Hi,

I am looking for some advice. My Jetta shakes and smokes when i start it in the morning. The check engine light is on, came on the first time it did this, and has been on ever since. There is also lots of smoke when i start it, but that gets way less after a few min. What do you think is wrong, and what should i do?

Thanks,

Travis 

Hi Travis,

The shaking may be "Missfires" where the engine does not fire and burn the gas correctly.  This will set a check engine light.  

You need to check the smoke... is it Bluish or White?  Does it smell like oil or sweet like antifreeze.  It is possible that you may have a problem with the head gasket.

If you could answer these questions, I can help you more.

• Does the car smoke when it is started?

• Is the smoke white and sweet smelling, or white with a blue tint and smell like oil, or is the smoke Black and smell quite raw?

• Have you been adding Coolent / Antifreeze?

• Have you been adding oil?

Write back and answer the best you can...

thanks

bob