Causes of whitish smoke fron exhaust?

Tiny
MKIDD4
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT
  • 67,000 MILES
I have noticed what appears to be a whitish color of smoke coming from my exhaust only when I accelerated to get on highway. I recently broke my oil pan and didnt notice it doing this before. Nobody thinks its the head gasket becuase no loss of coolant, no overheating. Car runs the same as before all fluids are good again not overheating when I drove it. It has done this 3 times in the last 2 weeks from replacing the oil pan. Any suggestions on what could be causing the smoke(besides a head gasket)? Im afraid to drive it until I can pinpoint where its coming from so I dont damage the engine.
Monday, September 24th, 2012 AT 8:42 PM

10 Replies

Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
  • MECHANIC
  • 52,796 POSTS
White is burning coolant. Have the cooling system tested and a leak down test done for possible head gasket

Roy
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Monday, September 24th, 2012 AT 8:43 PM
Tiny
MKIDD4
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  • 3 POSTS
My husband doesnt think its the head gasket. Are there other possible reasons for the smoke?
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Monday, September 24th, 2012 AT 8:49 PM
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
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Did your husband have the system checked? White smoke is burning coolant.

Roy
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 AT 1:30 AM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
  • MECHANIC
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I had a 1.8T in the shop last week with a stuck open injector... raw
fuel was coming out the tail pipe while the engine was running.

White smoke accompanied the raw fuel.

Replaced the faulty injector and all was good again (once the exhaust
cleared out).

Wasn't smoking as bad as this Diesel with a faulty Injector:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhb6Vqg3TxM

mkidd4, over the internet diagnosis might not pinpoint what is
wrong with your.

Comparing spark plugs, looking inside the cylinders with a borescope
and smelling the smoke might lead to a better "guess" as to what the
problem might be.

Good luck.

Thomas
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 AT 1:48 AM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
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Incomplete combustion in a diesel will produce white smoke, this will normally be associated with a misfire the smoke will smell very fuley, check this first.
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 AT 9:22 AM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
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Sorry. I'm not saying that raw fuel is the problem, I was just
saying that white smoke isn't always coolant.

The fact that the white smoke only occurs during hard acceleration, might
make this more difficult to track down, as it does not happen at idle (where one can sniff the exhaust).

Thomas
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 AT 2:08 PM
Tiny
MKIDD4
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  • 3 POSTS
Does anyone think it may be stuck rings?
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Tuesday, September 25th, 2012 AT 6:07 PM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
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Have a leak down test done to determine.
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Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 AT 4:24 AM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
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What engine is in the car?

If 1.8T, check the PCV system for correct venting. If the system
pressurizes too much, it could force oil into the intake that
then gets burnt all of a sudden.

Small amounts of oil / vapor is normal, but if too much makes its
way into the intake, smoking will take place.

Again, checking spark plugs might point to oil burning.

Thomas
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Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 AT 2:51 PM
Tiny
EXOVCDS
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I had a 1.8T Passat in the shop yesterday that blew white smoke under boost.

I drained close 1 liter of oil from the intercooler. Further inspection found that the
turbo shaft had too much play, allowing oil to leak into the intake.

The oil was collecting in the intercooler and forced into the engine under heavier
loads / acceleration.

A new turbo solved the smoking issue,

I am in the process of making a youtube video on turbo replacement. Will post
the link here once I have finished it.

Have you since solved / found your smoking issue?

Thomas
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Saturday, February 16th, 2013 AT 7:22 PM

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