jaybro

This is my first time visiting this site to post anything but I've read many threads on here before buying my car. I got my audi about 2 weeks ago and it was my first car. With only 66,000 miles on it, it drove like a dream. nothing wrong with it except a few minor electrical things. and unfortunately about 2 days ago I got into a front end collision where someone had ran a stop sign and I ended up t-boning him. the accident didn't even occur over 15 mph. the engine was thankfully still intact and nothing appeared to be out of place. we were at the scene for about an hour with the car off while we dealt with police. after that, I turned the car on and it started up fine with no lights on the dash. but I did notice a sweet coolant type smell after sitting there for a minute. the engine temp never went up after sitting for about 10 minutes so I proceeded on with my day. the car drove just fine with everything working as it should until the end of the day. now the part I'm concerned about. last night I started it up just to make sure everything was running right and it started up fine but with an unsually high idle to it. it eventually went down and it went to normal after it warmed up a little bit. I was looking around the car while it ran when I notice a burning smell and a very faint white smoke appeared from the hood. within a couple seconds of that, a very strange noise came from the car that sorta sounded like I had turned the a/c on. so not wanting to do further damage, I shut it off. the only pre existing problems that I know of before the accident was an oil leak from the turbos. I took it to the dealership to see what it was and they told me that it would run fine just don't get on it at all or it will get worse. I've noticed a burning smell before due to the oil but it went away when I started driving. I'm assuming the oil just evaporated. but it never smoked. I didn't drive it at all for about a day and I'm thinking a lot of oil might have leaked on the downpipe and that's what caused the smoke? but I still can't explain the strange noise it made shortly after that. if someone has some sort of theory they could throw at it, that would be great. I apologize for how long this has been but I just wanted to include every detail possible. thanks

tester123

The first thing is to understand the noises you heard. When cold engine starts, there is a secondary air pump that turns on for a minute or two to push more air to get CATS ready quickly. So, that could be one. Also, if you left the climate control in Auto (vs. Econ), the AC compressor could have turned on as well.

When it smoked, did you open the hood to see where it was coming from? Are there any leaks on the ground after parking for a while? Check coolant level to see if it is low... that could shed light on the "sweet smell". Possible that radiator developed a leak after accident?

Check levels of all fluids as per manual.

Lastly, you have to understand that it is difficult for anyone (esp. over Internet) to diagnose from "what you think you heard" and "smoke under the hood"...

I pointed some places to check and hopefully that gets you started on finding out what's wrong with your car.

jaybro

Thank you for the reply. the coolant levels haven't depleted at all. the coolant smell went away after a while of driving it as per the temperature didn't go past the halfway mark, a while after the accident. I started it today and the cold start was a lot louder than usual but it soon quieted down and that's when it started smoking. smoke came from the driver side of the engine and smelled like burning rubber. there is an oil leak from the left turbo that the audi dealership in my area found. I'm assuming because I let it sit for a day oil puddled up on the exhaust and it's all getting burned off but just to be safe I shut it off. it's going to an auto body shop to get the outside damages repaired but I'm not sure what to do about the smoking and everything. I'll keep the thread updated on what happens. thank you again for replying

Harleyguy

If the problems all occurred after the crash, the insurance should cover it. Make sure all the anomilies are noted in the repair estimate. Could be an uphill battle but maybe not. Worth a try if it is a true, factual statement. What have you got to loose?

clancy

Following along with Hareyguy's reasoning, I would be sure to state something on the repair order that says to properly resolve the turbo oil leak. Not necessarily giving an estimate for the cost as replacing a turbo requires pulling the engine. You might scare them with a number. Hate to have the car totaled on paper. Let them agree to it first, then later find out how much it will actually cost.

jaybro

Thank you for the reply. the audi dealership I took it to said they are 90% sure it's the turbos leaking oil. they wanted $6,000 to fix it but i know some trusted mechanics that will do it for about half that. but it just doesn't make sense to me because I've read multiple times that the turbos don't go bad until around 130,000 miles. Are you saying I should or should not say anything about the turbos to the insurance? thank you for the reply. I appreciate it

jaybro

I will make sure to include the strange noises I heard and the smoke I saw. I payed $5,000 for it so I'm really hoping the damages don't go over that number. thank you for the reply

clancy

My suggestions was based on two thoughts. First, don't assume your turbo or turbos are bad just because you see oil leaking. Could be coming from somewhere else. Second, don't ask that the insurance replace your turbo or you may just get a "totaled" from them. Per your response you found the cost of one turbo to be more than you paid for the car.

I would simply request they repair the things that resulted from the collision, meaning the oil leak, and such.

jc1113

This is pertaining to the turbo. They are very inexpensive to rebuild all of the cost is in labor as the motor has to be removed. If I had to go through the trouble of removing the motor. I would probably opt for larger ones but that's just my opinion. I've always dreamed of the 660hp turbo kit from 034 racing but it's like you said the car was 5000 that's about what the kit cost.

georgeb944

I had a car "totaled" by an insurance company and the buyback from the company was $320. For that much money, I got back a nice set of wheels and tires (which were nearly new), a complete interior, all my engine and chassis electronics which worked perfectly, and a complete drive line.

I also kept my title from being branded salvage, and, if I chose to repair the car (I won't because of the extent of the damage), I could have it registered and insured again.