sharan,white smoke no power

[dazza05]

Hi folks ,needing some help from the experts please.My ford galaxy had a problem 3 months ago and it has been in a garage ever since.This is the story I started the car one morning and it sounded like a tractor but I was able to drive it so after about 100 yards I stopped the car and got it towed to a Garage (some regrets),They told me the timing has most likey slipped so they checked the valves and then changed the timing belt they said there was nothing wrong with the valves (happy days says me,but) when they where trying to start the car there was alot of white smoke coming out the back so he said your turbo might have gone (oh no not the turbo) so got the turbo of and reconditioned but the car would not start so he had to tow the car and it started but the smoke continued coming out the back and when he towed the car back to the garage he said it was driving for a while then he had no power or revs........he let the car tick over and when he got in to rev it again there was a big noise like a hiss from the turbo and like a bang,so he said one of the hoses must have come off and to leave it with them yet again..... any ideas would be a big help cause my kids can't keep walking to school and Ineed the car and the bill before Xmas .1998 sharan

[kenney]

If its white smoke iam afraid the odds are the head gasket is gone.Blue smoke indicates oil getting into the system,check ur oil to see if it has accumulated,and check ur coolant level Hope iam wrong for ur sake not a very nice bill coming up to xmas

[dazza05]

Thanks for the quick response kenney do you think the garage could have damaged something when checking the valves cause it seems quite odd that there has never been white smoke before they got it

[kenney]

OK, i take it that this is a TDI and if i understand correctly,the smoke occured after they had changed the timing belt?Then it seems they have not got the timing right.A problem i have encountered a few times thinking the timing belt had slipped and it had not,was the cranckshaft sprocket had loosened,u can not see this unless u remove it.When this happens u kan adjust the timing til the cows come home and u will never get it right.u can mention this for the garage get them to check it

[dazza05]

kenney thanks again for quick post as i said in my original post my car sounded like a tractor to be more precise it sounded exactly as a tdi engine only alot louder but if what your sayin is true would the engine not still make the noise even after the timing was done........by the way I don't mean to sound daft and I really thank you for the Info

[kenney]

It probably was a turbo hose which blew off that is no major repair job, However after replacing the belt there is a possibility the camshaft timming is ok but the pump timming is off U will have difficulty starting the engine.Ask the garage if they have rechecked the basic timming,to see if this has altered,if that is the case then iam 100% sure the cause is my previous message

[dazza05]

kenney might be a silly question but would a diagnostics tool ,vag com show up anything in the timing if so would it be worth buying one from ebay theres one on there for £30.00 cheers pal

[kenney]

I need ur engine code to ansewer that one

[dazza05]

Kenney the car is at the garage so don't have the code on me so if you don't mind i'll tell him your ideas and get the engine code tomorrow thanks kenney

[kenney]

It was silly of me, to use it, your engine has to be running.The basic timig has to be checked the old fashion way and u need spesial tools for this,the garage should have them

[onzarob]

White smoke is usually water or timing as kenney is suggesting, personally if the garage can't fix it within week then they ain't worth dealing with. find a good independent and go from there.

PS you don't have to pay for incompetence ;)

[the_old_diver]

I'm a newbie here - as of today - but had a white smoke problem on my 96 Passat 1.9 TD Umwelt three months ago. Turned out to be a half-broken locating peg or key on the pulley driving the fuel pump. This allowed the pulley to vary its timing from correct to "white smoke". Unfortunately pulley retaining bolt* sheared off inside crankshaft during removal - should be getting a replacement engine soon :-)
Now, where's the "97 Sharan CL 1.9TDi won't start" thread...

*PS Is it a left hand thread?