Light White Smoke from exhaust
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 263
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From: San Diego, CA
Originally Posted by ZSAK,Apr 14 2009, 07:44 PM
is it something to be worried about now, or something I can keep an eye out to see if it gets any worse. At idle it doesn't seem to smoke, at least not at start up just after driven for a bit and that is if I look hard to see it.
It's one of those things that one manufacturer could just give you a new turbo over, while another wouldn't do anything until it completely fails, and then it would be a matter of how much time/miles it took to fail completely.
If it's a turbonetics turbo, then smile and shake your head, cause there was a time when 1 in 4 of their turbos was nothing but a giant pile of dog crap...
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 11,950
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From: MAHT-O-MEDI
It COULD be the turbo seals. If it is they don't neccesarily make tons of smoke on startup. Turbo seals are stronger when the turbo is spooling that is why when they go you will start to see problems when idling.
It will leak oil into the exhaust generally and the exhaust needs to be hot enough to burn off the oil so you see the smoke.
If the car has been sitting in snowy climates for a while there could be condensation in a few places. I would take it on long drives to get it real hot and boil off any moisture. If the smoke is disipating quickly it sounds more like water vapor than oil smoke.
I would not sweat it too much.
It will leak oil into the exhaust generally and the exhaust needs to be hot enough to burn off the oil so you see the smoke.
If the car has been sitting in snowy climates for a while there could be condensation in a few places. I would take it on long drives to get it real hot and boil off any moisture. If the smoke is disipating quickly it sounds more like water vapor than oil smoke.
I would not sweat it too much.
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,216
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From: Springfield, VA
ZSAK,
See if you can have some one rev it at idle, and just get a quick smell of the exhaust. Don't inhale hard, cause it's probably not "safe"
Try to see if its fuel, oil, or any coolant smell to it.
See if you can have some one rev it at idle, and just get a quick smell of the exhaust. Don't inhale hard, cause it's probably not "safe"
Try to see if its fuel, oil, or any coolant smell to it.
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,885
Likes: 66
From: Cary, NC
bringing this back up from the dead, but I just took my car out of storage about a week ago, and I am noticing some whitish smoke (its hard to tell because its very light colored) when the car is warmed up and I just leave it park and rev the engine to 3 or 4k. Also when I am in a parking lot and stop at a stop sign I can see some of the smoke move my way when the wind is blowing. Any clue if I need to worry about this. I am changing my pcv valve with a new honda one and a supra one in line. I am hoping this will help the smoke. Other than that the car idles and drives fine. Any knowledge is greatly appreciated
Registered User
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,791
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From: Around
Originally Posted by ya@inlinepro,Apr 15 2009, 07:04 AM
ZSAK,
See if you can have some one rev it at idle, and just get a quick smell of the exhaust. Don't inhale hard, cause it's probably not "safe"
Try to see if its fuel, oil, or any coolant smell to it.
See if you can have some one rev it at idle, and just get a quick smell of the exhaust. Don't inhale hard, cause it's probably not "safe"
Try to see if its fuel, oil, or any coolant smell to it.
Will give you a good idea of the health of your motor, at the very least it will give you a baseline for future reference.
If it's very subtle, nothing much you can do about it right now.
Just be mindful and watch for any further changes.
Until then, enjoy your car.