ayroman

when the engine is cold, and i start my car up, this leads to a profound release of white smoke from the exhaust for a max of 5-10 mins. Just to create imagery, my car reminds me of a smoke grenade, and the smell is also different from the normal. Engine light is off. before going to the mechanic, what are some differentials to this symptom? thx

Parker Gen

Hello. First it could be the head gasket. You will get white smoke from a leak or crack in the head gasket because of coolant leaking into it.
Could be a fuel injector or spark plug. Would need more information though for more in depth solution.

ASG14

iTrader: (1)

#1: Could be a blown head gasket. Pull out your dipstick and see if the oil looks normal. See if the coolant then looks normal as well.

or

#2: Very likely normal since it's so cold.

Ariyanna

I have the same thing it's 18 degrees outside and it's normal especially with the weather so cold

nevernu

Well Its 13F here now and I dont see this /nor have I ever seen 10-15 min of smoke granade white smoke in the cold. I don't think its "normal"

PFB

As a general rule, if the white smoke that you see on a cold start-up dissipates quickly into the air, than its just normal condensation. if on the other hand, it lingers around for a much longer time, and seems to be heavy, than it could be a blown head gasket. When its cold outside, (<50F) than other cars around you, assuming the drivers just started them in the last few minutes or so, will also be emitting white condensation. So look around you at other cars, and you will know what I mean.

Another quick check is to put the palm of your hand on the exhaust, and see what you get. If its just normal water vapour than your are OK.

For some reason, condensation emanating from the tailpipe when its cold, or very humid outside, is somewhat more pronounced from Japanese cars, and is perfectly normal. So if you don't have any other symptoms, than just forget about it.

Phil

LeX2K

When it's very cold out, on initial start you will see a large amount of "smoke". The mixture is going to very rich, and the water vapour in the exhaust will quickly condense. A few weeks ago I started my car when it was about -25 C. and it made a huge cloud, it's normal.

If it is your head gasket, the exhaust will likely smell sweet, and your coolant level will drop so best to check it. Other signs of head gasket failure are what other people mentioned, coolant in the oil, oil in the coolant. You can also have engine misfires at idle/rough idling. A good mechanic can diagnose a bad head gasket very easily, either using a leak down test, or a combustion leak test, or both.

ayroman

thank you for your reply. A new symptom emerged just today, the engine light lit up and read- "random cylinder misfire", "cylinder 1 misfire", "cylinder 2 misfire", "cylinder 3 misfire". Then i disconnected the batter, waited few minutes, started the car, and the engine light came up again after 10 mins of engine idling. I checked the codes again, and it read- "cylinder 2 misfire", "cylinder 3 misfire" only. I did this couple more times, and every time it gave me different cylinder numbers. Kepping in mind that the white dense smokeis still present, and i had a tune up a week ago (changed spark plugs, coil#2, and wires).
should i change all the other ignition coils or is it the head gasket/ fuel injector, or something else based on this info. Thank you.

pauloil

what is your fuel pressure doing? what kind of plugs were put in?

Parker Gen

Could be fuel rails, could be injectors, could be any of those. It's very rare that multiple coils will all die at the same time. It's probably your head-gasket. There is a rough guide on my website to removing the head-gasket in my sig links.

Because you have white smoke, and if it's continuous or not, a lot of white smoke shows a problem. You may not find any oil looking substance if you look in the coolant, because of the different ways the gasket can go. If it's cold outside like others said, you will get white smoke which is just cloud. But it's not, because you have misfires.
You could change the coils, which is what a workshop would do first, and charge you through the process. But I doubt all the coils would go again.

When your car cools down, the gaps in your gasket will compress along with the engine block and cylinder heads. So if it is a small leak, when you turn the car back on and it starts to heat up the gasket will expand and start leaking again. So a small leak may not begin intruding into cylinder 1 until later.

You changed your coil on 2, and it's still misfiring. Change the fuel injector on 2. Just swap it with one from 6 or something which is working. Then check if number 2 is working in pristine condition. If 2 is, than maybe it's your fuel injectors because you done most of everything on number 2 to fix it. You would than see 6 start going bad.

If that doesn't work, again may be head gasket. Cylinders 1 and 3 are at the back bank row, and the temperature is higher than in the front bank of cylinder 2 4 6. So that would point to more problems there of-course. And more difficulty getting to it.

ayroman

srr, i am a med student lol, how can i measure fuel pressure, mechanic only?
I have replaced my plugs with double platinum, dont remember the brand.

ayroman

from what i understand, based on the symptoms and you input- i have 2 problems: random misfires (even after a tuneup) due to fuel injector(s), and damaged head gasket (since i have oil leaks with alternating levels, which i have to refill).
Should i wash the outer engine before changing the head gasket?
and is there only 1 fuel injector or one for each cylinder?
thx, very helpful, with your replies i can at least know if the mechanic is trying to squeeze more money from me or not.

Parker Gen

The misfires could be from your head gasket being damaged. So it may be just one problem. If you had oil leaking from the head gasket, and travelling into the pistons than you would get a black smoke not white. So it's from a small amount of coolant going into the piston. (If that's the problem)

Or it's the fuel injectors alone. So do that test moving one good injector to the bad piston code, and if the injector fixes that piston code error, than you know its an injector.

You don't have to wash the engine before changing the head gasket no. You can dirty the whole thing up inside and out if you feel like it. As long as it is in absolutely pristine clean condition on the inside when it goes back together to run.

There is one fuel injector for each cylinder. You have 6. The fuel injector squirts a correct amount of fuel into the piston chamber for the air and fuel to mix and explode, creating power. So you can understand, if a fuel injector is bad, you won't get any power from that piston, creating missfire etc. It would also create a rough ride and lack of power in the engine.

dewinks

If you're going to open the engine, ALWAYS wash the engine bay before you start. This is standard process for any open surgery to engine or tranny. You'd be crazy not to, as it is alot easier than getting dirt and debris out of the engine later on. Besides, if debris falls in through an oil galley, you will never see it.

Parker Gen

That's not practical on many levels.. especially since you have to sand or machine the block or heads them self. What happens when that is done? ..... just make sure it's clean before put together.