a bad head gasket? I've been doing a search for white smoke coming from the exhaust, and there seems to be a consensus that it is a bad head gasket.

Anyways I started the car today, everything fine, came back after driving for 20 minutes and there was still alot of white smoke coming from the tail pipes. Checked the oil, oil level is fine, color is fine. Any ideas what the heck this is?

 

Smell the smoke from the tail pipes, if you do have a blown head gasket then you should be able to smell antifreeze comming out of the tail pipes. Also after driving for a while and your radiator is cooled down, check the water/antifreeze level. Has it droped any?

 

also if you let your car sit and idle and watch the exaust pipe and if u see any water dripping from it then that is also an indicater that u have a bad head gasket also.

 

i wouldn't rely solely on that. Part of the combustion process gives off water vapor. On a cold day that vapor can come out of the pipes in drops.

 

i stand corected and a little bit wiser now thanx

also i corrected my miss spelling above. sorry about that i was in a hurry. and im typing with a bad rist.

 

dont go by that, your exhaust builds up condenstation and will have water dripping out of it

anyway, mine does that to, but only in cooler weather 55 or below i thought maybe it was a head gasket leak but my antifreeze level doesnt go down any nor does the exhaust smell like anti freeze....

 

Has it lost any power??

Good thing checking your oil, but keep an eye on your antifreeze too.

Also, if you have some spare time, keep checking your spark plugs. If one starts to get some rust, and discoloration, that is where your problem is.

 

Coolant level hasn't dropped significantly, nor do I smell antifreeze coming from the tailpipes, BUT there is A LOT of whitesmoke coming from the exhaust. It's definitely noticeable, fills the garage pretty quickly.

And yes, there was water dripping from the exhaust, and I've never noticed it to drip before, but then again I've never checked in cold weather either. Any ideas what the heck this is?

 

If there was a drop in power, it wasn't very noticeable, if that helps any. I'm not sure, I just hope it isn't something big, being as I'm going to get another car soon here, BUT of course, being that I baby the car constantly, and yet things constantly break down on her, and at the same time my other two family members treat their cars like crap and they never break down! RRRR!!

 

Just one other thing...

Check the vacuum line that goes into your MAP sensor. My friends old grand am had that disconnect and white smoke poured out of the pipes. Once we hooked it up, the smoke went away.

 

This may sound rediculous, but what if you DID have a bhgasket - with no noticable drop in power, or anything - and continued to drive it regularily anyways...? I know my friend drove his Stang for a month or so after the fact with no real problems...?

 

Don't take my word as gospel but I don't think there would be any real problem.

My 83 might have a crack in the head. However, There is no smoke from the tailpipe, no performance loss (for a carbed 2.8), oil looks good. There was oil in my coolant though. I just flushed the radiator this past weekend and replaced the overflow bottle. I'll keep an eye out if the oil returns.

Keep in mind though that doing this could result in the motor breaking to a point where it costs more to repair now or can't be repaired.

 

Yea OK now I am really perplexed! Waited until it warmed up today, it feels like it's like 55 or something, really nice, started the car, alittle bit of white smoke from the tailpipes, 5 minutes later, nothing!

I'm NOT stupid, I baby this car all the time and I know when something isn't right, and this morning and yesterday just wasn't right. There wasn an extraordinary amount of white smoke billowing out, and now there is none??

I put my hand by the tailpipes, didn't get my hand wet, so I guess there goes the moisture-test. No water leaking from the exhaust either. Oil is fine, coolant level is fine, didn't drop, although I DO have a coolant leak, it's pretty small and I've had it for a while now with no problems, just can't find it.

My car has magically fixed itself a couple of times before, but this is strange, because I wouldn't of noticed that smoke unless it warranted being noticed. Hmmm, doesn't seem to be a bad gasket afterall, although I'm not sure.

If not, good thing, it's FINALLY getting warmed up around here and I was ready to take the tops off!!

 

BTW, should I get some of that smoke treatment stuff? Just in case? I'm not even sure what it's for, just wondering if there is anything to the stuff.

 

No to the smoke treatment...

I'd say leave everything be. Cars do spit more smoke out of the exhaust during colder weather. Once they warm up they are good to go...

 

Didn't correct all of it

 

Check your transmission fluid.

 

Don't ever get the "smoke treatment". all them oil additives are junk. coincidently, they are made by by the same companies that make your engine internals???

 

if its cold outside the smoke will always be white because the exhaust is hot

 

and there isn't a problem with the head gasket its perfectly normal

sorry about the double post

 

Oh, I know about the white smoke coming from the exhaust when it's cold outside, I mean I'm not stupid or anything, but there was just SO MUCH white smoke, it looked as if something was up. Never seen that much white smoke before, it was all over the place. Car is fine now, but that was just weird.

BTW, good thing the car is fine, I FINALLY got to take down the tops today! Woo!!