A6 3.0 V6 Blue smoke on idle

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helijon

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OK chaps - help required!
Audi 2006 Avant Quattro 96k diesel 3.0 V6 which produces blue smoke if warmed up and left idling for > 3 or 4 minutes.
Happy to have a go but have some questions... is it:
a. The dreaded injector problem - although it seems to be white smoke not blue
b. A turbo oil seal problem
c. Something else
On normal running, the car seems fine and there is no smoke - there is also no smoke on start up, cold or when I boot it.
Happy to buy a VCDS if it helps (or better still, pay to borrow one), but is there a full manual and instruction booklet - how do I use it and what am I looking for? If I get the VCDS, will I be able to work out the problem? Can I update the car s/w if I change the injectors using the VCDS?
Lots of questions but really could do with a pointer.
In Andover Hampshire, so if someone want copious qty of beer to spend an hour explaining and helping me - then just let me know. Booked in to Audi, but not sure that is just not ripping up £50's.
 
It's 90% going to be the injectors. That is the classic symptom of injector failure.
There are quite a few threads on here where people have dealt with this.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...injectors-need-changing-advice-please.132119/

The dealers will be very expensive, best to find a good independent garage or a diesel specialist.

If it was the turbo it would be smoking straight away and the car would be using oil. I believe there are some measuring blocks on VAG-COM in the ECU that you can look at that will point to a definite problem with the injectors. But they all really need replacing, fortunately it's not that hard to replace them.

Karl.
 
Thanks Karl, but the forums say it is always white smoke for the injectors - blue indicates oil? The car is using a very small amount of oil
 
Tks for the vid Desertstorm, wow that is bad!

Mine is nothing like that - that smoke is white, mine is blue and it looks like it is sooted up at the exhaust pipe area as well.
 
Your symptoms sound exactly the same a my MY 06 A6 3.0TDI, there was lots of smoke during idle, but only when the engine was hot. My fix was to replace the injectors, got a used set from a 2010 V6 engine from ebay.de for £500 which fixed the fault. You can check if the injects are out using VCDS, so I would check that first. If your good with the spanners I would also check the inlet manifolds and the intercoller pipes for excess oil http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/thread...ebuild-and-repair-thread.211351/#post-2118561
 
Is the oil level correct in the engine?, It's not been over filled has it ?

Karl.
 
Desert Storn, Engine oil is ok.

I have booked it in to an independant VAG dealer Friday week to have it diagnosed... would I be better spending that £70 on purchasing the VCDS connector and software? I am told that the diagnostics will take about an hour.. is this right - seems a long time? Anyone using a VCDS system who can advise as to how easy it is to set up and understand the readings? Is there a guide?? All help appreciated?
Is there a fault code for the turbo oil seal? Happy to pay for the injectors, but what if that is not the fault?
Offer of beer still stands!
 
Injectors, as others have said.
I have sent a few sets to Diesel Bob Tuning in the past, who has sent them back like new!
 
The injectors on the C6 cannot be refurbished, I talked with Diesel Bob about my injectors, and the only option was to replace them.

Where are you based, someone local to you could scan the car for a lot less.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I have some updates...
The fault appears to be injectors or turbo. There are differing opinions with most people saying injectors, however I am not convinced as:
1. the smoke is blue not white and
2. both exhausts smoke at exactly the same time (about 3 minutes), with the same quantity and density of smoke, which seems odd for both banks to have exactly the same fault?
I spoke with Diesel Bob who (as B5NUT states) confirmed that the injectors can not be reconditioned.
I found a chap in a van in Basingstoke who is going to scan the car on Tues and confirm whether the fault is injectors or turbo. He advises that the injectors problem can be detected by the VCDS software and the turbo fault can be detected by looking in the manifold to see if oil is dripping in. I will decide what to do after I get the report on Tuesday.
Eurocarparts sell replacement injectors but state they are reconditioned one... hmmmm.
Best price for injectors in the UK is Diesel Bob :) seems a great bloke!
B5NUT - I live in Andover Hampshire
A little bit surprised I have not had a few more offers of help from people with the magic VCDS lead, but I suppose Andover is quite remote?
Thanks to those who have replied, and any further help/assistance would be GREATLY appreciated.
 
There is not one exhaust for each manifold, both manifolds feed into the turbo, and the turbo feed onto the cats and after the final cat it then splits into the two rear silencers, that's why you get the same smoke from each exhaust. As I said VCDS will read the current tolerances stored in the ECU, these are the values you need to get, also get him to log these values so you have a record.

Also just because there is oil in the inlet manifolds, does not mean the turbo is failing, I get a fair amount of oil from the crank case breather, which I must replace at some point, but to get around this you could invest in an oil catch can system.

You do have an option to get used set of injectors from a later model, it's what I did and saved about a grand doing so.
 
B5NUT - well, I'm now £55 lighter and to be honest, not too sure how much further I am.
VCDS chap turned up and ran the diagnostics - said all was ok except Injectors 4 & 6 were out of tolerance. I asked for a log but he said he could not do that, so I wrote the information down as follows:

Group 72 stage 1 -2
Group 73 stage 1 4
Group 74 stage 1 4
Group 75 stage 1 -14
Group 76 stage 1 -4
Group 77 stage 1 -20

Stages 2 and 3 were all about 0 with a couple at 2.

The chap stated they should all be +- 4 so 75 (cyl 4) and 77 (cyl 6) were way out of tolerance. He also said all other readings were well in spec.

I asked about your statement of putting later injectors in the car, but he had not heard of this... do you have a part number? I've looked on line and the original parts No 059130855AX appear to be replaced by 059130277BD. Is it the second part number that can be fitted as I think these can be reconditioned.

Thanks for the update on the exhaust - that will explain why the smoking is the same on both sides.

Any thoughts appreciated :)
 
I also had 2 faulty injectors, so I replaced the lot. What is your engine code? 059130855AX is the current current part number. 059130277BD was dropped back in 2012.
 
Is it the 059130855AX that can be repaired? Did the VCDS figures make sense?
 
No idea, but from what I understand none of the A6 injectors could be refurbished. Kind of but would have been good to see the actual logs.
 
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