I was gonna post this in the exhaust forum but it seems like they dont care about problems they just wanna see what is better, so im posting it here cause you guys havent let me down yet! Besides it could be the way it is tuned and if it is, it does belong here.

Why all of a sudden am I getting tons of thick white exhaust out of my car at start up? It is only for a brief moment, and it just started doing this, it only does it after sitting for a few hours. Any sugestions why?

-Shaun

 

white smoke is a bad sign dude. white is coolant, that means you have water leaking into your engien from somewhere, liek the head gaskets.

later
tim

 

definately a head gasket or a cracked head or block.....pray it's a gasket<--most likely....but te next best would be a head.....hopefully it's not a block....good luck.

chris

 

Sure it's not oil? If it's only doing it on cold-starts it kindof sounds like valve seals leaking down while the car sits. When you start it it suddenly burns off the oil and for just a few seconds...big puff of smoke.

 

Oil puts out blue smoke, rich mixture gets you black smoke, coolant gets you white smoke. You'll know the difference when you see it. I've personally had the oil blow by happen to me and believe me its quite unique. It never looks anything close to white and leaves carbon deposits. I've seen white coolant smoke from broken gaskets, nothing special, but the thickness and smell of the smoke are sure signs. Rich condition puts out black smoke similar to diesel as I recall when my o2 sensor went off the deep end. Old valve seals will let out some black smoke on startup as well. If it goes away after some time, there's a good chance its gaskets. A break in either the head or block would cause major white smoke as long as the engine is running, not just at startup. Gasket leaks depending on severity can temp-seal themselves on the expansion of the block/head due to heat and will seem to stop the leak, but when cooling on contraction will leak. Either way, you have a major issue with the engine now and it needs to be addressed.

 

i have seen both. they can be confused my car burns oil and it can look whitish

 

Well I know im not leaking a drop of anything externally any ways and my coolant has not gotten any lower not that i would probably be able to see a differece anyways, today it is cooler outside by 15*, and it did not blow any smoke this morning, it seems to be dependant on outside temp.

Still think it is coolant leaking into the engine from somewhere?

 

Dude, that Ain't cool! Check your oil Is there any milky sludge built up inside the valve cover or on the dipstick. It may very well be the valve seals. Don't forget to tell everyone that you are running valvoline Durablend which does kinda burn white. remember the little black foam-like rings that I found in the rebuild kit? I don't think that the Engine shop put those on. I'll be down this weekend and we'll take off a valve cover and a head if we have to. See ya.

-Lars

 

5 bucks says that your valve seals are shot..

Kat

 

nothing on the dip stick except what belongs there, nothing visible arround the oil fill cap, breather or pcv valve holes, I just want this thing to run right, oh yeah lars that reminds me, ask me about the 00 Vette I was playing with tonight on the way home... fun fun

 

When you check the coolant level are you just looking at the reservoir bottle or are you actually opening the radiator cap?

My point is checking the reservoir bottle is not the best way to tell whether or not you have enough coolant in your engine.

 

i did both

 

Ok get this, I pulled the spark pulgs and every one of them look like I put them in yesterday, if it was coolant or even a valve seal, they would not look new, so what the heck should I check now?

 

Hmmm
Are you running lean?
Is your engine overheating like crazy???

 

I have an '83 1/2 ton Chevy with a 305 and it does the exact same thing. It's the valve seals (on my truck anyway). It looks white when the engine's cold because oil has to burn at a certain temperature before it turns blue. Kinda like an orange flame is hotter than a blue one.

20:1 odds, I say it's the oil slipping pass the valve seals. If it was burning white all the time, especially at idle, then it would be coolant.

If all else fails, use your GØD given sniffer. Hold your hand(s) over the tailpipe when someone else starts it for you. Unless you have REALLY long arms. But even then it may be hard to tell.

AJ

 

First, not lean, not overheating (unless I forget to turn on the fan) Second, I am thinkin it is the valve seals, coolant smells really odd in exhaust right, this doesn't smell like that, i have smelled that before, And no I cant stick my nose up to the tail pipe
cause right now i have a $14 muffler where the cat normally sits and nothing behind it.