1999 sc400 white smoke when shifting?

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Dec 10, 2012 | 09:49 AM

thatasian

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1999 sc400 white smoke when shifting?

Before you say "search" I've searched.

Car is reguarly outside in the cold rain.

When I accelerate it doesn't really release white smoke... It's when I put it in park or going through 1-5 while driving.

Anyone know what could cause this?

First day with this sc!

Is it normal for a v8?

Dec 10, 2012 | 04:28 PM

thatasian

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Bump for help

Dec 10, 2012 | 04:50 PM

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From: NM

Does it smoke just during shifts, or does it smoke when idling as well? Have you been losing PS fluid? And is there any rough idle/sputtering along with the smoke? I assume not since you just purchased the car yesterday...

Dec 10, 2012 | 06:27 PM

thatasian

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It seems like its water vapor, it smells like straight up c02, smells "clean" from burning stuff.

Does it when I change gears. And when I accelerate. Maybe I'm just freaking out since I just got it? It's around 45-55 degrees here... Not sure about ps fluid. Car turns buttery smooth.

It disappears right away but it ALWAYS happens. That's what I don't get, I drove it for 350 miles and it still does it. Doesn't sputter out like my moms Camry, it just releases slowly. The idle is good at 3-4, then it'll go up to 9 when warm.

Lastly there's is a very annoying whining sound from 1-2.5 k rpms when I rev up to speed! Can't tell if it's loss of power. Sounds like it is coming from the engine though, kinda annoying.

Thanks for the help!

Dec 10, 2012 | 06:46 PM

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From: NM

OK, put the pieces together. If the smoke has a scent to it, that could mean your PS fluid is burning with the gasoline in the engine. How could the PS fluid get into your engine? By a leaking vacuum valve, or ACV. This sit's right on the PS pump and has 2 vacuum hoses coming from it. If the seal of the vacuum hoses or nipple connectors fail, PS fluid will leak in were the vacuum hose fell off of and therefore burning in the engine which would explain your white smoke. You say, "but there is no leak!!" You just can't see the leak, because it is all retreating into were the hose should be then burning in the engine. When you can know when your Power steering is low on fluid,is that it will whine when the engine is idling or when you turn the wheel. Check the PS fluid level. Though, if the PS fluid is COMPLETELY full, diss all of this out...lol

Hope you get this fixed easily...

Dec 10, 2012 | 08:05 PM

thatasian

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Alright what I can say is that the PS is good, there isn't any whining when I turn, I will check the fluids tomorrow since it's dark right now.

It's either white smoke or water vapor from the catback. I DON'T KNOW! It runs fine, smells fine, smells like c02.

Secondly the whining noise was from revving the engine, I will start listening to the whining when it shifts. I will check up on anything tomorrow in the daylight.

I'm more worried about the tiny tiny whining vs the white smoke. Is it just the purr of the engine? LOL! If it's just the purr of the engine it's kinda sexy but I'm not quite sure.

Thanks man, you're really helping me out!

Dec 10, 2012 | 08:30 PM

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From: NM

The whining during idle could be the PS pump on it's last years. Mine has that. It might be regular for that to happen, but than again, Lexus is by no means Ford...haha. If you think the whine sounds attractive, by all means keep it like that...

If there is no smell from the white "smoke", my guess is that it's just vapor. Weird that it would last 3 hours though. As long as it's not running rough, I wouldn't worry overly about it and just keep researching further than Lexus models. Check the PS fluid level and LMK if it is full and we'll go from there. GL with this.