samsamsam

Hey guys, I have a A4 B7 2.0T 6speed manual @109K miles, completely stock. I drove from LA to the Bay area and stayed there over the summer. The car has some acceleration issue. I first noticed during the uphill road either on highway or regular road. if I step on the gas pedal to hit around 2200RPM to maintain the speed on uphill or mildly accelerate on hill, the exhaust burst smoke and I can smell from the open window (exhaust gas leak out from engine bay?). I can feel the engine stuttering/jerking with some clicking/ticking noise from under the hood.

Now I am back to LA and I found the car experiencing the same issue even on the flat LA freeway if I pull the car to pass 2200RPM. This could happen on any gear but mostly on high gears (4-6 gear). This did not happen every single time but I will say about 35% of the overall time. Also the car will burst smoke from 2200RPM to about 5500RPM (I did a test) if the smoke starts while I keep push the gas pedal without changing gear. However if I up/down shift and release then step on the gas pedal it may not happen again in the next gear.

Some other things I noticed and may link to the syndrome: 1. if I turn the A/C on, I can feel the power loss and the RPM drop faster when pressing clutch during gear change. 2. The car consumes much more oil than before: 1 qt for 500 miles!!

The valve cover gasket kit replaced @ 100K mi and same as the spark plugs. PCV recalled @90K mi

First thing I am guessing is the PCV since I can smell the smoke while I was driving on highway, but it’s only 20K old… second I want to check turbo, but how can I check since I did not loss the boost? Then I was to check the ignition coil as I heard it is a common issue and it may cause misfire… these are my top ideas. Those parts are expensive I don’t want to shoot blindly…

This has been very weird and I am hoping it won’t blow the turbo or any internal components. I appreciate any possible ideas/help you all may be able to offer. Thanks!!!

John535is

Any chance you can pull some codes?
The power loss could be symptomatic of a vacuum leak. I would start with the simple things, check the vacuum hoses for cracks, holes, loose connections. Check where the hoses bend, they can crack and you don't see it until you move them around a bit. I'm assuming the smoke is probably the ECU trying to remap the fuel air mixture, when you try to increase the power, the vacuum leak is too much for the ecu to overcome and you get the loss of power.
It costs nothing but time, a flashlight and dirty hands to check all the hoses, I have found some really obvious bad leaks on engines that were still running like yours. Check the connections around the replaced PCV, they may have inadvertently damaged or not tightened one of the other hoses.

Then check the cam sensor plug is plugged in correctly. I had a guy turn up with an engine running but poor power, the plug just hadn't been clicked all the way in after someone had serviced it. Its a long shot but it will give you a similar issue.