White smoke help? Options

[gts4]

94 gts. 5sfe. Recently died on me despite changing the alternator. I boosted it, but see white smoke or steam coming from the exhaust pipe. What can I do? There's also a rough idle that dips to from 800-900 rpm to 600 every second or so. Is this related? The engine is a jap import, that replaced one with a broken head gasket. Their '30-day' warranty expired, but I'm going to still speak with them. Ideas?

[Box]

White smoke points to blown head gasket, or cracked/warped block or head. Does the exhaust smell sweet?

[gts4]

White smoke points to blown head gasket, or cracked/warped block or head. Does the exhaust smell sweet?

Not sure. Is there a way to tell which it is?

[nics]

White smoke points to blown head gasket, or cracked/warped block or head. Does the exhaust smell sweet?

Not sure. Is there a way to tell which it is?

loosing coolant.

[xxgetbackupxx]

I get a little bit white smoke with a tint of blue... it smells sweet and sour at the same time (best way to describe it sorry) I know I deferentially burn oil and lose a little bit of coolant as well. I think its worn piston rings d=-(

[Box]

White smoke points to blown head gasket, or cracked/warped block or head. Does the exhaust smell sweet?

Not sure. Is there a way to tell which it is?

Not without taking it apart and looking, probably not. Have you driven it for awhile? Could've been condensation in the exhaust depending on how long the car sat before swapping engines. Obvious is keeping an eye on coolant levels. The rough idle could be caused by the aforementioned, but it'd have to be bad enough that it's bogging the engine down. Could try contacting who you got the engine from, but seeing the warranty expired you're probably on your own.

I get a little bit white smoke with a tint of blue... it smells sweet and sour at the same time (best way to describe it sorry) I know I deferentially burn oil and lose a little bit of coolant as well. I think its worn piston rings d=-(

Could try using one of the stop smoke/leak products, that or use heavier weight oil to see if it helps.

[trdproven]

ive had white smoke for 7 years from the exhaust which is only 1 sign of a bad headgasket, but i dont have the other symptoms. my smoke is more like a puff of smoke not continuous and is only on startup and disappears after being run a little. I barely drive my car at all so i keep thinking its moisture in the exhaust. ive been wondering if i ever had a blown head gasket but i dont think so I just think maybe my valve seals are leaking cus only at startup. also humid exhaust gas that cools down in the exhaust transforms to water which sits inside the pipe till the next time you start the vehicle then it burns off in the form of white smoke. <from this I figured out after all those years that this is probably the cause because when I removed my exhaust, water came out. and the white smoke is a lot more since i almost never drive the car anymore. water dripping or vapor is also from somewhere in the exhaust system or as the by product of combustion/hydrocarbons. Im guessing i probably have one or the other or bit of both but not a head gasket problem.



some way to tell if blown.
loss of coolant/possible overheating
smoke never stops for the most part
mixing of coolant and oil on either side, looks milky (contaminated)
low compression
bubbles in radiator
lack of engine power
There is also what you call a combustion leak tester, you connect it to the radiator and if the liquid turns blue to yellow, theres combustion gas getting into the cooling system.

This is a pretty decent link, it was compiled and considered the "best" answers from contributors.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_can_cause_w...rom_the_exhaust

This post has been edited by trdproven: Jan 24, 2013 - 8:16 AM

[xxgetbackupxx]

White smoke points to blown head gasket, or cracked/warped block or head. Does the exhaust smell sweet?

Not sure. Is there a way to tell which it is?

Not without taking it apart and looking, probably not. Have you driven it for awhile? Could've been condensation in the exhaust depending on how long the car sat before swapping engines. Obvious is keeping an eye on coolant levels. The rough idle could be caused by the aforementioned, but it'd have to be bad enough that it's bogging the engine down. Could try contacting who you got the engine from, but seeing the warranty expired you're probably on your own.

I get a little bit white smoke with a tint of blue... it smells sweet and sour at the same time (best way to describe it sorry) I know I deferentially burn oil and lose a little bit of coolant as well. I think its worn piston rings d=-(

Could try using one of the stop smoke/leak products, that or use heavier weight oil to see if it helps.

What do u recommend that u know works or does not work cause I`ve tried lucas but really did nothing, still burning oil... it isn`t too bad of a burn, I end up with like 2 or 3 quarts by the time I go to change it. I just gotta add one more quart inbetween lol... maybe I`ll rebuild the head I dunno yet...

[Box]

Can try doing a piston soak with Marvel Mystery Oil, then running the Marvel in the crankcase. What I did and it freed my rings. Of course if that doesn't work switch out to heavier oils or use a stop burn additive. What causes the smoke with the 7A-FE are the oil control rings. They get stuck and it allows oil into the combustion chamber. Rebuilding the head would just be a waste of money.

[xxgetbackupxx]

Can try doing a piston soak with Marvel Mystery Oil, then running the Marvel in the crankcase. What I did and it freed my rings. Of course if that doesn't work switch out to heavier oils or use a stop burn additive. What causes the smoke with the 7A-FE are the oil control rings. They get stuck and it allows oil into the combustion chamber. Rebuilding the head would just be a waste of money.

What do u mean by piston soak? I`m using 10w 40 but still burnin

[Box]

You take out the spark plugs and pour in whatever, in this instance Marvel Mystery Oil, and let the car sit until it's all drained by the piston rings. Then run it with it in the crank for awhile. It should break the oil control rings free. It did for me. Best of all you can get enough Marvel to do it for under $4 from Wal-Mart. I ended up pouring in 8 ounces into each cylinder and let it sit for two days to be on the safe side. You can go up to 20W-50, especially living in Florida. What the Toyota mechanic used in mine, and suggested to use.

[trdproven]

for head gasket, you can use the combustion leak tester (plastic pieces and liquid to test).
if that checks out good, then if your smoke is only at start up it may be a valve seal leak or water vapor if you dont drive it often and depending where you are at.