just took th car up to huddersfield and back yesterday and the smoke problem is doing my head in now so jus thought id see wot everyone thinks the problem could be, wot i have noticed:

 

1) driving at constant speed (eg 80mph) then releasing th accelarator, after about 5 seconds i get some white smoke out the back, when accelerating again a whole load of white smoke comes out then it clears up

 

2) if i rev the car in neutral and keep it at a constant rpm above 2000 after a while white smoke starts coming out th exhaust

 

3) if a rev th car to say 5000rpm then let it drop straight away i get white smoke about 5 secs after it settles to idle rpm again, this is all with engine fully warmed up.

 

apart from tht i do get some smoke every now and then but cnt really tel how n why, any ideas?

 

cheers in advance guys

yaseen

White smoke would most likely either be water (condensation in exhaust or coolant) or oil that is being "heated" and not burnt. If the car is warm (i.e. you have been driving for some time) condensation in the exhaust should disappear.

 

If the cause would be coolant, I would suspect head gasket, so check if you are loosing coolant. If you are not loosing coolant, it is potential that it is "heated oil", as I believe that this is supposed to cause white smoke and not blue as you would get when it is burnt. The oil would need to get into the exhaust without being burnt. Think that turbo seals or problems with the PCV valves could cause this.

i thot white smoke was fuel, but then i dnt know alot bout cars so ther u go

anyone els got any ideas?

Could be valve stem seals? I've had these go on another car before, and smokes on no load (i.e. when you decelerate from speed). Does it also start to smoke if you are idling in traffic?

I think valve stem seals would be blue smoke.

Fuel would be black smoke.

Sounds like head gasket i think.

Sounds like head gasket or cracked lander to me.

can i get away with not doin anything about it or will it screw up my engine?

I would say head gasket too, white is almost certainly water being burnt, and the increased revs indicate increased amounts of water being burnt.

 

See if a local garage can get a compression test done, you'll then find which bank of chambers is causing the problem, although I am guessing on a Zed, you cant just change one head gasket, you have to do both? ICBW though! :?

Oh, and yeah you can carry on for now, but if its on its way, it'll just get worse everytime you drive.....

 

Next time I have any problems with my Zed, the ******* is coming apart in my hands, no more garages, I need to learn about my car big time.......

 

If u give it a go yaseen let me know, I wanbt to come and watch, perhaps participate......;)

sounds like head gasket , check the oil see if it has emulsified ( gone grey and slimy )

that means the water and oil are mixing this pretty much nulifies the oils lubricating properties and will if left, blow your engine to very expensive little bits this is caused the when the head gasket leaks either oil into the water ways or vice versa and into the cylinders also

 

for the sake of a 5 minute check its worth looking at the oil

 

good luck

 

Steve

will check th oil, looked fine when i checked a coupla weeks ago but il look properly this time.

 

Mark:

i dont have the time at th moment to do the job on my own and my zed technical knowlwdge amounts to a massive zero. wot would be involved if it is head gasket problem? how difficult a job? how long would it take?

I have never taken the job on mate, I am guessing that you'd need to give yourself a good couple of days to allow for any errors made testing etc etc..

 

I am sure once you have done it once it isnt that difficult........its just like a huge jigsaw puzzle, once you know what goes where your all right.

 

Can you afford to go without your car though?!?? Then again, I guess its a matter of having to if it goes tits up!!!

can someone explain to me wot changing th head gasket entails?

Taking the heads (i.e. both of them) off and replacing the gasket ;)

 

Erm not a small job mate. Can be done with the engine in but would be much easier to take the engine out.

I would say head gasket too TBH, sounds like water getting through, well it deff is if white fluffy smoke, you can get greyish smoke from oil also,

 

If stem seals you would see smoke more than likely on startup (greyish blue but whitish if mixed with loadsa condensation) and would tick over shit too.

 

Gotta be water I think matey.

 

Nissan do a complete head kit for about 240.00

right - before we all get this poor bloke ripping his cylinder heads off -

 

are you actually loosing coolant?????

Do they do a kit for Jap specs (I've got the same problem).

 

Cheers,

Mooch

 

I would say head gasket too TBH, sounds like water getting through, well it deff is if white fluffy smoke, you can get greyish smoke from oil also,

 

If stem seals you would see smoke more than likely on startup (greyish blue but whitish if mixed with loadsa condensation) and would tick over shit too.

 

Gotta be water I think matey.

 

Nissan do a complete head kit for about 240.00

lol i dont know paul, i cant remember th last time i checked

gonna check th oil and fluid levels tomorrow

if it does need doin it wont be done for at least a few more months so i aint gonna rush anythin

if your HG(s) have gone then leaving it could well lead to a fair amount of oil and water mixing, which will reduce the lubrication your oil offers and will cover all the colling system with oil residue, neither of which are too good. You got any white slime on the oil cap or the dipstick? The water looks oily? If not its not that advanced yet.

And like paul c says, if the white smoke is caused by water in the combustion chamber(s) then you will be losing a fair amount of coolant.

UPDATE

 

so i checked the oil today when cold and after a run and the oil looks good to me, no milkiness or white residue/slime on dipstick or cap.

 

checked the coolant level too, gonna keep an eye on it for a few weeks and see if it changes

Had the coolant level changed?

i dnt know mark cos i cnt remember wot level it was at the last time i checked, gonna keep an eye on it in the next week or two and let u know.

just to let you know i havnt topped up th coolant since iv had the car and th level is exactly in th middle, am sure id have lost loads by now and be dangerously low if 3 months of driving has been boiling it away through the exhaust

What do you mean directly in the middle?!

 

You mean the header tank?

 

You should take the rad cap off and check the level there also!

no, i mean its showing eaxctly in the middle of the coolant dipstick

no, i mean its showing eaxctly in the middle of the coolant dipstick

 

You should take the rad cap off (WHEN ENGINE COLD!), undo the bleed screw at the other end, and top it up that way too. If you have to -keep- doing that you've got a problem! The level in the overflow tank just seems to be random...

bleed screw? wheres that then and whats it for bud?

 

how far below the rad cap should the water be in the radiator?