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Intermittently my car smokes

Tiny
ROBINWRITE
  • MEMBER
  • 2011 NISSAN MICRA
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 234,500 MILES
My car smokes but not all the time. Some heavy smoke and it clears off occur sometimes.
The car smokes when I accelerate on high gear (gear 1or 2) but smoke gradually reduces when on low gear, say 4.
Car emits white smoke when on traffic for a while then smoke clears off. Smoke is almost absent or not visible during day time. Or sometimes, it comes and clears off quickly.
One thing is for sure, the smoke may linger a while but it is not continuous and it is white ( according to how I see it).
I'm not sure but I might have observed car sounds higher while on 1, 2, 3 gear than before (like I said, not too sure about this). I also think exhaust pipe has a slight oil mixture with carbon. There were few occasion car stalled but the mech adjusted the RPMs and that resolved the issue so I'm not sure if that's connected to the smoke emission from tailpipe. I recently changed the oil so I'm on it to see if the car loses oil faster than it should.
Thanks,
Kind regards
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Saturday, May 8th, 2021 AT 10:44 AM

8 Replies

Tiny
ROBINWRITE
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
A video I did. It was in the morning though.
Video (Click to make bigger)
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Saturday, May 8th, 2021 AT 11:36 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,164 POSTS
Oftentimes, white smoke indicates engine coolant is entering the combustion chamber. This can happen as a result of a faulty head gasket. Is the engine coolant level changing?

Do me a favor. Take a look through this link and see if anything mirrors what you are experiencing:

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

Let me know.

Joe
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Saturday, May 8th, 2021 AT 9:07 PM
Tiny
ROBINWRITE
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
The car doesn't overheat, and there is no milky goo of any sort for now, not even on the dipstick. In fact, the radiator hardly run low on coolant to indicate an overheating issue. Engine sounds fine, except for the intermittent emission of white smoke. Last time I was at the mech, I tried to rev the engine hard so the mech could see the smoke from the tailpipe, unfortunately, no heavy emission was visible at that point.
Thanks for your quick response. Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards
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Sunday, May 9th, 2021 AT 12:21 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Does this only happen when the engine is cold? And I'm sorry, but not knowing where you're located, I need to know if you are in a cold climate.

Let me know.

Joe
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Sunday, May 9th, 2021 AT 8:14 PM
Tiny
ROBINWRITE
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
It doesn't only happen when the weather is cold. But I think it's slightly more in the morning and when I rev hard. I've seen it in the afternoon too but this is only when I rev hard. When I rev slow the smoke is reduced or almost absent.
Sometimes the emission increases all of a sudden when I'm idling in a traffic or when I do move and stop because of traffic.
To add, there is no visible oil spill on engine part but very slight oil along with carbon on tailpipe.
My location is Nigeria.
If there is any sort of video you would like to help explain the issue further please let me know.
Thanks for your prompt response.
Kind regards.
Robin
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Sunday, May 9th, 2021 AT 10:22 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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Robin,

Do you have access to a live data scan tool? I have to be honest. I feel nearly any vehicle would smoke a bit when revved really hard/high. However, the carbon on the exhaust may indicate a rich fuel mixture.

If possible, get your hands on a live data scan tool and check the short-term fuel trims. Let me know what they are. Do this when the engine is cold and do it again when it is at operating temperature.

Let me know.

Joe
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Monday, May 10th, 2021 AT 7:31 PM
Tiny
ROBINWRITE
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Okay, Joe. I'll see if I can get my hands on a live data scan.
But to add again, yesterday after idling a while at traffic I observed the same smoke just after traffic became free. Funny enough however, today was different. There was no emission of smoke at all. Not even when I was caught up in traffic, or when I revved/accelerated. It got me wondering why it was so. Can you make anything out of this?
Thanks for your prompt response.
Kind regards,
Robin
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Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 AT 2:13 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
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Robin,

I have a feeling you have a head gasket going bad, but I can't be sure. Would you consider doing a compression test to see if there is one cylinder lower than the others? Engine coolant is usually the cause of white smoke.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

I suggested the scanner to know what the fuel trims were to see if it is running too rich. In reality, a rich fuel mixture usually causes dark gray or black smoke. However, you mentioned the soot.

Let me know.

Joe
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Tuesday, May 11th, 2021 AT 7:54 PM

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