple of times particularly in the morning and louder than usual. I had driven on the interstate in cool 35-40 degrees in rainy weather about 30 miles. I came to the toll booth and stopped at toll both and noticed very thick smoke coming out exhaust that engulfed entire area. No lights coming on nor temperature being high. I decided to drive not even 1/4 mile to get to a gas station around the corner. I pulled over turned off engine popped hood and noticed immediately all the coolant (pink) fluid was out of the reservoir. Could not see pink at all... it was all gone. Looked at oil and it looked fine(not milky looking). NOT a single light came on my dash. My previous TDI that I had for 5 years had a coolant reservoir leak and the STOP engine light came on when the coolant got below the MIN mark. This car emptied the entire coolant and not a single light came on. No liquid inside the car.

Had car towed to mechanic late at night. Next day mechanic looked at it at 6pm before going on vacation for a week and said the car was leaking compression into the cooling system. He said when hooking the car up for diagnostics nothing came up on the reading of the car???

He said I could have damaged the cylanders but would not know until he opened it up when he got back.

I have to get this car fixed ASAP. Questions:

Any Idea what is going on here?
Is it just the head gasket?
Know a trust worthy mechanic in Western Mass that can help?
WHy would warning lights not come on?
Could it be the EGR Valve?
Why would he not get a reading of any kind when hooked up to diagnostics?
I had the car inspected before I picked it up. Could the inspector do a lousy job and the owner disconnect the warning lists hoping to hide a possible engine coor replacement? (Grew up in Italy where Italians are master deceivers... it left me with a constant questioning!))

Mechanic says it is probably more than the head gasket and suspect cylinder problems. LOTS OF MONEY HE SAYS>


Any guidance would be appreciated

Failed egr cooler leaking coolant into the exhaust. When the car sits after running residual pressure in the cooling system forces coolant into the exhaust which drains into the cylinder(s) with open exhaust valves while off. Coolant builds up in cylinders and causes partial hydro lock upon cranking. Blowing coolant into engine while running causes the white smoke you see from the exhaust.

Delete the egr or block it off at least and so long as you didn't bend a rod you will be good to go. Or I can sell you the egr cooler I pulled of my bhw Passat with 140000mi on it. But deleting it would be preferable.

Delete the EGR? Sorry a bit of a newbie. How do I do that?

Removing the egr cooler from the engine located on the passenger side of the engine above the exhaust manifold booted to the intake manifold. Google/search function are your friend.

Is the mechanic you took the car to on the TDIClub Guru list (see TDI101 forum at the top)? If not, I would think about finding a guru near you. What did he use to scan it with? A generic OBD II tester most likely will not reveal any stored codes like a VCDS will. If you remove the EGR, you will need to get the car tuned (stage 1 or 2) to keep the codes from being set.

Thanks Rowingfish, MR. Google came through on the EGR.
Owr085 , no this is not a mechanic on the guru list. Quick question to you both.
The mechanic I towed it to is 20 miles away. A friend/aquatance recommend is a Euro Mechanic.
When the car smoked the first time it took not even a full minute to pull it off the road. No over heating on the car temperature guage and the car sounded fine. I had for 5 years another same car and know the sound. It purred.
The mechanic I dropped the key to with note started the car and ran it without talking to me.
Then after I told him all the above He started it up let it run and then drove it around the block. I asked him if he should. I was worried about driving it.
I could hear as he called me after all this and it was running , that the engine sounded different with a clankering noise and he said I am shutting it off and not starting it.
He said I might have bent cylinders and a cracked head. I had just driven this car for 2 days on interstate from NC. It was not overheating when I noticed the smoke and pulled over and still purred. How did the Head crack and I get bent cylinders. I am not a mechanic , but feel he should not have driven that car nor run it as long as he did. Am I right? How did crack the head or bend cylinders? Wouldn't I have notice that sound when I pulled over?

Lmarjorie said:

Thanks Rowingfish, MR. Google came through on the EGR.
Owr085 , no this is not a mechanic on the guru list. Quick question to you both.
The mechanic I towed it to is 20 miles away. A friend/aquatance recommend is a Euro Mechanic.
When the car smoked the first time it took not even a full minute to pull it off the road. No over heating on the car temperature guage and the car sounded fine. I had for 5 years another same car and know the sound. It purred.
The mechanic I dropped the key to with note started the car and ran it without talking to me.
Then after I told him all the above He started it up let it run and then drove it around the block. I asked him if he should. I was worried about driving it.
I could hear as he called me after all this and it was running , that the engine sounded different with a clankering noise and he said I am shutting it off and not starting it.
He said I might have bent cylinders and a cracked head. I had just driven this car for 2 days on interstate from NC. It was not overheating when I noticed the smoke and pulled over and still purred. How did the Head crack and I get bent cylinders. I am not a mechanic , but feel he should not have driven that car nor run it as long as he did. Am I right? How did crack the head or bend cylinders? Wouldn't I have notice that sound when I pulled over?

Click to expand...

Slightly bent rods could be from the coolant in the cylinders.

It would be really advisable to get a proper TDI guru mechanic that comes recommended by this forum.

Many people think they can be euro mechanics but tend to be hacks. A mechanic and a diesel/TDI mechanic are two completely different things IMO

Edit:

Chris Hill AKA Mr.Chill is a recommended mechanic but about 2 hours away:

http://kraftwerke1.com/index.html

Where is the list for the guru mechanics?

mrrhtuner said:

Slightly bent rods could be from the coolant in the cylinders.

It would be really advisable to get a proper TDI guru mechanic that comes recommended by this forum.

Many people think they can be euro mechanics but tend to be hacks. A mechanic and a diesel/TDI mechanic are two completely different things IMO

Edit:

Chris Hill AKA Mr.Chill is a recommended mechanic but about 2 hours away:

http://kraftwerke1.com/index.html

Click to expand...

Lmarjorie said:

Where is the list for the guru mechanics?

Click to expand...

At the top of the TDI101 forum.

Right here... http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=130044