Smoke coming out of my exhaust when I start my car...

When I start my car, when it is cold and has been sitting a while, I've been noticing that there is a bit of smoke that comes out of the exhaust. It appears grayish-white in color. Seems like every month or so, the puff gets a bit bigger.

Any ideas on what this could be? I don't have the extra dough to take it to the garage right now and the car seems to be running o.k. Just curious if this is something I can keep an eye on or something I should get looked at, sooner rather than later...

TIA!

reply to post by lovebeck

How many miles do you have on your car? Sometimes the cylinders start losing compression and a little extra oil gets burned when you have high miles. Check your oil level too, to make sure it is not overfilled. You can get a compression check for about 20 dollars, but repairing that would be costly. Sometimes with older cars, smoke becomes inevitable, especially upon startup.

reply to post by lovebeck


Check your oil level, as it may be valve guide seals cracked, allowing oil to leak into the cylinders while parked. You should not be burning more than one quart every 1500 miles or so. Also, check your radiator coolant levels, as you may have a cracked head gasket or block. If you are burning too much coolant, this may be the cause.

How old is your car and what mileage? Make? A car that is over 10 years old with 150K experiencing white smoke out the exhaust is not uncommon. If newer or less mileage, get it in the shop before something worse develops.

reply to post by lovebeck


as stated do a full check , oil level but i would be checking water levels ( especially if its a white smoke as this indicates a cracked head ) blue smoke is oil . unfortunately both can be expensive

i hope its neither , good luck

pt

If the compression rings are wore allowing oil from the sump to bypass you would get a blackish smoke. It's more like water vapour. Does it come out continuously or just on start up. Take the oil filler cap off and check if there is any whitish scum around the cap and pull the oil level stick to see if there is any small globules of water on it. Water in small amounts can give you grey/white smoke. If just at start up this could indicate moisture in the exhaust, this can happen when the engine is turned off and moisture forms in the exhaust through condensation from the air. If you have scum on your filler cap or water in your sump oil it could be a a symptom of a blown head gasket, not blown enough to affect performance but enough to give you the symptoms you describe. Also check in the coolant to see if there is any oil film as the fault could let water into the oil or oil into the water. These are things that you can check yourself though if you do find any of that it's a bad case scenario. Look on the bright side it might just be condensation in your exhaust.

Check your water......check your oil.....keep track....

reply to post by lovebeck


If it is an actual puff of smoke that doesn't look like the water vapor type, or if it happens all the time regardless of how long the car has been driven, you have a problem and need to take the car into a garage to get looked at. As other have noted, the repair probably will be on the expensive side unless you have been adding something to your gas.

I've assumed you aren't getting worried about the white water-vapor exhaust that persists until the car warms up. If you are the driver, you won't usually see that unless the wind is blowing the exhaust to where you can notice it -- unless you get out and walk around. That is wispy, white, disappears like steam does and doesn't linger like smoke, and doesn't make a huge puff...

its condensation, all cars do it. like you said it happens on cold mornings and your car runs ok.
look at your neighbours cars , i'm sure they'll all do the same.

That's called blow by. Your piston rings are bad.

time for a trade in you sound like you have a old car om you're hands unless you can do the work you're self it would just be cheaper to get rid of it

Pimpintology
That's called blow by. Your piston rings are bad.

Rikku
its condensation, all cars do it. like you said it happens on cold mornings and your car runs ok.
look at your neighbours cars , i'm sure they'll all do the same.

As you can see, ATS can provide definitive answers to all your questions. It's a great resource.

As you can see, ATS can provide definitive answers to all your questions. It's a great resource.

lol so true.

but i'm right.
you can trust me, they dont let just anyone on the internet!

reply to post by lovebeck

Take a pic of the smoke coming out of the exhaust and post it, that will give us all a better idea of what the problem is.
I'm betting cracked head gasket at this point.

If it's a high mileage car, it's likely to be the stem seals on the valves in the head of the engine if it's only doing it on start up.

Do this quick check to see; start the car and lookfor bluish colored smoke. Let it run for a minute or so then press the gas rapidly in succession for 10 - 15 seconds make sure you rev that baby good. Check for clouds of blue smoke out the back as you do it. If there is none, it's just worn valve stems abd nothing to worry about other than keeping an eye on your oil level.

If you do see clouds of smoke then your engine is getting tired. Just keep the oil and water checked and drive her gently. Until you start hearing rattles from the engine it will be fine as long as you are kind to it.

Rikku
its condensation, all cars do it. like you said it happens on cold mornings and your car runs ok.
look at your neighbours cars , i'm sure they'll all do the same.

I agree. The symptoms she's describing are most likely from condensation.

Check to see i there is a vacuum line going to the transmission.

if you have one the vacuum modulator may have a pin hole in it.

wiki.answers.com...

reply to post by lovebeck


Standard First World Problem.... deal with it, your a grown up right??>

markosity1973
If it's a high mileage car, it's likely to be the stem seals on the valves in the head of the engine if it's only doing it on start up.

Do this quick check to see; start the car and lookfor bluish colored smoke. Let it run for a minute or so then press the gas rapidly in succession for 10 - 15 seconds make sure you rev that baby good. Check for clouds of blue smoke out the back as you do it. If there is none, it's just worn valve stems abd nothing to worry about other than keeping an eye on your oil level.

If you do see clouds of smoke then your engine is getting tired. Just keep the oil and water checked and drive her gently. Until you start hearing rattles from the engine it will be fine as long as you are kind to it.

edit on 22-3-2014 by markosity1973 because: damned phone keyboard

THIS. Sounds about right. It doesn't continue. It isn't black smoke and it doesn't do it all the time, just when I start it.

My hubby takes care of the car and is pretty handy. He saves us lots of $$$ with his skills!

The car is a 08 Camry w/ 118k miles on it. It's still a baby, in Toyota terms. He said something about a gasket that needs replacing.

The engine & tranny run just fine. It drives like butter and will drive that car until it dies or becomes a complete money pit. I have no urge or want to purchase another vehicle any time soon.

Thanks for all the responses!

reply to post by lovebeck


If it's a Toyota, it's bound to be stem seals, don't worry, she'll keep on trucking for years like that.

You can buy 'magic potions' as I call them that claim to condition the rubber seals in engines. Depending on how far gone your seals are, it might help. The seals are just bits of rubber that stop oil from dripping down your valves into the combustion chamber and they go hard and crack with age and higher mileage.

reply to post by lovebeck


You have got to be kidding, it is called steam / condensation. It is hot exhaust fumes and moisture in the exhaust pipes. If it is blue, it is oil, white could be coolant. It is because when cold out, it does this from moisture and air temps. You may even notice water dripping from exhaust tips, or any leaks in the exhaust.

Though these idiots above could be right, but unless it is blue or white and does it all the time, it is what every engine will produce in colder weather. I have a 94 VW Jetta, with a 96 VR6 engine, and 99.5 trans. Even a brand new car, in front of me, at a red light, will do this. It has nothing to do with your engine being broke or worn, it is physics. Like a cold bottle of water on a hot summer day, it will collect moisture on the outside because of air temp difference, so your exhaust on a cold day does the opposite with hot exhaust gases flowing through. You would touch a hot exhaust pipe would you?