Burning smell and wisps of smoke

[chopper4001]

Hi all,

This morning I noticed a burning smell (I think oil not anti-freeze) when the car was idling after having been driven 6 or 7 miles, and there was a small plume of smoke coming from the engine. I checked under the hood and the smoke looked like it was coming from under the drivers side of the engine block, or from something around there (in the UK so LHD).

Car is an Audi A4 2008 B8 with 110k on the clock. I've had it for about two months, and had all sorts of problems, the main one being that the head gasket blew, which was replaced under warranty, as were the timing belt and air filter. To check the work done by the car salesman's garage, I asked a friendly garage to check it over for me, and they had to change the coolant out because the previous guy had just used water.

After that I'd been getting intermittent engine warning lights and ESP fault/parking brake failure warnings. And it was idling a little rough. Not badly, just a little (I was very tuned to the sound/feel of the engine after getting the car back from the head gasket/timing belt change).

I changed the spark plugs at the weekend, as they hadn't been done for 20k miles and figured this may be a cause of the idling and/or the engine light. Having done that, everything was working perfectly. I took the car on a 50 mile round trip and the car runs and idles smoother than it ever has, and all warning lights have gone.

This burning seems to have started when I filled up last (a few days ago), but I can't imagine the two things are connected? It doesn't smell like petrol. Would this be a result of something I've screwed up doing the plugs? It's an easy job and I made sure I didn't disturb anything I didn't need to.

Can anyone think of something else it might be, given the work I've described? I guess it could be anything.

It's a very small plume of smoke. Oil level seem stable, as does the coolant (I need to check that actually, but it was fine when I changed the plugs) and there is nothing dripping on the ground.

I don't really want it going back to the garage if it's an easy fix/something that will work itself out (some oil or something on the outside of the engine burning off? Or is that a pipe dream?).

[chopper4001]

Sorry, appreciate it's a difficult thing to help with.

Some more info though. I've worked out that it only happens when I apply the parking brake and the engine is still warm. Does that mean I need a new cable? How easy is it to replace?

Why would it smoke?

[b206]

Take it to a VW specialist and get it scanned. Could be a million and one things - doubt it has anything to do with the parking brake as you said the smell was burning oil ?

[chopper4001]

Thanks for the reply b206.

I'm now not sure what it is as it came on when I was coming to a stand still to park this morning (no parking brake). It doesn't do it when the car is stopped at lights though, so it's all a bit of a mystery. I'm not sure if its oil. I originally thought it might be, but it could be plastic. There's no smoke now either, just the smell.

I read somewhere else that a few people had a plastic bag caught under the engine which then melted, causing similar symptoms. I'm hoping that it's something similar as the smoke has gone and the smell seems to be getting less. The fact it the smell started after leaving a petrol station suggests something was caught under it then. I'll have a look later tonight.

My next concern was that the discs were worn or callipers were sticking or something, but there's no noticeable strain on the car under braking, in fact again the brakes seem smooth and responsive.

[b206]

If it was the brakes you would see smoke from the wheels/arches not the engine. Brake smoke has a distinctive smell anyway.

I would take it to a garage and get it checked/scanned......unless you have ramps and VCDS.