sc3boost

alright heres my delima i have a 92 sc300 5spd with 85000 miles, i've been getting thick white smoke for a while (i know i know search right), but this only happens once in a while and feels as if the car is running on 5 cylinders and it stinks of gas, i tested the voltage from the ecu and they are all fine, and heres the funny part, it does'nt send any codes, no cheak engine light, but when i put the ecu into cheak mode the light comes on but when i try to get the code the light goes out, i tried everything to get this code but it always goes out.
does this mean the ecu is bad

whiteSc3

iTrader: (1)

Thick white smoke is water, meaning you probably have water in the combustion chamber ie: blown headgasket. Do you have any overheating problems? Look at you oil and see if its milky, and open your overflow bottle and see if it smells like gas.

sc3boost

this has to be an electrical problem, i did a compression cheak, my coolant level is fine, the oil is fine, i always use 93 octain, i ran the car till it was bone dry and the gas light was on for a while then i switched gas companies( i did this two or three times) i have no power loss unless the car is acting up but in like 15-30 min it's back to normal.

what puzzles me is that the cheak engine light will go out everytime i try to cheak the code.............

qtb33

Its sounds like coolant in the cylinder. This could cause the spark plug to become fouled and then create a period of no spark, which would give the odor of gas due to that of actual burning. This wouldn't throw any CEL's. This would also cause a lack in power. You may check your oil to see if there is an excessive amount of gas or clear fluid in it, would smell of gas as well.

Eventually the plug may dry and recover thus again producing spark and regaining power. This however would mean you have nonconsistance leak of coolant. Probably not a head gasket. Check you intake from air filter to valve and look for any signs of leaking. The TB is coolant heated so it may have leaky spot. I have never torn down the TB housing so I can't say where it could leak.

But like 90redsupra said, white = coolant.

You could also do a power balance test when it starts to have this mishap. If this shows power failure in more than one cylinder or changing between cylinders this would also point to something other than the head gasket.

sc3boost

i know it's not the coolant because i always cheak the level and it never moves.
i cheaked the plugs and the cap and rotor and they are all fine.

the main reason i think its something electrical is because the car will run fine for like two three days, and one morning i'll start it up and it'll start to act up, so it does'nt have a specific condition that makes the car run funny, someone told me that alot of raw fuel in the exaust will give white smoke.

almost forgot, the first time this started happening was a couple months ago but i was getting a little smoke in the cabin but no smoke out the tail pipe so i looked under the car and the cat was screaming red/orange, but when the car cooled down it would run fine, so i wen to my muffler guy and told him to remove the cat, this stopped the problem for like two months but now its back.

if the ecu is bad would it couse this.
or could it be a shorted out injector, i'm to the point where i'll try anything....................

sc3boost

i know it's not the coolant because i always cheak the level and it never moves.
i cheaked the plugs and the cap and rotor and they are all fine.

the main reason i think its something electrical is because the car will run fine for like two three days, and one morning i'll start it up and it'll start to act up, so it does'nt have a specific condition that makes the car run funny, someone told me that alot of raw fuel in the exaust will give white smoke.

almost forgot, the first time this started happening was a couple months ago but i was getting a little smoke in the cabin but no smoke out the tail pipe so i looked under the car and the cat was screaming red/orange, but when the car cooled down it would run fine, so i wen to my muffler guy and told him to remove the cat, this stopped the problem for like two months but now its back.

if the ecu is bad would it couse this.
or could it be a shorted out injector, i'm to the point where i'll try anything....................

sc3boost

I finally pulled a code from the ecu, it's 28 thats the o2sensor right, but will a bad o2 sensor make the car act the way it was, i thought once the o2 sensor goes bad the ecu goes into a fail safe mode and runns really rich.
i think i just answered my own question, i'm just happy that i now know what the problem is.


one last thing, the book sais that we are have 4 o2 sensors 2 main and 2 sub.
my car is a 92 5spd and it only came with 2( before the cat) but none after is this normal since i have a 92 model.

sc3boost

I finally pulled a code from the ecu, it's 28 thats the o2sensor right, but will a bad o2 sensor make the car act the way it was, i thought once the o2 sensor goes bad the ecu goes into a fail safe mode and runns really rich.
i think i just answered my own question, i'm just happy that i now know what the problem is.


one last thing, the book sais that we are have 4 o2 sensors 2 main and 2 sub.
my car is a 92 5spd and it only came with 2( before the cat) but none after is this normal since i have a 92 model.

sc3boost

I finally pulled a code from the ecu, it's 28 thats the o2sensor right, but will a bad o2 sensor make the car act the way it was, i thought once the o2 sensor goes bad the ecu goes into a fail safe mode and runns really rich.
i think i just answered my own question, i'm just happy that i now know what the problem is.


one last thing, the book sais that we are have 4 o2 sensors 2 main and 2 sub.
my car is a 92 5spd and it only came with 2( before the cat) but none after is this normal since i have a 92 model.