audifan4000

hello, i'm new to the forum but not to audi's. i recently aquired a 1980 5000 n/a diesel from a local salvage yard with hopes of making a gt coupe into an oil burner. the only problem so far is this thing smokes like nothing i have ever seen before. not black sooty smoke but white/yellowish and it leaves a huge black stain under the exhaust any place it is ran. it only starts when primed w/ether and will remain running but will not immediatly re-start. i do not believe it is head gasket as the coolant has remained at the propper level even after idling for 20-30 minutes. anyone ever encountered this before?

squidix9

It doesn't need to burn much water to make white smoke.Only a minute amount will cause smoke.

And if you're losing compression due to the leak it will be hard to start for sure.

Likely it is between #4&5