View Full Version : white smoke!
well i noticed a bit the other day when decelerating didnt think much of it.
but then when a following me earlier, he told me that there was a small amount of white smoke coming from the exhaust at junction (idle) then a fair bit when i ecelerate and he said it was nearly choking him and it was stinking!
what the hell is this from then?
cheers all, lewis
Ricky G
24-08-06, 09:17 PM
my friends 1.4 sr chucked out loads of white smoke and it turned out to be head gasket gone! but im not a mechanic so i wouldnt know. another one of my mates had an xr2 with a s2 turbo lump in it and after boosting and coming off throttle it would chuck out loads of white smoke but that was to do with his turbo apparently!
umm i havent got a turbo so thats that the better option gone. it never done it before. like when i put the engine in etc only the last couple of days. best not be head gasket, but hey theres nout i can do if it has gone.
any one else have any suggestions?
also mate! do you know how hard it was to put that turbo lump in his xr2? as i want to do that soon.
nova~norm
24-08-06, 09:47 PM
am not a mechanic but would have to say that there is a good chance its the head gaskit open oil cap look 4 mayo look in header tank for oil look on hte dip stick for water leave it sitting and c if it heats up alot more than usel eg over half way!
Stinking of what?
White is water evaporating...
stv-b16a
25-08-06, 12:23 AM
water mixed with oil in the worst case scenario eg head gasket
im not to sure what it smells of i'll ask him. when i floored it from a junction a fair cloud of it came/comes out of the exhaust.
doherty
25-08-06, 06:27 PM
head gasket... :(
oh it best not be! i carnt be ar**d learning to do that yet!
how can you tell if it is the head gasket? other than the usual white gunk stuff etc.
cheers lew
studaman21
25-08-06, 06:44 PM
you can get the compression tested at a local garage
studaman21
25-08-06, 06:57 PM
nah not at all
right cool! i'll get a garage that iv beenn taking it too to do it. there all cool with like rally cars etc! is it a quick thing to do and do they charge you or most people for it?
Get a compression guage for about ?15 and DIY :)
If it is the headgasket, depending where its blown, you might have mixing of the oil and water, white sludge in oil, brown sludge in the water.
Or it could of just gone in between a cylinder and water way=water entering cylinders giving white smoke out the exhaust.
studaman21
25-08-06, 07:08 PM
wouldnt have thought they would charge you. but then again every garage is different
Get a compression guage for about ?15 and DIY :)
Or it could of just gone in between a cylinder and water way=water entering cylinders giving white smoke out the exhaust.
is that still bad? i aint got a clue about this sort of thing yet!
Yes, it is still bad. Get it compression tested and have a go at sorting it. It's not difficult but a good days work, maybe longer if you've never done it before.
If you are going to do it your self it's a good idea to have the head faced before refitting.
mikey14sr
25-08-06, 07:30 PM
Check your water level, that'll tell you if the gaskets gone, chances are it's dry by now
studaman21
25-08-06, 07:33 PM
not always a tell tale tho. my water was fine when mine went lol
well the rad has started to leak since the engine has started smokin. both at the same time like.
i hate cars!
I hate cars!
I hate cars too. The main reason I spend so much time working on them is because I refuse to be beaten by them. lol
lol good way of looking at it!
does sound like HG, they can pop in a number of ways, sounds like yours is one of the worst, think water is getting into a cylider and you dont want water entering your cylinders for obvious reasons. Stop driving it or youll end up with bigger problems if the trickle turns into a squirt!
And when you get it replaced, get the head crack tested and checked for any warpage, and buy a cometic Grp A gasket and youll never have to change it again.
mikey14sr
26-08-06, 12:20 PM
If the rads started to leak aswell that generally means that it's gone between a water jacket and a cylinder, the pressure from the cyinder will have leaked into the cooling system increasing the pressure in the rad, I'm supprised the header tank cap hasn't been venting coolant out all over the inner wing.
BT, do cometic do a gasket for the C14SE?
Similar thing happened to me when I blew a head gasket, coolant hoses kept on working loose. A few days later my engine was pissing oil from under the head all over my engine bay.
Get it sorted ASAP or it can get very messy.
BT, do cometic do a gasket for the C14SE?
They'll do a gasket for anything you want :thumb:
mikey14sr
26-08-06, 03:30 PM
I might just stick with a genuine one, the engine's not far from standard really
theres no sign of the usual white/cream gunk anywhere though.
also on my old engin, the header tank cap kept blowing off lol i wrapped some string round it in the end and tied it to me strut brace as it started to get pretty hard to find one lol
also could this white smoke be anything else as there no gunk any where?
Youll only get gunk if the water is mixing with oil.
would the head gasket make it smell real bad? i started the car at work earlier and was like 3 car lenghts from the shop door way. and i stank the shop out! and when its just sat there you walk past it and can smell it!
Smell what? Lol
Whats it smell like?
you no somthing im not realy to sure! its not pleasant though! smelt next to the zorst earlier and that just smelt of like burt somthing, but the overall smell is like umm i dont no. will smell it later like but its well bad. like i never used to be able to smell anything, but now its just smell every where!! like its poluting a big area! haha
that sounds like the lovely smell of burning coolant.
ahhh right, so still head gasket?
Get ready for the big bang Lew, and im not talking about a new planet here either! lol
You'll no if its the head gasket, as it will just start runnning on three cyclinders then implode like mine did last year lmfao! :D
nice!! cheers for that mike! well it only runs bad when its cold, or when i first start it. it never used to be like it.
might not be head gasket...
are you losing water?
is ther gunk under oil cap?
is it misfiring?
is power down?
How many miles have you done?
It could simply be wear n tear on the piston rings, valves or pehaps when you accelerate hard oil is being thrown back up into the engine and being burnt off.
My 1.4 carrbed engine had an overflow pipe that on the old dustbin lid filter used to drain back into the carb to get burnt off?!? (appartantly - breather pipe?)
I dunno...
stv-b16a
30-08-06, 11:58 PM
egr gas return? breather of sorts? correct me if im wrong.
probably am lol
stv-b16a
31-08-06, 12:01 AM
egr gas return? breather of sorts.
correct me if im wrong lads,i probably am lol
stv-b16a
31-08-06, 12:02 AM
oh **** she was right i am gettin drunk. lol lol
If you can smell coolant burning/evaporating then its almost certainly headgasket failure.
I wouldn't risk driving it, you might go start it one time and find the cylinders have enough water in them to stop the engine turning over.
That may also be why your starter motor is struggling.
stv-b16a
31-08-06, 01:04 AM
yeah head gasket failures dont have to be catastropic affairs they can take a bit of time to bugger your engine. well and properly in some cases lol
If you can smell coolant burning/evaporating then its almost certainly headgasket failure.
I wouldn't risk driving it, you might go start it one time and find the cylinders have enough water in them to stop the engine turning over.
That may also be why your starter motor is struggling.
funny actually cause i went to start it after work yesterday and it didnt turn over, well it moved like a fraction if you no what i mean, then had to try again.
push bike for me again then.
Sounds like Mikeysr's car at weekend lol
These headgaskets BT were are they from? i'm rebuildin an xe at the mo and was thinking of a steel HG...
Cheers martin
Hope you get it sorted lew
yer where you get these good gaskets from?
its like my car has a death wish! every thing goes wrong with it! i mean everything!
NO lol only baught and put this one in a few months ago! going to fix it and make it quicker while im doing it i think!
lol.. i have a nice xe sat at mine.... hahahaa... wil be fully rebuilt and sold i think its turbo time...
yeah head gasket failures dont have to be catastropic affairs they can take a bit of time to bugger your engine. well and properly in some cases lol
In my experience head gaskets just let go, they dont go over a certain time.
Dads old cavalier, he went out in it, no problems, came back home 2hrs later(got stuck in a bit of traffic i think), steam everywhere, burning oil, warped head etc, he scrapped the car. Lol
So they do have catastrophic failures.
might not be head gasket...
It could simply be wear n tear on the piston rings, valves or pehaps when you accelerate hard oil is being thrown back up into the engine and being burnt off.
My 1.4 carrbed engine had an overflow pipe that on the old dustbin lid filter used to drain back into the carb to get burnt off?!? (appartantly - breather pipe?)
I dunno...
Rings would give you copious amounts of blue smoke, not white, valve stems would cause the same but normally only on startup as oil seaps into the chamber when its left overnight.
White smoke is definately water, and that will only get into the cylinders by either a blown head gasket, or a crack in the head between a waterway and inlet/outlet, thatw why its always a good idea to get the head crack tested as well as checked for warpage. Funny smell appearing is telling me the leak is getting worse, and as said, stop driving the car or youll end up with a nice pop!
What condition is the coolant in by the way, has it got cloudy? Is there a smell of exhaust coming from the expansion tank when you take the lid off?
As for Cometic, heres their UK website, http://www.cometiceurope.com/index2.htm, think theyre based in Essex. I suggest you call them and ask if they do a gasket off the shelf for your engine, I know they do an XE one as I have one :). If they dont, they will make you one. Theyre not cheap mind, but it pretty much eliminates head gasket failiure, and thats worth the loot IMO if your planning on keeping the car :thumb:
stv-b16a
31-08-06, 11:25 PM
yes usually.
but not always,long live the nova.
stv.
thats what i meant, not always.
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