White smoke?

Tiny
PMF1410
  • MEMBER
  • 2006 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 90,000 MILES
My Sebring blows out a big cloud of white smoke while driving. It happens when the car is warmed up and I slow down to make a turn and speed back up again.
Do you
have the same problem?
Yes
No
Saturday, July 14th, 2012 AT 3:53 PM

24 Replies

Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,938 POSTS
White smoke is usually a coolant leak into the cylinders, it can be associated with a sweet smell, brake fluid and trans oil also will produce white smoke but the chances of this is quite improbable in modern cars, i would get the head check done to disprove any head related problem, this is a quick and cheap chemical test to check for Co in the cooling system, apart from that i can only think that it my be a fuel contamination problem, did it start after refueling? To be sure this guide can help us fix it

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/white-smoke-or-steam-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

Please run down this guide and report back.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, July 14th, 2012 AT 11:13 PM
Tiny
PMF1410
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I refueled last Sunday and it started Monday, but I refueled again Thursday and it is still doing it.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, July 15th, 2012 AT 4:58 AM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,938 POSTS
Sounding a bit like a fuel contamination problem, change the filter and drain the fuel out of the old filter into a clean glass container and see how it looks, if cloudy and smells off it will be bad fuel.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, July 15th, 2012 AT 5:34 AM
Tiny
PMF1410
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thank you for your help.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Sunday, July 15th, 2012 AT 10:48 PM
Tiny
POPEGREG
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2003 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 98,000 MILES
I have a 2003 sebring that is blowing white smoke from time to time. What is the cause and the best repair method.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:11 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
White smoke points to coolant is burning in the cylinders-You sure its white bcuz if it is-you'll be losing coolant and engine will overheat
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
+2
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:11 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RMORROW1973
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2001 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 80,000 MILES
I have a 2001 chrysler sebring lx. It was running fine until this morning when I started it, it would shut off. It did that several times, along with white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. Do you think this is bad gas or something major?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,699 POSTS
White exhaust smoke is typical of a leaking head gasket. A cylinder leakage test will prove this. Another test that can verify this is a "sniffer" test at the radiator cap or overflow reservoir. Dark blue liquid in the tester will turn bright yellow if combustion gases are present in the cooling system.

Caradiodoc
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
SHELBY LYNN WRIGHT
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1998 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 2.4L
  • V6
  • MANUAL
  • 167,400 MILES
I am a eighteen year old that is having trouble with my first car. I turned my car on the second time today and smoke was coming from the right side and my brakes are pretty much shot now. I pushed the brakes changed gears and that is when I noticed the smoke. My friend Joe took my car to work and he said it started to smoke really bad with a strong smell. We put water into the washer fluid and the antifreeze because we do not have those. Check my oil and all it was fine. What is it? Is it an oil leak? Do I need to replace a gasket?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
More then likely this is a head gasket issue. Here is a guide that will talk about white smoke and what could cause it.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/white-smoke-or-steam-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

Once we start to understand what the causes are, we need to start crossing them off until we figure out what the issue is. The fact that you had no coolant leads me to think it is a head gasket issue so let's start there.

Here is a guide that will walk you through how to test for this.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

I attached the process below of how to replace the head gasket it this is what it turns out to be. Let us know and we can go from there. Thanks
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RAYRAYBABYBOI13
  • MEMBER
  • 19 POSTS
  • 1998 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 2.5L
  • V6
  • AUTOMATIC
I turned on my car this morning, let it run for about a half hour, put it in reverse and noticed a burning smell as I was driving down the driveway and some white smoke. By the time I made it to the end of the driveway my temperature guage moved all the way up to the read zone, I hurried up and turned around because I didn't want to cause much damage(reminder we have a 500 ft driveway). By the time I got about 2/3 up the temperature light came on. I pulled her back into the parking space and seen the white smoke coming frome my hood. Opened her up. Im not sure where the smoke is coming from but it looks like its coming from underneath the radiator cap? Any advice? I cant tell the smoke could have been coming from under there by the side of the engine.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
HMAC300
  • MECHANIC
  • 48,601 POSTS
It cold be a bad cap but fill it with coolant and have the system pressure checked as it may be ahead gasket.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RAYRAYBABYBOI13
  • MEMBER
  • 19 POSTS
Ok so now that the car finally cooled down, I took off the cap and have no coolant in it. Just filled it on thanksgiving. So what could be the problem. Heater core leaking?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
WESLEY07
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1998 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
My chrysler sebring has begin to let out white smoke only when I take off, just a puff of white smoke on take off and then no more. The white smoke smells like sulfer. Just two months ago I had to have a new catalytic converter, fuel pump, MAP sensor, O2 sensor, and a complete distributor. I am having my plugs and wires changed monday. When my mechanic started to change the plugs he showed me that oil was dripping off the plug wires and said that my valve cover gaskets needed to be changed also. Should I be worried about the smoke?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
AJSTER1989
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I had a 1989 Le Baron (which you probably didn't know is the predecessor to the sebring, and I also now have a 1995 sebring myself) anywho about my Le Baron, it was nice, 2.2 Turbo 4 cylinder the works, anyway right one day I was going for a drive with one of my friends and he asked me what my car could do, so I floor it (I'm already going 30, but the tires spin anyway :-p) next thing I know is that I hear this loud thump against the back of my fire wall, I was thinking holy crap that was my engine jerking back, (those small vertical twin cams are know to jerk like that) I looked at it and it checked out fine.

Well a few months later I noticed that my tranny was clicking, simple fix, the flywhell was hitting my inspection plate, so I cut the rubbing section off, well then it starts to rub again, and I cut another peice off, but it just keeps getting worse, then about another months later I start to see this WHITE SMOKE ur talking about, only when I take off, what had happened it the exaust manifold was seperating from the block, long story short, that day when I floored it, I broke my engine mount, snapped it in half, and then that's all she wrote, a few days later I was lucky to get it to the junk yard where it sits today, sob story of a person who at the time was broke and couldn't take care of the only classic he might ever own ;-) lol

p.S. Ya I know my spelling sucks :-p
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CROATON
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 1998 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 798,512 MILES
Why is my car smoking a lot (white smoke)?

98 chy sebing v6 2.5 sohc
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,938 POSTS
White smoke is a sign of coolant in the induction, do a head check, this is a simple chemical test for exhaust gasses in the cooling system, if so you will have a head problem, start here.

Mark (mhpautos)
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:12 PM (Merged)
Tiny
SHOULDANEVERBOUGHTMYCAR
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
  • 1997 CHRYSLER SEBRING
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 123,000 MILES
I am having a really perplexing problem with my 1997 Chrysler Sebring 6 cyl. Convertible. A couple of weeks ago my belts (the ones located right next to cooler overfill container) broke. When I popped my hood to check it out I saw smoke. I got my belts fixed a week later and when I went to pick up the car I drove a few blocks and noticed whisps of smoke seeping from under my hood. I got home popped the hood and sure enough it was smoking a good amount of white smoke. I left the car alone for the night and the next morning I placed oil and drove the car a couple of blocks and the problem was just as bad. Then I noticed I needed coolant so I filled it and drove the car a few miles and there was no visible smoke. I left the car alone and tried the car out the following day and noticed a little smoke. Coming from under the coolant overfill container and under the radiator cap. I purchased a new radiator cap the same day and drove my car about a mile and faintly smelled coolant through my a/c vents. My a/c does not really work but I turned it on. I came back to my house and saw a little puff of smoke coming from under my engine. The thing that is driving me crazy is that the car only has smoke when I am driving or after I have driven the car. If the car sits in idle, smoke will not appear AT ALL and as soon as I get home from driving and pop the hood I will see smoke but it will soon dissipate when I turn off the car. I have absolutely no smoke coming from my exhaust; it is just from under my hood and I also checked my coolant container for any signs of oil as well as the oil top and dipstick for any signs of mixture and there is nothing. Also, my car is not overheating. What do you think the problem could possibly be?
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:13 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RAINA30
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I have the same problems with my sebring and I have no idea what it is. I have a 1998 Sebring Coupe V6 2.5. It just started have smoke come from under the hood about 2 months ago. I realized I had a oil leak. Just yesterday 9/10/2011 I had the Valve cover gaskets replaced as well as spark plugs and the intake manifold gasket. My car runs like a champ however when I park the car and open the hood there is still the smell of burning oil, and faint white smoke. The smoke does not look like it is coming from the top of the engine, it seems to be coming from the bottom. My boyfriend wiped the parts down and got all the old oil off, and yet still smoking. My coolant is fine, no leaks there and I have never had smoke come from my exhaust. I have no idea what it could be, but id love to know so I can feel good about driving my car again.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
-1
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:13 PM (Merged)
Tiny
SHOULDANEVERBOUGHTMYCAR
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
Raina30,

I checked the problem with a mechanic around the way and he claimed that the problem was some valve gasket covers (or something like that) that need replacing. Each time I drive my car oil sloshes around and seeps out and drips onto the hot engine and creates the smoke that is also what is giving me the burnign smell. I have been riding around since just checking my oil and filling when necessary until I have enough money to fix the issue. I hope this helps you
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Saturday, December 26th, 2020 AT 12:13 PM (Merged)

Please login or register to post a reply.

Sponsored links