Help needed. White smoke that smells sweet

[Bingdog67]

Have this issue for the last few months.

Smoke comes out and into vents, completely at random.

I did a drive to Ireland and no smoke.

Did a drive to work and back, just over 2 miles and smoke came out.

Don't have to be going fast.

It's happening randomly.

Mechanic thinks it may be an oil leak but says nightmare to find out, cause he'd need to strip engine and then it wouldn't be able to switch on to find the problem.
 

Warranty say gasket leaks are not covered, if that's what it is.

Anyone had this issue before?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[X5smw]

Hi mate. 
welcome.

can you show me where in the engine this is, photo from further out?  
mum not familiar with the 6 series but looking at it, it appears to be venting from the exhaust manifold area. 
@greydog , on this engine, does it have an engine preheat plug? Is this the visible object of the heat shield? 
silly question, but was the aircon on going to Ireland? 
good luck! Stu 

[Bingdog67]

39 minutes ago, X5smw said:

Hi mate. 
welcome.

can you show me where in the engine this is, photo from further out?  
mum not familiar with the 6 series but looking at it, it appears to be venting from the exhaust manifold area. 
@greydog , on this engine, does it have an engine preheat plug? Is this the visible object of the heat shield? 
silly question, but was the aircon on going to Ireland? 
good luck! Stu 

Hi Stu,
Thanks for the reply.
If you are standing in front of the car, it is coming from the top left.

So on the Drivers side, directly in front of the steering wheel.

It looks like it's coming from something round in shape that looks as if it's been welded.

[Bingdog67]

Just now, Bingdog67 said:

Hi Stu,
Thanks for the reply.
If you are standing in front of the car, it is coming from the top left.

So on the Drivers side, directly in front of the steering wheel.

It looks like it's coming from something round in shape that looks as if it's been welded.

No air con on. Not sure about the preheat plug. It's just a start button.

[Bingdog67]

Looks like it's coming from a part similar to this and in the direction of the drivers seat.

[Greydog]

Hi John

That is the back of the diesel particulate filter you have high lighted 

Your turbo chargers have a cooling system if there is a leak in the cooling system and coolant gets on to a hot turbo or exhaust you will get smoke and a sweet smell. When driving it will tend to blow away under the car

It is a fiddle but checking all the hoses in that area is the only way, have you had to top up coolant at all ??

Dave

[Bingdog67]

4 minutes ago, Greydog said:

Hi John

That is the back of the diesel particulate filter you have high lighted 

Your turbo chargers have a cooling system if there is a leak in the cooling system and coolant gets on to a hot turbo or exhaust you will get smoke and a sweet smell. When driving it will tend to blow away under the car

It is a fiddle but checking all the hoses in that area is the only way, have you had to top up coolant at all ??

Dave

Hi Dave,

The car was serviced last month so I'd like to think the coolant was topped up.
Do you think there may be a hose under or near the diesel particulate filter that is leaking?

Not sure if you could see the blow of smoke from the video.

 

Thanks

John

[Bingdog67]

10 minutes ago, Greydog said:

Hi John

That is the back of the diesel particulate filter you have high lighted 

Your turbo chargers have a cooling system if there is a leak in the cooling system and coolant gets on to a hot turbo or exhaust you will get smoke and a sweet smell. When driving it will tend to blow away under the car

It is a fiddle but checking all the hoses in that area is the only way, have you had to top up coolant at all ??

Dave

It's just weird because it doesn't always happen and distance or speed doesn't matter when it does.

[Greydog]

Hi John

If the leak is just a weep it could well be missed at service as they are more interested in getting the job done, and yes it could well have been topped up what was on the invoice/receipt 

It was more your description "a sweet smell" that got me thinking coolant

Dave

[Bingdog67]

1 minute ago, Greydog said:

Hi John

If the leak is just a weep it could well be missed at service as they are more interested in getting the job done, and yes it could well have been topped up what was on the invoice/receipt 

It was more your description "a sweet smell" that got me thinking coolant

Dave

My Mechanic said he thought it may be an oil leak but it doesn't smell like oil. A few times, when it's happened, I've taken it to him and sods law, it stops by the time he sees it, so I could only show him the video.