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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 06:45 PM
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Question white smoke

anybody know why there would be a lot of white smoke coming from my exhaust? it happens when i start the car itll happen for couple mins then itll goes away. the car also the car run out of coolent quicker than normal. i read that it could be a broken coolent seal but i hope not cuz i also heard its exspnsive ... but it only happens for a little while so idk if thats the problem im really new at this... so im gonna need some advise
oh yeah this is a 91 n/a 183,000 miles i dont belive it has the original moter
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 06:51 PM
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those are definately your coolant seals going bad or already blown. Depending on how bad, you can still drive the car but have risk of overheating which can ruin housings and irons. White smoke = Coolant. Other signs are gas smell in coolant or bubbles. Time for a rebuild or a turbo II swap
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 06:55 PM
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im broke and thats my d/d on the other hand 13bt but still cuz no money
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 06:58 PM
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yeah your going to need to rebuild you eninge most likely.
fill up your coolant start it and see where you coolant goes
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 07:02 PM
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well im glad that u think its funny that im gonna b catching the bus but after i get my tii will c whos laughing den
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 07:10 PM
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fill the coolant up and start the car with the radiator cap off. make sure its on a cold start, you don't want hot coolant spraying all over the place.
once you do this, check to see if you can see bubbles coming up in the coolant. if you can, then its def your coolant seals.
does the exhaust smoke smell oily at all?
my car had the same symptoms, but the coolant leak i had ended up being on one of the heater hoses. still don't know what the oil smoke is coming from, turbo or engine seals, but at least oil seals hold out a little longer than coolant!
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 07:19 PM
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thanks im gonna do that today. the previous owner said something about he bypassed the heater hoses bcuz of a leak... but could it be the fuel injectors running rich i heard that could also be a reason for the smoke...
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 07:57 PM
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that oily smell coming out of your exhaust would probally be the oil your rotary is burning would'nt it? also mine does the same thing but my motor has been rebuilt its only got 22,555kms in miles i think thats about 14,000miles or so i was told it could be from the inside of the cats buring off
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 08:11 PM
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well when my car is not smoking (i.e. after being warmed up), the exhaust smells a lot different. i've never smelled the exhaust of a car that was burning coolant, but im guessing it smells a lot different than one burning oil. large amounts of oil not introduced by the oil metering pump.
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Old Oct 31, 2007 | 08:17 PM
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Originally Posted by kekoa
well im glad that u think its funny that im gonna b catching the bus but after i get my tii will c whos laughing den
i only think its funny because the same thing happened to me.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 05:31 AM
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Originally Posted by Fumihiko
i only think its funny because the same thing happened to me.
nah i was just kidding.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 05:46 AM
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sorry i lied to u all, come to find out its blue smoke oil nd isnt that worse... my life is great... "da bus" sounds great... advise anyone???
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 04:07 PM
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well its not good, but i'd say its not as critical as the water seals. you said th smoke goes away after a few min... is that a few min of idling or a few min of driving?
for now i'd say check your oil often (twice a week?) and make sure its not burning off excessive amounts. and start saving for a rebuild or another motor all together. heck, you could get away with a turboII swap for cheaper than a rebuild as long as you get a good engine.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 04:32 PM
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I have a similar problem, if a problem at all. I do get some initial white-ish smoke on a cold start up, but will only last for about 15 seconds and then will go away. The engine only has about 4-5k miles on it, and otherwise works great. I hope I'm not in the same boat as kekoa.


Is this normal? Or something I should look into?


Edit: white smoke with maybe a slight blue-ish tint.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 04:44 PM
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White and blue are both bad. White means that your coolant seals went (or are in the process of) going out. Blue means your burning oil. Check your fluid levels more often and see if your burning either. The best way of finding out if you have bad coolant seals is getting a lisle funnel and watching for champaign like bubbles. Looking down the filler cap can be inconclusive. Some bubbles are ok, they could mean you have air in the system or you have a leak somewhere. Good luck!
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 04:53 PM
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Thanks!

Yeah I check my oil every 1000 miles, and the level really only goes down about a quart, so that doesn't seem too bad. I'll definitely check the coolant and look for bubbles here today when it cools down.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 07:03 PM
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No bubbles in the coolant system that I saw, although the level did raise a little bit. I think I am safe... for now.
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 08:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Bronze MFP
well its not good, but i'd say its not as critical as the water seals. you said th smoke goes away after a few min... is that a few min of idling or a few min of driving?
for now i'd say check your oil often (twice a week?) and make sure its not burning off excessive amounts. and start saving for a rebuild or another motor all together. heck, you could get away with a turboII swap for cheaper than a rebuild as long as you get a good engine.
it happens when im driving, after it sits like overnight
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted by RyosukeD
I have a similar problem, if a problem at all. I do get some initial white-ish smoke on a cold start up, but will only last for about 15 seconds and then will go away. The engine only has about 4-5k miles on it, and otherwise works great. I hope I'm not in the same boat as kekoa.


Is this normal? Or something I should look into?


Edit: white smoke with maybe a slight blue-ish tint.
how did u find a motor w/ 4-5k miles on it??? and how much was it???
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Old Nov 1, 2007 | 11:19 PM
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Originally Posted by kekoa
how did u find a motor w/ 4-5k miles on it??? and how much was it???
My buddy actually bought the car from a guy in Washington who just had a fresh engine put in. After about a year of my friend owning it and the car maybe leaving the garage a few times a week, i bought it from him, for 4k.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 10:21 AM
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yeah i did the coolant test i'm good no signs of problems.i did find a small leak in the coolant resvour, also the white smoke you guys may see is from when the previous engine went the coolant built up in the exhaust
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