Hey everybody, looks like I'm back on thirdgen, but this time for my cousin. He just got a 1989 Trans Am with a few issues. Here's the run down. First off the car lacks power big time, the TV cable need adjusting, the fuel tank has a leak, and there is some white smoke that appears only on start-up. Everything is being taken care of except for the smoke. At start-up it pours out of the engine bay then just stops. I thought it might be a head gasket but it stops a couple seconds after the motor turns over. Also there is a little mystery leak by the radiator, its reddish, but it could be tranny fluid or coolant since the car has that damn red coolant in it. The car needs some TLC but any idea as to whats causing that smoke. I'm starting the think that the car isn't running on all cylinders since its lacking so much pull. I'll give you the rest of the info after we get the problems we know about straightened out. Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

In your post topic, you mentioned a smell, but didn't mention it in your post content. Does it smell like antifreeze/coolant? Oil?

If it smells like coolant, maybe there's a coolant leak somewhere and it's leaking onto the exhaust manifolds or heads near the exhaust ports. Are they dry before you start it up? Can you see where the smoke comes from at all? Not sure if the manifolds would even be hot enough to burn coolant after just a couple seconds...

 

Yea, I second the smell part. After a few seconds on a cold start, the only place hot enough to burn much of anything is the combustion chamber itself, specifically, right off the spark plug. The only other way i can think of is perhaps fuel evap from the charcoal can or something, but that's a long shot.

Again, where exactly is this smoke coming from?

 

Yeah I forgot to mention the smell, it smell like coolant. In fact, sorry to pose that as a question. I know its coolant, the smoke is pure white, not the blue tint oil burns with. It doesn't run on synthetic either. The leak is definitely internal since there is nothing on the ground. I guess the question should have been: Have you guys ever heard of a mild internal coolant leak that would smoke at start-up but then not at all? I'll give the charcoal canister a shot too since its probably wasted anyway whether or not its causing this problem.

Matty377? Dude, looks like you finally got on thirdgen! It's me Ryan. I heard you got that F-body a couple years ago, hows it coming?

 

If it's internal and it's not getting on the outside of the motor, the white smoke wouldn't be coming out of the engine bay, it would be coming out of the exhaust. Unless you have a leak between the head and the block near a combustion chamber which would lead me to think head gasket, but the fact that it stops after a few seconds is confusing. You could try a leakdown test.

It actually sounds like it's leaking while the car is off(???) and then burning the coolant after you first start it up.

You haven't said where exactly the smoke is coming from, that would make it easier to give suggestions.

Hope it helped.

Yup, registered before I got the car actually. I thought it might be you ("Hard hittin' New Britain" tipped me off). Anyway, the car is a mess, but I'm workin' on it.

-Matt