White Smoke
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
From: San Bernardino & Orange County CA
White Smoke
My ’85 Coupe smells rich, yet it just passed smog with flying colors. Occasionally white smoke comes out of both exhaust pipes upon startup (usually after a short run to the 7-11). This doesn’t happen every time. No smoke on startup after sitting overnight or for moderate period of time or during runs. Not burning oil. It’s a SOCAL car so not starting up in extreme cold. The top end was rebuilt about 30,000 miles ago. Compression is good. Engine runs smooth and strong at idle and under acceleration.
Should I be concerned? I just bought the car a couple of weeks ago. Are these new fandangled additives like z-max worth considering or are they junk science? What about Lucas products which seem to be sold at truck stops & now the higher-end automotive retail stores? Freaking out – the previous owner maintained the car religiously, but it does have 160,000 freeway miles on it.
Thanks!
Should I be concerned? I just bought the car a couple of weeks ago. Are these new fandangled additives like z-max worth considering or are they junk science? What about Lucas products which seem to be sold at truck stops & now the higher-end automotive retail stores? Freaking out – the previous owner maintained the car religiously, but it does have 160,000 freeway miles on it.
Thanks!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,018
Likes: 1
From: OR
I don't know what your calling 'rich smell'. A rich running car with a catalitic converter smells like rotton eggs. Is that what it smells like? When the engine is cold, remove the radiator cap and start the engine. Observe the coolant. If there's a head gasket problem there will be a steady stream of bubbles. If not, put the cap back on and just keep an eye on fluid levels for a while. If there's no abnormal oil or coolant loss, I'd forget about it. Perhaps the puff of smoke is just some extra fuel burning off that was left in the intake when the engine was turned off. Just a guess.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 1,094
Likes: 0
From: West Palm Beach Florida
You could have a tiny pin hole leak in one of the head gaskets and on a short run you get the engine hot. Did you know that when you turn an engine off the temp climbs higher because the hot coolant is not cirulating anymore? With that said after a short run the temp is rising and not moving it could cause a small pin hole in the head gasket to leak even more. Just something for you to check in on. The leak could be so minor that it won't get into your oil. You need to get a presure tester and pump it up and see if it drops, it is not recomended to run the car with the presure tester on it but you may want to try to start it and see if it smokes with it on it. You do need to know that if it does have a leak in the coolant that it will now have a big leak and will need repair now more than ever.
