what does it mean when.......
uid 0
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 858
Likes: 1
From: San Francisco, CA
Yeh, if the smoke keeps happening after more than like 2 minutes, you're looking at some bad seals, which means coolant is getting into your engine. The implications there are obvious, so keep an eye on your watch, and maybe start saving money 
Lives on the Forum
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 14,716
Likes: 10
From: San Lorenzo, California
There are a number of symptoms of coolant seal failure:
*white smoke on start-up (not vapor, smoke), the smoke will smell like coolant
*oil in coolant
*coolant level is constantly dropping
*hard starting
*bubbles in coolant on warm-up (check by opening filler cap - not AST - right after start-up, look for lots of small bubbles rising to the surface
Note that most people drive a long time with failing coolant seals. Unlike a broken apex seal, there is almost no danger in continuing to drive it as the damage has already been done.
Good luck.
*white smoke on start-up (not vapor, smoke), the smoke will smell like coolant
*oil in coolant
*coolant level is constantly dropping
*hard starting
*bubbles in coolant on warm-up (check by opening filler cap - not AST - right after start-up, look for lots of small bubbles rising to the surface
Note that most people drive a long time with failing coolant seals. Unlike a broken apex seal, there is almost no danger in continuing to drive it as the damage has already been done.
Good luck.
