White Smoke from Exhaust?

Question

I have Mitsubishi Galant 1998 118000 miles. Recently I noticed that it gives out white smoke from the exhaust pipe. The smoke is more when the car is at stop with engine running. I noticed it does not overheat or anything like that. Any ideas why this is happening? If yes, then what would an estimated cost to repair this? Thank you.

Answer 1

if u are laying a dense smoke trail that doesnt go away easy, u have a bad head gasket. it isnt a very cheap thing either; it costed me about 800 bucks to have 1 replaced on a ford Ltd about 8 years ago. water is gettin into the cylinders. get it fixed asap before u run totally out of water.

Answer 2

Rover cars were notorious for belching out white smoke. It usually only happens in the winter or when you get a cold day.The exhaust system takes quite a long time to heat up and burn off the moisture inside it.My current car which is an mgzr 160 has the same problem.It does not leak water or burn oil but it does love producing white smoke.MOT emission test was ok so there are no faults in that department..What you should do is take your car for a good long drive up the motorway as fast as you can get away with for 20 miles then come back again and see if the bugger is still puffing out white smoke.

Answer 3

White smoke equals water in the combustion chamber. You might have a leak in the head gasket, and is allowing coolant into the cylinder. Take to a mechanic and do a compression test. This will see if there is any leakage into the water jacket.

Diagnose the problem before getting yourself too worried. Could be simple, could be bad.

If the smoke starts turning grey or black, then there is oil in the chamber.

You might also have something as simple as bad gas. But I would do the compression check first. Only takes 10 minutes, and doesn't cost a lot.

Answer 4

It is very likely that you have a head gasket leaking. The white smoke may be coming from engine coolant leaking into the combustion chamber. This is easily diagnosed by a good mechanic. The cost to repair will likely be $350 to $500.

Answer 5

You might have a cracked cylinder head or leaking head gasket. White smoke usually means water in the combustion chamber. You can pull the car apart and fix it (expensive) or use a leak fixer like Bars Leaks Head Gasket Repair. Follow directions and it can solve your problem for less than $20.

Answer 6

Exhaust colors: Blue = oil, Black = fuel, White = water.
If thee engine is at NORMAL operating temp, "excessive" whit smoke is antifreeze related. Most probable cause is HEAD GASKET. Other causes can be intake gasket, crack in block or cylinder head.
Does the smoke have a SWEET smell? (Antifreeze) you should be consuming some coolant.
If the smoke has no smell and coolant is not going down, (H2O)
water from the air. Especially with moist weather conditions.
If you smell the sweet antifreeze (unless th car has sentimental value) think about unloading it before before you have to put hundreds of dollars into it.

Answer 7

In most cases the valve guides are somewhat out of tolerance. With warn guides the vacuum of the piston moving down in the cylinder bore sucks engine oil from under your valve cover to the bore causing smoke as the engine runs st idle. Cost $ 600.- 900. conservatively.

Answer 8

white smoke would indicate water is getting into the engine. Take it to a reliable mechanic ASAP before you have major problems.

Answer 9

How recently? You may be seeing condensation exhaust. Is your vehicle running any differently? Has it been doing this primarily after a temperature change (cold weather and humidity causing condensation)?

Answer 10

It means your running too lean with your fuel mixutre. It's a very bad thing and you should get it fixed ASAP. It would be better if the smoke was black...that would mean to rich.

Take it in ASAP