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white smoke on start up ???

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Old Nov 26, 2008 | 10:35 PM
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Default white smoke on start up ???

when its cold i notice a huge amount of white smoke comes out of the exhaust what is this from, is this coolant or oil? any help would be nice

thanks guys
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Old Nov 26, 2008 | 10:38 PM
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btw i have no leakin coolant or anything. ive tried 10w30 oil and now im using 15w 50 and its doing the same thing?
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Old Nov 26, 2008 | 10:39 PM
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Usually this is normal. It is nothing more than condensation. If it did it all the time, it could be a coolant leak. If you suspect a coolant leak, just check your coolant level. If the level drops quite a bit over a short period, you could have a coolant leak.

Grey smoke, on the other hand, is oil burning.
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Old Nov 26, 2008 | 10:50 PM
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its white as hell man. the motor has 10k miles and its never done this since ive had the motor just recently started doing it since its gotten cold out. i dont knw if its grey or white??

i will check my coolant and let yall know.

any other ideas?
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Old Nov 26, 2008 | 11:11 PM
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Let me rephrase. If it is grey or bluish, it is oil smoke. Some people see it as blue smoke others see it grey.

White, on the other hand, is steam actually. Not smoke. It is a normal part of the combustion process.

Aside from checking your coolant level, go out to the rear of the car and take a whiff of it. (don't suck on the pipe though)

If it smells "sweet" (like antifreeze), you may have a coolant leak. If it smells like burning oil, you are burning oil. If it doesn't have any particularly sweet or burnt oil smell, you are fine. It should smell, well, like normal exhaust gas. (anyone want to try and describe what normal exhaust smells like, feel free.....I'm lost on how)
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Old Nov 27, 2008 | 11:42 AM
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thanks guys
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Old Nov 27, 2008 | 12:50 PM
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checked coolant. everything is fine. its werid it only does it on start up and just recently started doing it. i had a werid issue about a week ago i accidently put 10w30 conventanal in it and it gave me low oil pressure. so i noticed what i didi and put 15w50 mobil 1 and everything was fine.

any other ideas.
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Old Nov 27, 2008 | 04:08 PM
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typically start up smoke would be oil from bad valve seals....
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Old Nov 27, 2008 | 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Zero4488
typically start up smoke would be oil from bad valve seals....
valve seals? which would make sense seeing how i didnt change my seals when i swapped heads.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 10:39 AM
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Same thing here... only on cold days... I don't drive far to work but it steams the entire way there... 4 miles.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 11:15 AM
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Watch the oil level as well, if you have to keep adding oil to it to keep it at an ok level then you are burning oil.
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Old Feb 4, 2009 | 04:25 PM
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Yeah, watch the oil level, but it sounds like you're okay for now... Just keep an eye on it.
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