My car has been standing for about a week now and I have been expecting plumes of blue smoke to come out, but nothing, just white.

 

Ever since I had my Z when I pull off I always get a small puff of white smoke and thats in, nothing else. I just thought that it was only moisture in the exhaust coming out.

 

Now I still get the puff of white smoke when I pull off, but I have noticed it appearing when I am sitting in traffic. What could that be. Its not blue/purple/grey, its white.

 

 

Any suggestions?

 

Stuart

I get this to, and when i look in the exhaust I can see a lot of condensation, I assume its where I let the car sit, my back boxes are rusted a bit i think.

 

white smoke generally = water though i think

Originally posted by SRRAE

Now I still get the puff of white smoke when I pull off

 

:D :D

 

I get the white smoke too, esp cold mornings, but it goes after a minute or so. Always presumed it to be moisture, on the same cold mornings other cars are usually worse tho.

 

Pete

I just had a look in the FAQ, and white smoke when you start up is condensation and should go by the time the engine reaches 80-90C. But my engine hardly ever gets that temp.

 

It also says after 10-15 mins it could be the Fuel Pressure Regulator Diaphragm, which sounds about right cos my car always smells of petrol.

 

Stuart

Change the Regulator!,the one at the rear of engine,right hand side,next to plenum,on my old z had same ,got worse,so bad one day opened bonnet with engine running,saw absolute shit loads of fuel pissing down between the plenum,nearly shat me self,very lucky,replaced it with one from AndyZ,dont leave it to long:( (aand its a bugger to fit!)

Oy! Hope that wasn't mine Tony :D

Yes it was,luckily i shut the car down before it went boooom,:eek: :D ,if you pop over weekend i can look at that panel,and take a look at your filter install;)

White smoke, isn't that one of the signs of a head gasket going? sorry just speaking my mind.

 

Mathew

Don't say that mine puffs white smoke for about 20 mins after start up then after a quick drive nothing clear as a bell mind you i only drive mine at weekends it usually does nothing all week except look gorgeous on my drive of course:D

There is a difference between white smoke and water vapour / condensation.

 

The water vapour will disperse completely and disappear; the smoke will thin but never disappear.

 

Which of the two do you see?

When I first start up it disapears, but the smoke that occurs after driving for a while lingers around. I only really noticed it when the wind was coming from behind and all the smoke blew to the front of the car.

 

 

 

Stuart

So this is not water vapour which suggests oil.

 

Blue smoke tends to suggest oil in the combustion chamber, white smoke tends to suggest turbo's - but this is not diagnostic.

Found on the web

*******************************************

>I have been having a problem lately with my car. Just after starting,

>larger than normal amounts of white smoke (not blue) come out the exahust.

>Also, there is a strong smell of something burning. This happens about

>75% of the time. Is this something serious??

>

 

Sounds like you have a head gasket going out. It's leaking

antifreeze into the cylinders. That's what gives the white smoke

and the smell.

For your interest - scary reading

 

http://www.salemboysauto.com/faqs/faq-38.htm

was going to say check the Vatican website then saw all the techy answers!

 

Anyway a techy thought on mine is lots of short journeys in cold weather fills the back boxes with water condensation. If you dont give it a good run sometimes this can do it. When you brake for a junction when its still cold the water runs up the exhaust and goes to steam on the hotter pipes up front. Hence big steamy cloud.

burning one them of energy produces one gallon of water i think

 

a therm is a shit load though.

Originally posted by Zimon

Found on the web

*******************************************

>I have been having a problem lately with my car. Just after starting,

>larger than normal amounts of white smoke (not blue) come out the exahust.

>Also, there is a strong smell of something burning. This happens about

>75% of the time. Is this something serious??

>

 

Sounds like you have a head gasket going out. It's leaking

antifreeze into the cylinders. That's what gives the white smoke

and the smell.

 

 

Hmmmm, this may answer the reason why I get a small puddle of water in my exhaust tips. :(

 

Does it sound like my head gasket is going? But I can understand 1 going then the other. I get a puddle of water in both, which implies both sides are going which is very strange.

 

 

Stuart

I am sorry but I do not have any experiance of how to diagnose a head gasket problem on a Z.

 

This link makes interested reading although its about Range Rovers.

 

http://www.rangerovers.net/rrepairs.htm#headgasket

Honestly, Stuart, IMHO yours sounds like condensation from cold journeys rather than a HG failing.. I get the same until it's had a nice hard motorway run, then it's clear - until it stands overnight, and pootles through town again... Every morning, without fail, whispy trails of vapour (quite a bit, compared to every other car I've owned) float about the car until it's been on the motorway..

 

I think the reason for this is the AIV's, or rather, the fact that the car runs 7% rich at idle because of them - richer running means more water vapour in your exhaust at idle than most other modern cars, hence more steam problems on these cars.

 

The best (and pretty much only) way to diagnose HG failure between a coolant passage and cylinder is to have a sniffer test done on the coolant. Most garages will be able to do this for you cheaply.

 

Of course, the HG could fail between an oilway and the cylinder, or even cylinder to cylinder - a sniffer test is useless then, only a comp test or stripdown can tell you - but in your case you're only worried about water->cylinder contamination.

 

HTH

Keepa close eye on the water level would be the best bet! If you are using water, get it checked...if you are not, then its safe to assume its condensation. IMHO :)