White smoke diagnoses
 

Okay guys. So first post on the forum but I need help with this one. So I pulled my car out of work yesterday, after warning it up of course, went about 200 feet to a red light. Once it turned green I let go of the clutch at the normal 2,000. As soon as I let it go, the entire car jumped forward (which at the time I thought I let the clutch out wrong). So I pulled into where I was going and noticed that my car was pillowing white smoke out of the exhaust. When I say white smoke I mean thick white smoke that filled the entire parking lot. It has a sweet smell to it so I am almost positive it's an internal coolant leak. Tonight, I'm going to look at the plugs and see what I find on them. And then I'm going to check the intake manifold gasket. Does anyone have any other ideas befote I decide it's time for a rebuild?

Well are you losing coolant? If you are then you might want to do a coolant system pressure test or send an oil sample (blackstone labs, $25.00) out to see if there is coolant in the oil. You can also test the coolant with a hydrocarbon (I think that is what it is called) test kit.

Smelling is kind of an old (and dumb) way of determining a problem with smoke as I have seen burning oil result in white smoke, I have seen a coolant leak result in white smoke, and I have seen a failed O2 and excessive fuel result in white smoke on and RX-8. All three of which smelled like fuel, :lol:

The old theory that burning oil is black or purple and that a car burning coolant smells sweet just isn't true from what I have experienced. But smoke can only be one of the three things and if it is oil or coolant burning then you will need a rebuild.

But proper diagnosis is key.

Yeah I'm going to try to diagnose it better tonight. What I told you is what I learned on the side of the road. No oil in the intake or maf makes me think coolant. My coolant level also appears to be lower then before. Im going to take some home tonight and try and watch the level. Also I'll check out that place that tests the oil to see if coolants in it.

Well if you had a failed oil control ring (rare) then you would not have oil in the intake. Has your engine been consuming oil at a normal rate?

Oil consumption has been the same since I bought it. I'd say every 6-800 miles I add a quart (depending on how I drive the car). But every other fluid doesn't seem off. I'm going to add coolant and run it tonight because it still does run fine, with no misfires or codes, but it smokes very badly.

If it is smoking I would not drive it, you may make parts that are salvagable into unsalvageable parts.

I'll make sure that I keep that in mind tonight. If I have to rebuild it though, I'll probably build it to hold boost over the winter. I have a daily so it can sit. Thanks for the info.

Alright so I got into working on the car last night a good bit. I took the hood and front bumper cover over. I took off the wheels and took out the spark plugs. I had a buddy f mine turn the engine over (with no plugs in), and coolant came spraying out of rotor/cylinder two. Both plug holes had it spray out. So I then took off the entire intake box and sleeve. Battery is out. And a few other things are disconnected. Tonight, I'm going to get the coolant reservoir out because the last thing I want is more leaking into the block. I'll keep this thread updated to what I find as I go along.

Well if was coolant then it needs a rebuild, there is no point in removing the reservoir now unless you are pulling the engine because even with it removed, the engine is still full of coolant.

Yeah I've accepted its time for a rebuild. I'm buying an engine crane on my day off this week. I'm going to get everything disconnected and I'm going to get the engine ready to be pulled. I'll start posting pictures of my progress and what I find so other people with the same problem can know what they might expect.