Help - white smoke from exhaust.

[Colin RedGriff]

Help!!!!!!

Changed over the rocker gaskets for some new rubber ones, only problem I had was with the dipstick tube that got bent slightly.

Think everything is back together but now when the engine gets hot I get lots of white smoke from the exhaust......

Have run it for a few minutes to see if it clears but doesn't seem to clear. Don't want to run it for too long in case I'm making things worse.

Can't tell if it's water or oil.

Any thoughts?????

Everything was fine before I changed the gaskets but I can't think why it's now smoking like a steam engine.

[GreenV8S]

White usually means steam. I don't think there's any cause to panic. It may simply be condensation either in the exhaust or in the crank case, which will boil off once you have got everything good and hot. It could also be a water leak in one of the hoses you had to disturb taking the rocker covers off, these leaks would all be external but could conceivably drain in via the valley gasket if that wasn't perfectly sealed. The less pleasant possibilities are a failed timing cover gasket or head gasket or intake manifold gasket, but you haven't disturbed anything likely to affect those and they aren't the sort of things likely to fail just for the heck of it.

I suggest you check for oil/scum in the coolant, this is a very bad sign. Also run with the pressure cap off for a few minutes and check whether the cooling system throws out a lot of foam when you rev it, this is also a bad sign. Check for white emulsion on the inside of the oil filler plug and on the dipstick, small amounts are to be expected while the engine is cold but large amounts or signs that persist when the engine is hot point to an internal water leak.

[Colin RedGriff]

It's possible some water got spilt as I had to disconnect a few water hoses. I'll double check that I've tightened then up sufficiently.

I let it cool down and then started it up again and it wasn't until the fan had kicked in again a couple of times before the smoke started again, I was about to add a note to my post to say it had stopped.

It's been run up to temperature a couple of times now but the smoke doesn't seem to reduce. If I turn off for 5 minutes and then restart the smoke doesn't return immediately, the engine is still hot but it takes a couple of cycles of the fan kicking in before it does.

I've held some paper behind the exhaust in the smoke and it isn't getting oily so I think it's steam.

I had to remove the plenum to get to the rocker cover on the passenger side.

I'll check the water and run it without the pressure cap and see what I can find.

[OscarT]

Another cause of white smoke is a faulty brake servo allowing brake fluid to be sucked into the engine.

[GreenV8S]

OscarT said:

Another cause of white smoke is a faulty brake servo allowing brake fluid to be sucked into the engine.

Only after you've filled the servo up to the level of the vacuum outlet, surely you'd have noticed that much fluid going in?

[jeffsy]

Doesnt it mean that you have elected a new Pope?

sorry

[dumbfunk]

I had this and thought I was in for a new cylinder head but it turned out to be a leaking power steering hose on the nearside of the engine dripping onto the join in the manifold. Amazingly it would seep through the join then produce lots of white smoke when the engine heated up.

May be worth checking - it was a bitch to diagnose!


dumbfunk

[2Munkys]

dumbfunk said:

I had this and thought I was in for a new cylinder head but it turned out to be a leaking power steering hose on the nearside of the engine dripping onto the join in the manifold. Amazingly it would seep through the join then produce lots of white smoke when the engine heated up.

May be worth checking - it was a bitch to diagnose!


dumbfunk

Ditto exactly!

[JonRB]

Hopefully it is just some condensation, but for a worst-case scenario you may want to read this thread:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=125...

[Colin RedGriff]

OscarT said:

Another cause of white smoke is a faulty brake servo allowing brake fluid to be sucked into the engine.

I don't think this is it - I've not added any fluid to the brake cylinder - but I'll check it when I get home

dumbfunk said:

I had this and thought I was in for a new cylinder head but it turned out to be a leaking power steering hose on the nearside of the engine dripping onto the join in the manifold. Amazingly it would seep through the join then produce lots of white smoke when the engine heated up.

May be worth checking - it was a bitch to diagnose!


dumbfunk

Now this might be worth investigating. I had to move PAS bottle to get the rocker cover of and I did spill some fluid. I thought I'd cleaned it up but I'll have a good look around.

I don't think it's condensation - I had the car out on Sunday for a run and it was fine then, it's only been a few days in the garage and it's been hot every day. Also I've run the car up to temperature a couple of times now so I would have expected to burn off any condensation.

Also I changed the oil last night so that should be clean.

Read your thread Jon - I hope it's not a cracked cylinder head that will mean I can't get to the Griff Growl (plus the financial side of it). On the last page of your thread there is mention of gallons of coolant in the pre-cats - was that a result of the cylinder head failure or something else?

Do you think taking it for a good run out to well and truly warm things up will cause worse problems? Maybe I should take it down to Racing Green (I think they're the closest to me) and have them give it a look over.

[JonRB]

Colin RedGriff said:

Read your thread Jon - I hope it's not a cracked cylinder head that will mean I can't get to the Griff Growl (plus the financial side of it). On the last page of your thread there is mention of gallons of coolant in the pre-cats - was that a result of the cylinder head failure or something else?

I hope for your sake it isn't as well - it was £1,500 I really didn't want to spend as it was repairs and not upgrades.

The reason there was loads of coolant in the pre-cats is that the situation with the cracked head had been going on for some time so quite a bit of coolant had got in there. Perhaps gallons is an exaggeration but certainly litres.

I still have the car and have had no problems since, if that's any consolation.

Edited by JonRB on Friday 10th August 13:43

[V8 GRF]

White smoke can also be oil. The best way to check is to put your hand close the exhaust, if it leaves condensation on your hand it tends be mostly water, if it leaves small black smuts it usually indicates oil.

[Colin RedGriff]

dumbfunk said:

I had this and thought I was in for a new cylinder head but it turned out to be a leaking power steering hose on the nearside of the engine dripping onto the join in the manifold. Amazingly it would seep through the join then produce lots of white smoke when the engine heated up.

May be worth checking - it was a bitch to diagnose!


dumbfunk

I think this may be the cause there is certainly pas fluid on the exhaust and the pipe union that goes in to the pump was also ccovered in fluid. Also the pipe would move around on the joint very easily. I've tightened all the clips up around there and now the pipes don't move. Gave the pipes a wipe off to remove the worst of the fluid. The inside of the exhaust has sooty deposits.

It is still smoking but I guess I need to burn off the fluid that has leaked out already. Sounds like an excuse for a run out.

I suspect that moving the PAS bottle has disturbed the pipes where they join the pump and caused the leak.

Checked the engine oil and the water and neither seems contaminated, I can't see any foaming when it's running with the caps off. Also checked the vacuum hose for the servo and that's clean and dry.

[Colin RedGriff]

Any idea how long it takes to burn off the oil? A few minutes, a few hours? I guess it depends how much has leaked.

Still keeping an open mind as to whether this is the problem or not, so not particularly confident on taking it out.

This morning started it up and at first it smoked a bit, then it seemed to clear but then returned again after about 5 minutes. There's also smoke coming off the exhaust in the engine bay (not the manifolds) so I think there's still oil on the outside burning off, which would indicate to me that there's likely to be oil on the inside too.

Can't see any fluid leeaking from the pas pump at the moment but it's a bit hot in there to check properly. If I need to replace the PAS pipes, any hints where I can get some around Bracknell/Reading?


I've got a compression tester so I might for peace of mind do a compresssion test. Can anyone guide me as to what sort of numbers I should be getting (I know they all need to be about the same). It's a while since I did one, is it done with the spark plugs in or out?

[dumbfunk]

In my experience the white smoke came on about 5 minutes after starting up, lasted for 10 minutes and then did not return for the duration of that journey. In fact it only came back if the car was left for quite a while, at least overnight.

As always with these things, "your mileage may differ" but it could well be something else that's causing it


dumbfunk

[Colin RedGriff]

All sorted thanks to everyone with suggestions.

Took the Griff out for a blast today and after a mile or so of doing Red Arrows impressions the smoke cleared up and even the sun came out.



Now all I need to do is clear up the mess on the garage floor where I spilt oil doing the oil change.

Roll on Saturday and the Growl

[dumbfunk]

Good news!