Smoke and lumpy/uneven running

[Dr.Chinnery 0]

My VR6 has been running great but its suddenly gone horribly wrong. I was on the motorway doing a fair whack and saw a bit of smoke so slowed right down and took it easy. About 80 miles later the car is smoking lots (white and blue) and can barely tick over and runs very unevenly with lots of power loss. After searching the forum, I see that valve stems could be an answer but I'd really appreciate some more advice.

I had the car serviced only 6 weeks ago and the mechanic remarked what good condition she was in and how smooth she ran (talk aboput the kiss of death!). She's only done 54k miles.

[mk3anni 0]

If its white and blue I'd consider checking the head gasket.

[28v6r 0]

I'd opt even for the easier one than that and get a compression test done asap, check for loss of water, lots of condensation off the exhaust when hot, mayo on the filler cap etc, at the moment its to early to try an diagnose without more detail, i.e was it smoking only on the over run, or smoking all the time under acceleration etc ..

[jaysVR6 2]

I think, It'll be something to do with the head i'm afraid dude. Check your water, oil level, milky residue in the header tank etc. If you've put the car under more stress than it's used too it may have popped the gasket.

Ahhh, we all love a good head problem! (NOT!!)

P.S You wouldn't have just damaged the valve stem seals or guides (check my ongoing problem thread), they go over a period of time.

[matth76 1]

If the valve guides or stem seals were on their way out (which you can't tell unless the head is taken apart) then you may get smoke coming out. Although it does sound like the head gasket in your case as the smoke was white. Have a look half way down the engine block on the driver side and there should be a thin line going right across horizontally. That is the edge of the head gasket. See if there is any damp on the engine block around this level. Mine had that recently and for safety sake had my head gasket changed and low and behold it was on its way out. When the head comes off it's always an ideal opportunity for the garage to see what condition the rest of your engine really is in...such as the bottom end and the rest of your head such as valve guides etc. I had my upper timing chain and tensioners all done at the same time plus head gasket and total cost was

[Dr.Chinnery 0]

Thanks to all for the rapid advice - much apreciated.

There is no visual evidence of oil/water mix in water header or inside oil cap. However, the car does blow white/blue smoke on acceleration and on idle and there was loads of condensation coming off the exhaust and there was a wet patch on the engine block 1/2 way down on drivers side. The oil level had dropped 10 mm on dipstick over last 150 miles. However the water level is fine, which is a bit confusing, but the serious smoking has only happended for the last 10 miles or so hence water level ok is maybe to be expected.

I live in Oxford and of course I'm now stuck with a crippled car in Plymouth over Xmas! Any recommended garages in Plymouth or Oxford (I may get AA to tow it back to Oxford)?

[silverline 0]

that is odd. id go with head gasket as well. it doesnt take much water to create steam. run the engine with the cap off the filler bottle and look for lots of bubbles as the water returns from the engine, if the head gasket is gone you can get air locks in the water.

[matth76 1]

AMD are supposed to be good and are in the Oxford area. I haven't used them before but I've heard other members say good things about them. Alternatively get it towed an hour north to Stoke where Stealth are based. They are one of the best around for the VR6. They will diagnose and fix anything that is wrong for a good price. Well worth it in my opinion.

[petervr6 0]

let us know what happens.

[Dr.Chinnery 0]

After wasting £200 at a garage in Plymouth who new nothing about the VR6, I had the car towed to The Phirm near Farnham. Tim and his magic spanners have been to work and diagnosed a melted piston (no.3). Bugger, but could be worse (head is OK). The worrying thing at the moment is that Tim hasn't been able to eastablish the reason for the melted piston (other psitons are fine). Will update this thread when car is on road.

Just for the record, Tim at The Phirm is absolutely, 100% sound. I feel confident that my car couldn't be in better hands.

[kilokilla 0]

i have a good block that needs oil pump and sump putting back on but has good crank and pistons in i could sell you for £50 i was going to suggest piston rings as fault till i read your last post about piston as i have had 1 that done same thing but was just piston ring and not whole piston.

[Dr.Chinnery 0]

Got my VR6 back from the Phirm today. They only charged 10 hours labour for diagnostics, replacing the melted piston and fixing a few other things. The melted piston was attributed to an injector problem. Injectors were all cleaned by VW and put back in. Thankfully there was no bore or head damage. The Phirm get 10/10 in my opinion for their level of knowledge, competence and customer care. They even cleaned my car before giving it back and put 200 miles on her in road testing! Where else do you get service like that? It really is worth trekking across the country to the middle of nowhere to get your VR6 fixed at the phirm.

[petervr6 0]

so guess you had a very tastefull bill hen.lol

[Dr.Chinnery 0]

Parts were £600 (plugs, sump gasket, head gasket, head bolts, oil + filter, piston, VW injector cleaning, coil pack), Labour £450. total £1250 inc. VAT.