Question: 1995 BMW 525i. My BMW is always giving off white smoke. I noticed it does not overheat or anything like that. The outside temperature is 38 deg F. All the other cars are running fine. Sometimes I smell coolant inside the car but have been unable to find a wet spot in the car. Help.

Answer: White smoke when first started is normal. If white smoke continues you have an internal coolant leak, i.e., cracked head/blown head gasket. Black smoke is caused by a rich fuel condition. Blue smoke is caused by oil consumption. The smell of coolant inside your car is caused by a leaking heater core.

Question: 1998 Acura Integra 1.8 DOHC mileage: 125,000. My Integra has been with me for many miles since I bought it new in '90. The car has been great! I am having a problem now however, which started about 10,000 miles ago with a leak in a radiator hose which caused the car to overheat a few times (I kept re-filling coolant when it overheated) until I realized it was a hose and got it replaced. Now the car starts and runs well until it gets hot. Then it starts to sputter and idle very rough, it also seems like I am getting gray smoke (only after driving for a while) from the exhaust. Again, when the car is cold it runs very well for about half an hour then it starts with the sputtering and smoke. What do you think is causing this?

Answer: It appears that when your car overheated the head gasket shrunk allowing coolant to escape into the combustion chamber. Usually the symptoms are more pronounced when the engine is at normal operating temperature.

Question: 1998 Honda Civic, mileage: 120,000. Bought the car in 1999 and it ran fine until 2002 when it started giving me problem after a minor accident. The car heats up a lot and sometimes I would see white smoke coming out of the hood. I check the coolant and its always half empty so I filled it up. The car drives for a while until the problem comes up again with very low coolant. I rested the car, let it cool down, and then open up the radiator and the radiator boils very hot like a hot lava volcano. Well, to get rid of that problem, I went ahead and replace the radiator with a brand new one. It works for a while but the problem remains with hot boiling and coolant half empty. I got frustrated and took the car to the auto shop. He said it was a cracked head gasket. I said ok fine go a head and re-surface it so he did. It cost me over $800 for the service. Well, feeling a little better, I thought the problem is fine now. No more white smoke, no more hot heated engine. Well, that was roughly a year ago and today the problem is still the same? I replaced the radiator with another one and had it flushed. Still the car is over-heated and white smoke everywhere. The car is just seating at home in the garage and has not moved since April 2000. Now when I go and try to start the car, it sounds horrible like choking and then white smoke would come out of the muffler like crazy. What do I need to do? I thought having the auto shop re-surfacing the head gasket would cure the problem but it didn't. Do I need to have it done again? Can the head gasket be permanently fixed? I thought about just replacing the engine since it cost about the same to fix the head gasket. What is your opinion on this?

Answer: It sounds like your original problem was a cracked head that was repaired and then resurfaced. The repair probably lasted one year and then you experienced the same overheating problem. If the rest of the engine is in good shape, you may want to consider replacing the cylinder head. The reason you are experiencing the white smoke when starting it now, is probably the result of coolant in the exhaust system. Removing the head and inspecting it, will verify what we suspect.

Question: 1999 Chevrolet Cavalier 2.2 mileage: 90,000.  Car Suddenly started blowing white smoke from exhaust runs rough.  However, the coolant doesn't look oily or visa versa.  When car is shut off, the coolant bubbles or gurgles back into the over-flow reservoir.  And the coolant flows back out the radiator top when car is running and revved up.  If it is the head gasket, how can I check it?

Answer: Remove all of the spark plugs.  Pressurize the radiator with approximately 15 pounds of pressure and wait for approximately 1 hour then crank the engine over and watch to see if coolant comes out of the spark plug holes.  This will tell you if your problem is a head gasket or possibly a cracked head.

Question: 1996 Cadillac Seville mileage: 95,000.  I bought this car not running and there was water in the oil.  I replaced the head gaskets and had the head reworked that had the obvious blow by on the head gasket.  The car now runs fine, for the 5 minutes that I ran it, but there are clouds of white smoke coming from the exhaust.  I have not seen this before and am not sure what to look for to solve this problem.  Help!

Answer:   The white smoke is caused by coolant in the exhaust that may have gotten there when the head gasket blew originally.  Running the engine for half and hour to warm up the exhaust, should get rid of the coolant.  If the white smoke continues, then you have more problems with the engine.  Cadillac requires adding a block sealer to the cooling system when the head gaskets are replaced.

Question: 1992 Chevrolet S10 Blazer mileage: 167,000.  Just finished rebuilding engine.  Once engine is shut off after running engine for a couple of minutes, a white cloud of steam that smells kinda like antifreeze rolls out of intake.  Removed intake and gaskets look fine.  Removed left head found intake valve on number 4 cylinder completely clean all other valves on that side of engine black from light carbon.  Cause: leaky head gasket?  cracked head? coolant leak elsewhere? 

Answer: You may have a cracked cylinder head.

Question: 1996 Honda Civic, mileage: 99,997.  I recently had a valve job done on my car.  Now the car is emitting smelly smoke while I warm it up.  What does this mean?  What can I do to reduce this heavy, stink smelling smoke?  I told the Mechanic and he claims that because I ran it on 3 cylinders for so long that there is a carbon build-up on the Catalytic Converter.  By the way, my car is carbureted.

Answer:   Your mechanic may be right that the problem may be caused by the catalytic converter.  However, if you are still loosing coolant, you may have a cracked cylinder head or the new head gasket may be leaking.

Question: 1996 Dodge Neon,  mileage: 128,500.  My oil light comes on on/off while driving more on than off.  This has been going on for about 2 weeks.  I'm also getting white smoke out of my exhaust pipes.  I was told it could be a blown head gasket.  Do you think so?  And, is it safe for me to be driving my car?  I am going to be getting it fixed.  But, I wondered what you thought?

Answer:   The oil warning light indicates no oil pressure to the engine.  Check your oil level, if ok continuing to drive a car in this condition can result in serious engine damage.  The white smoke out the exhaust pipe could be normal. All car omit steam from the exhaust pipe when the car is cold. then as is warms the steam dissipates and can't be seen.

Question: 2002 Mazda B3000, mileage: 75,000.  The vehicle smokes just for about 10-15 seconds after starting then goes away. This happens only when cold.  I gave the vehicle a compression test and cylinders 1, 2, and 3 have 160 Psi and 4 has 165 Psi.   The plugs are clean and are burning even, no oil on them.  Warm starts are fine.  One thing that is strange is that the smoke starts a "few seconds" after startup and not right away.   Should I worry?

Answer:  The white smoke out the exhaust pipe could be normal. All car omit steam from the exhaust pipe when the car is cold. then as is warms the steam dissipates and can't be seen. If this doesn't stop when warm then you could have a blown head gasket.

Question: 1998 Ford Mustang, mileage: 168,500.  I was driving on the highway when my oil pressure dropped to zero and I heard a tapping so I pulled over checked the oil and it read full.  I waited a little while and went further when I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust.  I put a quart of oil in and it made the noise stop but my pressure still was at zero.  At first I thought it was just the gauge but then the white smoke was thick and the tapping started again, I pulled off the highway and left the car.   It is still registering full.  I thought it was a head gasket.  My dad thinks it is the oil pump.  Have blown a rod before and I do not think that is the problem.  Do you believe it could be the head gasket or is it more likely the oil pump and will I have to replace the engine?  Thank you!

Answer:   From what you describe, it sounds like you may have two problems.  White smoke is usually caused by a blown head gasket/cracked head and the oil pressure problem is usually caused by a faulty oil pump or a plugged oil pick-up.  You may want to consider having your engine rebuilt or replaced.

Question: 1997 Chevrolet 1500 Suburban, miles:121,000. I am having trouble starting it when the engine is cold.  It cranks several seconds before trying to start.  Finally, when it does start a cloud of white smoke comes out of the exhaust and thereafter no smoke.  Once the engine is started no problem to start it again and there is no smoke emitted.  Apparently, I am getting oil accumulated in the cylinders when it sits after running which can't be good for starting.  What can cause this and could that be the only problem I am having with starting it when cold?  I have new plugs, new wires, new rotor & cap, new fuel pump & filter and I have checked the injectors for blockage.  Thanks for your help.

Answer:   White smoke in the exhaust when first starting a cold engine is normal condensation turning into steam.  However, it is possible that coolant is getting into the combustion chamber.  Your engine’s head gaskets may be failing or you may have a cracked head.

Question: 1997 Ford Windstar, mileage: 164,000.  Check engine light came on during driving. Drove home and disconnected battery cable for ten minutes reconnected battery cable and started engine. White smoke appeared and foul smell was notice, almost like burning smell.  Looked under car and notice smoke coming from what looked like the converter.   Waited for a while restarted engine but no smoke this time.  What could have happen?  The day before I poured a bottle of STP injector cleaner into the tank full of gas.

Answer:   Check your engine for a blown head gasket.  The white smoke is probably coolant.

Question: 1996 GMC 3500 van, mileage: 109,000: My van has suddenly started blowing steady white smoke from the exhaust. At first, I thought it was a head gasket but it is using a lot of oil, yet the plugs aren't oil fouled. Compression is low on cylinders 3 and 5, but these pistons were dry. Cylinders 1 and 7, which had good compression, had oil in the combustion chamber.

Answer: We are betting on a blown gasket between cylinders 3 and 5. The white smoke is coolant turning to steam. The leak between 3 and 5 "steam cleans" the two cylinders.

Question: 1999 Chevrolet Corvette,  mileage: 79,200. My Corvette, has developed a serious smoking problem. The car is well maintained, oil changed regularly, and is not driven in the winter, and has only 79,000 miles. The problem came out of nowhere, it wasn’t a gradual thing. Thick white smoke billows out of the exhaust (it smells sweet, doesn’t have any type of blue color to it). I checked vacuum, and it was ok, I also did a compression check, that was ok. I then removed a valve spring from the right side of the engine to check the condition of the valve seal (it looked brand new!) Before I go through the trouble of replacing the valve seals, I figured I would get some advice. (The color of the smoke has me confused, it is so white and thick, and it doesn’t smell like oil) Any advice is appreciated.

Answer: The sweet smelling white smoke is coming out of the exhaust and is probably coolant. More than likely, the head gaskets have failed. There is a slight chance of a cracked head.

MORE: Engine steam or white smoke questions