white exhaust smoke (not to be mistaken for water vapour)

[t_urbo]

There are several threads about smoking RS4's, do a search.

I've read all the threads and aside from some vague comments about tolerances, I have still not seen a sensible answer as to why the car is doing this and why it should only be one bank that typically produces the smoke?

Go on, help us out bearing in mind your car has been in to Audi for analysis....

What did they say and why were you content with such vagueness?

Conversely, why aren't you telling us exactly what the source of the issue is?

As t_urbo has said, if its a known fault, there must be some reasonable explanation and the fact that it is only one exhaust typically smoking means the right bank is somewhat different from the left bank in its plumbing...

I was down at Opie Oils yesterday and Guy was commenting on how, in his experience, all RS series cars tend to be relative oil burners.

I'm just trying to decide whether my car needs to go into Audi.

The amount of condensation it produces is huge, but every now and again a whiff of fuel vapour and some more significant oil smoke is suggesting to me that somehow, either fuel or oil is collecting somewhere.

Fuel vapour seems likely to be rich running but where is the oil coming from?

Can someone post a schematic of the oil system perhaps?

That said my car is using oil at the same rate as many cars here - 1.25L in just under 4K miles.

It seems odd to me that a few people on this forum alone have this smoke on start up problem and the dealer has said either 'yer its ok' or thats 'normal', yet no one has asked what exactly is the cause!

If it is normal then what is it thats letting by allowing oil to be burnt?

S4INT, 4 ltrs in 8k is alot.

Oil consumption and smoke on start up are two different issues, and are unlikely to be related.

[SR71]

simple1,

This is bloody ridiculous.

Whilst I appreciate your detailed explanation as to what Audi have done to your car, are we saying that, its only by default they have managed to cure your particular smoking issue?

I find it staggering that, bearing in mind whats at stake, they haven't got an explanation at their finger tips...unless of course, they do, but they're trying to save themselves a £3K recall fee per car to rectify the issue.

With numerous owners complaining of smoking cars, there must be an explanation of why the cars are doing this in the first place!

I might just book my car in for the hell of it to see what they say.

[Casper]

Ours smokes hard regularly on the startup when cold, but only when cold. When it is warmed up properly it doesn't smoke at all. In 2000 miles it used 0,6 l of oil, which i think is completely ok.

[SR71]

I'm none the wiser.

Car went for health check today and its fine....although they didn't do what I asked.

Still I'll keep an eye on it.

Might write to Audi and take it up that way....

[reevesroadster]

mine isnt using lots of oil, but smokes when cold. Ive got mine booked in to Audi next Monday. Unfortunately dont have VAG COm to pre-check any error codes.

[marty72]

Mine smokes on cold start fairly regularly - especially so if the engine only ran for a few minutes when previously started, for example when moving it from the driveway to the garage the previous night. The oil consumption is also quite high, I would say I have put in at least 4 litres in the 8000 miles I have covered in it. (14k on the clock now).

My car also smokes, every day in fact but only once and that's when I red line for the first time in say 2nd or 3rd gear, then it doesn't happen again.
I just get the impression that the car just needs to clear it throat of any settled residue from the day before and to be honest it doesn't worry me, unless of course someone on this forum tells me different.

[SR71]

But what residue and where is it coming from?

[marty72]

But what residue and where is it coming from?

It's of a light grey color i.e you can only just about see it in daylight but it's there under hard acceleration.
I'm as you can probably tell not mechanically minded, but I would have thought with this type of highly tuned engine that there might be some sort of residue build up within the exhaust system or maybe I need a bash on the head?

[t_urbo]

Bash in the head i think.

All RS4 B7 owners get this residue out the back............. it is in fact pound notes falling off the car at a rapid rate.