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smoke on startup

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Old Oct 27, 2002 | 08:32 PM
  #1  
af908's Avatar
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From: cromwell,CT
smoke on startup

For the first 5-10 minutes on a cold start my car smokes white, not real dense but it is white smoke. After 10 minutes it goes away. But it does smell sweet in my opinion at least......i burned some coolant in a pan to see what it would smell like and it didn't really smell like my exhaust.....didn't really smell like much of anything to me, had a slight sweet smell to it once in a while, but didnt really smell like my exhaust......my question is why is my exhaust smellin sweet when i start the car up?? My friends car smells exactly like mine when he first starts his (93 eagle vision 111k miles-naturally aspirated).
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Old Oct 27, 2002 | 10:56 PM
  #2  
spurvo's Avatar
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From: Tri-Cities, WA
Sorry that nobody is responding. I'm suspecting this happens EVERY year around this time...
You are likely fine, this is just condensation boiling off your pre cats and then the main cat. As we shift into autumn, the air is more dense and wet, so condensation forms quicker and thicker. The sweet smell is probably more just healthy combustion, slightly rich during warm up. If you see your coolant levels dropping AND the white smoke is thick and powdery, then you have a problem. Search for coolant seals or O-rings to find out.

But you just have the typical startup boiling of water. Yes, there's a LOT of it. I think things heat up quicker in this car, so the condensation doesn't have time to dry into cooled down vapor which is invisible. Rather, big steam from fast temp rise.
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Old Oct 27, 2002 | 11:07 PM
  #3  
Rx-7$4$me's Avatar
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From: Chicago IL
yeah I get that too, when its around 30-40 degree's outside my car will do the same thing. But my engine does have 75000 on it. Whever its above 60, I only get an intial puff of a little blue smoke
and then no more so I beleive spurvo is correct in his sayings.
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Old Oct 28, 2002 | 12:21 AM
  #4  
badass7's Avatar
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From: New Orleans, LA
If something is wrong...ie coolant seals it will show its ugly ******* face in time. It will become hard to start, then you will get the coolant loss from the overflow tank. So, right now if all you are getting is smoke I wouldn't sweat it too much.
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Old Oct 28, 2002 | 02:12 PM
  #5  
af908's Avatar
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From: cromwell,CT
Thanks guys....it smelling sweet was starting to scare me!! thought i had a blown seal or somethin
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Old Oct 28, 2002 | 04:15 PM
  #6  
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From: raleigh, nc
I had the same problem in mine, it turned out to be a really leaky oil seal inside one of the rotors. This isnt really problematic as you will just burn more oil and possibly foul your plugs for however long the engine lasts (if thats whats wrong).-B
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