| crash |
So, I spent the better part of Saturday polishing up Mo - and getting it ready for the winter (looks amazing again)....I went to move it out of the driveway and onto the road so I could clean the garage....when I started it up, a large cloud of smoke beltched out the exhaust pipe....I didn't see any blue, but it had an odour of oil.
I drove it around a bit and all seemed fine. I started it a few times subsequently and saw smaller tufts of smoke come out (this morning, there was nothing).
Mo seems to run fine, I checked the oil (which was changed the Thursday prior along with a rad fluid flush) and both levels of fluids were fine.
Any thoughts on what might have caused it? Maybe some bad gas? I've told myself that I'd monitor, and if it persisted, I'd take into the shop to diagnose....thoughts? |
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| Stoker |
quote:
Originally posted by crash
So, I spent the better part of Saturday polishing up Mo - and getting it ready for the winter (looks amazing again)....I went to move it out of the driveway and onto the road so I could clean the garage....when I started it up, a large cloud of smoke beltched out the exhaust pipe....I didn't see any blue, but it had an odour of oil.
I drove it around a bit and all seemed fine. I started it a few times subsequently and saw smaller tufts of smoke come out (this morning, there was nothing).
Mo seems to run fine, I checked the oil (which was changed the Thursday prior along with a rad fluid flush) and both levels of fluids were fine.
Any thoughts on what might have caused it? Maybe some bad gas? I've told myself that I'd monitor, and if it persisted, I'd take into the shop to diagnose....thoughts?
Crash
The symptoms that you describe was the same as what happen to my daughter in her honda. The one question I have is the color of the smoke , was it white, black or white with a small amount of blue in it. If it was white, it is possible that your are starting to see a glycol leak on your engine head, hopefully just the head gasket and not the engine head.
The head gasket failed on the honda and I also had the garage do a WFMP inspection of the head do ensure that there was no small cracks in the head.
It sounds like IF the glycol is leaking from the head gasket it is a small leak at present. You may want to do a cooling system pressure test to see if it leaking.
Keep us posted if you find anything. |
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| hfelknor |
While cleaning the Mo........get some water under the hood?
Homer |
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| njjoe |
crash-
The color of the smoke is key. White, blue or black?
Have you had a recurrence?
-njjoe |
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| tmnjmurano |
| Did you detail the engine compartment? Any chemicals sprayed near the intake could cause some temporary exhaust issues. Same thing happened to my maxima- good news is its temporary. |
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| crash |
Hi,
The smoke was white.
I didn't detail the engine (don't have the patience for that).
I haven't seen it happen again...yet...so fingers are crossed.
I purposely ran the tank to empty yesterday and filled up with premium....so I hope that helps. |
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| njjoe |
crash-
White smoke is water (usually engine coolant) that enters the cylinders and is turned to steam when the fuel mixture ignites.
It is highly doubtful that water entered the intake system when you were washing the MO. The intake system is a labyrinth designed to prevent water ingestion.
I would not be alarmed unless you have a recurrence or see the coolant level dropping in the reservoir bottle.
-njjoe |
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| tmnjmurano |
| 100,000 miles from now- you'll probably still be wondering what caused it. |
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| Gonzo |
| And no matter what grade of gas you use it will not cause this issue to occur. |
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| bob1 |
quote:
Originally posted by Gonzo
And no matter what grade of gas you use it will not cause this issue to occur.
What if the gas station had some water in gas? Could that do it? |
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| Eric L. |
| If you were waxing your car, I assume you also washed it beforehand. So my guess is that some water got up the tailpipe, and thats the steam you saw when you started up the car. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by bob1
What if the gas station had some water in gas? Could that do it?
No, not with that much smoke. If the gasoline contained enough water to produce a noticeable steam cloud, the fuel mixture would not ignite.
-njjoe |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
If you were waxing your car, I assume you also washed it beforehand. So my guess is that some water got up the tailpipe, and thats the steam you saw when you started up the car.
Any water that enters the tailpipes would sit in the bottom of the rear muffler. As the muffler heats up the water would slowly vaporize and exit via the exhaust stream. The heating process is gradual. It is doubtful the water would flash into steam and produce a cloud like bob1 experienced.
-njjoe |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
Any water that enters the tailpipes would sit in the bottom of the rear muffler. As the muffler heats up the water would slowly vaporize and exit via the exhaust stream. The heating process is gradual. It is doubtful the water would flash into steam and produce a cloud like bob1 experienced.
-njjoe
If this was true then it would take a few moments for a cold car parked outside in the morning to produce steam from the tailpipe. Yet, from what I've seen, its pretty much instantaneous on cold mornings, so I still think it could be harmless steam, unless he gets the problem to happen again and again without washing the car.
At this point I'd say the exact cause of the problem is less important than being able to reproduce it again, then we can speculate further. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
If this was true then it would take a few moments for a cold car parked outside in the morning to produce steam from the tailpipe. Yet, from what I've seen, its pretty much instantaneous on cold mornings, so I still think it could be harmless steam, unless he gets the problem to happen again and again without washing the car.
That's not steam, per se, that you see coming from the exhaust pipe on cold mornings. What you are seeing is warm water vapor, which is a by-product of the combustion process, condensing into larger particles when it encounters the cold outside air. Similar to what you see when you exhale on a cold day.
-njjoe |
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| Eric L. |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
That's not steam, per se, that you see coming from the exhaust pipe on cold mornings. What you are seeing is warm water vapor, which is a by-product of the combustion process, condensing into larger particles when it encounters the cold outside air. Similar to what you see when you exhale on a cold day.
-njjoe
Thats a good point. Why then does the water vapor eventually stop? Exhaust gets *really* hot? Engine enters closed loop and stops running rich? |
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| crash |
quote:
Originally posted by njjoe
crash-
White smoke is water (usually engine coolant) that enters the cylinders and is turned to steam when the fuel mixture ignites.
It is highly doubtful that water entered the intake system when you were washing the MO. The intake system is a labyrinth designed to prevent water ingestion.
I would not be alarmed unless you have a recurrence or see the coolant level dropping in the reservoir bottle.
-njjoe
Thanks njjoe.....I'll keep my eyes open.....problem seems to have gone away (knock on wood, cross fingers) - but will check the coolant levels. |
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| njjoe |
quote:
Originally posted by Eric L.
Thats a good point. Why then does the water vapor eventually stop? Exhaust gets *really* hot? Engine enters closed loop and stops running rich?
Eric-
I apologize, I never responded to your question.
You are correct. The once-visible water vapor eventually "disappears" because as the exhaust system heats up the exhaust gases retain more of their heat and the water vapor dissipates into the atmosphere before it has a chance to condense.
-njjoe |
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