sometimes when i start my car (l98 - stock) there is a puff of smoke under the hood that seems to come from the motor . anybody know where this is coming from and why ?
i dont have some one else here to start it for me while i look ..

 

Its possible that the puff of smoke blows under the car and you see it when it leaves the engine compartment, It happen to me severaltimes when I start it in the garage with the doors open, and I drive in so the smoke from the exhaust is blowed from the back of the car and then come out around the engine, get a friend and let him check that for you, maybe it isnt something to worry about.

you could check you pcv valve and oilcap.. just to make sure, if you got an leak it should be smoking all the time form the eng. compartent.

 

its not blowing up from the rear of the car . it is immediately when the car starts . it looks like it is coming from the driver side , beneath the valve cover .

 

Oil leaking onto the manifold? Perhaps after sitting, the drip has built up enough to be noticed.

Perhaps it KEEPS dripping, but the smoke is so negligable, that is isn't noticeable. Not only that, once the fans start turning, it blows it back and dissipates more, to the level you can't seeit.

 

i got a mirror and looked down there and there are no stains and the valve cover does not look like it is leaking .

i think it might be the exhaust manifold gasket .

you dont think it could be the head gasket do you ?

 

Does the car have an exhaust leak, ticking sound? Could be worn valve stem seals, maybe leaking enough to get through the leaking exhaust manifold, but not to the tailpipe. If there is no oil leaking onto the manifold itself, I'm not sure what else it could be, unless it's electrical.
I doubt it's the head gasket. If it was mixing oil/coolant, running real rough, or leaking both, maybe, otherwise no.

 

yes the valve seals leak and i get a nice puff of smoke out of the exhaust when i start the car .

i do notice a bit of a ticking sound under the hood but its hard to tell because the injectors tick so loud in these cars .

definitely not electrical .

the car is running rough till it warms up (that is why i am tinkering with it right now also why i noticed the puff of smoke under the hood) .

its not leaking any thing and i am not using much oil or any coolant .

 

I remember on my old stock motor, the oil leaked up onto the lifter valley (a greasy mess on the top of the motor) but not enough to smoke. That ended up being the intake manifold (base). Doesn't sound like that to me, at all.

I haven't had exhaust side leak, but would guess if you opened the throttle it would make it tick more.

Anything puffing out of the dipstick? (Wrong side, I know.) Or the oil cap? and PCV, while its running? I hope not...

What does it look like from under the car? Can you see an oil trail? Some things only happen while moving, so no puddle.

Does the car overheat for no reason? Is the oil milky? I hope not.

Good luck

 

ya , i think i may have a little bit of a mystery leak somewhere that is causing this . the only time it does this is if the car was running , shut off for at least 15 min and then started again . it is not enough to ever hit the ground .
i dont have any of the classic symptoms of a bad head gasket (thank god) and i dont think this is related to my cold rough idle issue , it was just something i never noticed before so it has me a little concerned .
o well , whats a few drops of oil for my homies . the stuffs only $140 a barrel .

 

If you are hearing a loud ticking noise underneath the hood it could possibly be a exhaust manifold that with bolts that are not all the way torqued down.

I used to have this problem all the time with my 86, the bolts would back off and then you could hear the ticking sound. The engine would run funny and I think I did see a puff of smoke come out of the gap one time.

It will be louder on one side of the engine and get louder when you press the throttle.

 

yep , the back 2 drivers side exhaust manifold bolts were loose . 1 was only a little loose , the one all the way in the back was about to fall out .

all is good now , ill have to keep an eye on them ..

 

My car does the same thing because of the valve stem seals. Never noticed it from the manifold until I started it with the hood up one day. It smokes out both ends.

 

lol , you better tighten those up before they fall off like mine almost did ...

 

I assumed they needed new gaskets. Maybe they are just loose. I'll check tomorrow.

 

CHECK THEM ! . there is no gasket , they are bolted right to the head .