White smoke, might have a slight problem....... Options

[Aus]

I've recently noticed that I have quite a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust on startup in the GT4, but it clears once engine has warmed up, car runs perfectly, so am I in for an expensive problem or is it just nothing????

I was hoping that it was just condensation or something because of the colder weather!

[eggman40]

I've recently noticed that I have quite a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust on startup in the GT4, but it clears once engine has warmed up, car runs perfectly, so am I in for an expensive problem or is it just nothing????

I was hoping that it was just condensation or something because of the colder weather!

sounds like your valve seals are a little worn down. When the temperature is cold outside, metal tends to compress. So what could be hapening is that when you turn your car off for the night, and your motor cools, your valveguides are compressing in the cold, therefore alowing oil to seep past the valve seals and into the combustion chamber.

Then, when you go to start the car in the morning, you will burn that oil that fell in there, which is why is smokes when you start the car. But then as your car warms up, the metal expands at which point it makes contact with the seals again and therefore it stops the leaking into the chamber and stops the leaking, which then stops the smoke. I had this problem with my old motor. Its probably not TOO great a problem. It just means that your seals are getting old and they just dont seal as well as they used to. I would just keep an eye on the oil everyweekend and make sure its not too low. Start planning to change then in the future though.

Thats my thought on it. hope it helps

This post has been edited by eggman40: Nov 21, 2006 - 2:35 PM

[Aus]

I've recently noticed that I have quite a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust on startup in the GT4, but it clears once engine has warmed up, car runs perfectly, so am I in for an expensive problem or is it just nothing????

I was hoping that it was just condensation or something because of the colder weather!

sounds like your valve seals are a little worn down. When the temperature is cold outside, metal tends to compress. So what could be hapening is that when you turn your car off for the night, and your motor cools, your valveguides are compressing in the cold, therefore alowing oil to seep past the valve seals and into the combustion chamber.

Then, when you go to start the car in the morning, you will burn that oil that fell in there, which is why is smokes when you start the car. But then as your car warms up, the metal expands at which point it makes contact with the seals again and therefore it stops the leaking into the chamber and stops the leaking, which then stops the smoke. I had this problem with my old motor. Its probably not TOO great a problem. It just means that your seals are getting old and they just dont seal as well as they used to. I would just keep an eye on the oil everyweekend and make sure its not too low. Start planning to change then in the future though.

Thats my thought on it. hope it helps

Thanks for the info.

I have been chatting to a few people and they all seem to be telling me that white smoke is a good sign (Simply steam because of the moisture being heated in the exhaust), but blue smoke is a bad sign. Apparently if oil and coolant is ok, then nothing to worry about??