Smoke 3 minutes after start up

B

BOP4ever

Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Still trying to figure this out. I've been gone and have not had time to do much trouble shooting.
Cool morning upper 50s I crank the car in the garage and it's fine but after it set there idling for 2-3 minutes by my watch it started smoking white smoke no real smell maybe a little oil smell.
It does the shop up so I back it out and leave it running. The cloud seems to dissipate after it drifts 20-30 feet. Anyway I let it run for another 10 minutes and the smoke is almost stopped. Still a little but I pull it back I'm the shop and it's very faint. Water is dripping from the tail pipes during all this too. The car runs good pulls good fwiw.
After it sets for a hour or two I open the radiator and it still has a little pressure and overflows. I leave the cap off and look at it this morning and it's full about 1/2 inch below the filler neck. So I don't think it's a head gasket. If it had water in the cylinder why would it take 3 minutes to start smoking. Then if it's a turbo why would it improve ? PVC valve ?
 
I don't follow how that could cause it to smoke.
Thanks I'll see what the counts are when I get back home.
 
Sounds like normal cold exhaust/cold engine condensation. I don't see the problem? Especially if it goes away once more warmed up like you say it does. Get it out & drive it for 10 miles or so, or long enough to get the engine & exhaust system HOT, come home & then smell the exhaust for oil/coolant.
 
Sounds normal to me? :confused:

At idle on a cool morning can have water dripping out the tailpipes for 10 minutes. That is condensation coming from the exhaust system, not the cylinders.
 
I hope it is ok. I just don't remember it smoking so much before , but I don't drive it a lot. CRS is aweful now . I looked at the oil it's still honey color after a year and maybe 5-6 tanks of gas . It was s little low though and the car is not leaking at all judging from the lack of oil on the garage floor, has had zero knock issues even. I have seen and smelled some oil burning at times fwiw.
I'll try to pull the PCV valve out again I tried briefly yesterday but it was stuck pretty good.
Engine has about 68k on the short block heads were freshened last year after I lost a head gasket . New seals and springs were installed .
 
Drove the car yesterday. No warm up just got in and drive nice and easy. Car ran good power was good after it warmed up I let it boost up to 10-14 psi a couple times and romped it once to 21. No issues no smoke. Get to my sons friends house to pick him up and setting at idle I see white smoke start rolling out. I rev it a little and it's gone and goes not come back again even at idle in the McDonald's drive through. This was a 18 mile drive up there fwiw. Drive it home seemed fine no smoke etc... Park it in shop and let it idle for about 40 minutes while I talk to my closest GN friend about it. It never smoked the whole 40 minutes it set there. No water drips etc either.
 
Ok... gotta clear one thing up. How far from home to sons friends house? 18 miles? or this was 18 mile round trip?

AND how warm out yesterday where you live? I live in WI & seeing exhaust vapor is pretty common at least thru 4th of July:D Seriously though, I wouldn't worry.

Did you smell it? Not insulting you here, but you do know burning coolant smells sweet,right?
 
18 miles one way.
Yes on the smell it does not smell sweet not a string smell carbon or slightly like oil.
Coolant level has not changed. Oil is clear too.
Temps were 60s yesterday.
Seems like a turbo seal would have done it when I got home too.

Hoping I just had a butt load of condensate in the mufflers.
I do run a muffler in the cat spot three mufflers total.
 
warm it up in the driveway up to temp and then rev it a few times until no more condensation ...but it is most likely turbo seals.
 
Fast4Ward said:
warm it up in the driveway up to temp and then rev it a few times until no more condensation ...but it is most likely turbo seals.
Click to expand...

Drove it to work today. Car ran great. I pulled i tout of the shop and got out to lock things up and it was just putting some vapor out the tails nothing like ( Amount was less it seemed ) before just normal cold humid day tail pipe smoke. I walked through the steam and it only had a smell of raw exhuast.
I got to work and let it set for a couple minutes standing at the back of the car and there was no smoke.
 
^ EXCELLENT to hear!!

On a side note... you guys talking about turbo seals, have you seen what happens when a turbo seal goes out? I witnessed a good friend of mines go out last year while we were gone on a weekend trip to a carshow. It was not a pretty sight. There is so much blue smoke at idle it will clear out an entire city block. It's wayyy more than a little whispy smoke vapor. His car looked like Pigpen (from the Charlie Brown comics) only with a blue fog following him around instead of dirt.:D
 
theCATman said:
^ EXCELLENT to hear!!

On a side note... you guys talking about turbo seals, have you seen what happens when a turbo seal goes out? I witnessed a good friend of mines go out last year while we were gone on a weekend trip to a carshow. It was not a pretty sight. There is so much blue smoke at idle it will clear out an entire city block. It's wayyy more than a little whispy smoke vapor. His car looked like Pigpen (from the Charlie Brown comics) only with a blue fog following him around instead of dirt.:D
Click to expand...

Good to hear its nothing like that. I drove the car to lunch with my friend he had never heard the " horse sneeze" lol... Got a "what was that " as I lifted off the pedal in traffic after a 5-6 psi run. Anyway drove a couple miles to eat and drove back and we got out and looked.There was a slight wisp of white smoke from one of the tails pipes but barely visable that does away if you rev the motor.Car is running good and sounds good, coolant levels are stable, oil is clear I am just a Nervous Nelly on this deal. It seems to get better the more I drive it. Oh temps were about 70-72 and windy.
 
Started the car up yesterday it was about 80 degrees and sunny.
let it set in the shop running for about 20 minutes and there was no smoke to be seen .... I did see a little water drip from the tail pipe.
I think I just got scared over some water in the mufflers from all the setting in the shop and short start up to charge the battery of the winter when I was installing the new stereo stuff.... The car scares me I read so much about blown head gaskets, turbos failures, no start, rough this trans problems on here I am paranoid when other than a blown head gasket ( my fault ) mine has been pretty much problem free.... Thanks for the ideas and talking to me about it anyway, but for now I'm planning to change the oil and clean it up for the powertour this June and hope it doesn't leave me on the side of the road.
 
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