hey guys

2.6 tr auto. been noticing lately that when i get to about half way to normal operating temperature while warming up the car i get a lot of white smoke out of the exhaust for a while. it disappears when the car is at operating temp, and its not there when i start it up..

also the coolant has been going down slowly, no signs of leakage though.. could they be related? where do i check?

thanks

Alex

sounds like head gasket has gone

i hope not :( id have to take the car off the road for a while if thats the case.. and cant afford to at the moment

car off and cold, open oil filler cap and check for white gluggy crap. if present, head gasket no good. also get the water tested for contamination from exhaust gases as this will then tell you whether you're having exhaust gases enter your water system. there's a simple test for this but blimey ive forgotten it. are you sure its not just condensation from being cold? because its been so cold lately, as the exhaust heats up it gets condensation inside it. all water evaporates at NOT, thus no smoke.

yeah thats what i was thinking.. although the car is always in the garage..

ill check the oil, i do know what that looks like :P although the car has never overheated.. ever

if the smoke comes on start up and after idling for abit its ur valve seals, try nulon engine stop leak, it swells your seals slightly to reduce/stop this problem. if its smoking all the time try thicker oil or nulon stop smoke

if the smoke comes on start up and after idling for abit its ur valve seals, try nulon engine stop leak, it swells your seals slightly to reduce/stop this problem. if its smoking all the time try thicker oil or nulon stop smoke

No additive will fix the stem seal problem.

;1056242']No additive will fix the stem seal problem.

+1, thicker oil, but that'll only do it for a short period. best way to get rid of the stem seals problem is to.....

wait for it....


fix it :doubt:

ehhhhhh... madmagna.. where do you live? :)

checked the oil last night by the way.. looks fine. no white sludge or anything in the engine

Try a bottle of MOREYS or LUCAS oil additive.... i swear by it and put it in my car every service.

Try a bottle of MOREYS or LUCAS oil additive.... i swear by it and put it in my car every service.

+1. still wont stop stem seal leakage though.

I know, but always helps to be nice to your engine.... :D

sounds like a slight combustion chamber leak, when you park up at night the pressure in the cooling system forces some coolant into the chamber, if you really put your foot down and rev it out under load it will heat up a bit then cool down when you back off. you need someone to put a sniffer on it.

i used to use those lucas oil products and my oil kept going off (burnt smell) very quickly (within 2000km of a change) and the car was serviced every 4-5000 on Mobil1 SuperSyn 5w-50. It was only when adding the lucas products it would smell off, not fuelly but burnt (like off tranny fluid but no where near as bad)

SO i started asking around, diffferent shops, different people i knew, and eventually i was put onto a site from the US that was a engine builders page about how he doesnt like Lucas products. SUre i though, just a hobo who is trying to sell a competting prodcut. Turns out, he used to be sponosored by Lucas Oils for what they said there products could do(on paper) and when he finally ran some tests on it found out what it was doing to the oil under different conditions.

The site escapes me for now but a search of google will probably find it. In the end he submitted that lucas oils reduced the service and effect life of average to good oil and only had advantages when used with below required specification oils. He said a lot os to do with the fact expensive and moderately priced oils contain the same things. This was enough for me to stop using it and my problems stopped within 2 services.

Obviously make up your own mind, the engine builder in question even taunts you to keep using it because thats the only way he will benefit, because he swears he will see your engine in sooner then other meticulously maintain vehicles for a rebuild (talking modified; not stock engines). My car wasnt super spectacular but after a 100thou kms it was still smick inside and out.

Just my 2c on that. In my experience, no engine rebuild in a bottle exists, in any fashion. When a motor starts to drop seals or seap its a long slow death

Water can leak from numerous places, not just the top and bottom radiator hoses! When the engine is hot, check around the back. Not only do you have the normal heater hoses, there's a coolant bypass hose around the back which can cause leaks and is often missed.

I'd be +1 for the Nulon ESL, no harm in trying it at least!

next time it happens smell it, i dont mean stick your nose in the pipe just stand above the exhaust pipe you will know if its burning oil. i say water vapour due to condensation in the exhaust..... dont worry bout it.:)

;1056242']No additive will fix the stem seal problem.

I agree, I tried them all at some stage on my old TR 2.6.

The only fix is to replace the valve stem seals.

i used to use those lucas oil products and my oil kept going off (burnt smell) very quickly (within 2000km of a change) and the car was serviced every 4-5000 on Mobil1 SuperSyn 5w-50. It was only when adding the lucas products it would smell off, not fuelly but burnt (like off tranny fluid but no where near as bad)

SO i started asking around, diffferent shops, different people i knew, and eventually i was put onto a site from the US that was a engine builders page about how he doesnt like Lucas products. SUre i though, just a hobo who is trying to sell a competting prodcut. Turns out, he used to be sponosored by Lucas Oils for what they said there products could do(on paper) and when he finally ran some tests on it found out what it was doing to the oil under different conditions.

The site escapes me for now but a search of google will probably find it. In the end he submitted that lucas oils reduced the service and effect life of average to good oil and only had advantages when used with below required specification oils. He said a lot os to do with the fact expensive and moderately priced oils contain the same things. This was enough for me to stop using it and my problems stopped within 2 services.

Obviously make up your own mind, the engine builder in question even taunts you to keep using it because thats the only way he will benefit, because he swears he will see your engine in sooner then other meticulously maintain vehicles for a rebuild (talking modified; not stock engines). My car wasnt super spectacular but after a 100thou kms it was still smick inside and out.

Just my 2c on that. In my experience, no engine rebuild in a bottle exists, in any fashion. When a motor starts to drop seals or seap its a long slow death

I totally agree!

White smoke = vapor/condensation
Blue Smoke = Your burning oil
Black smoke = rich Air to fuel mixture

sounds like your seeing condensation, my car does this every morning so i wouldnt worry about it.

I highly doubt its your head gasket if the car is running and operating smoothly. if the oil isnt murky or cloudy your most likely in the clear. when a head gasket actually cracks you'll notice less power and rougher running and idling. your coolant and oil will slowly disappear as well.

as for your coolant disappearing.. if you have no leaking hoses you could have a slight blockage somewhere or a dodgy radiator cap letting vapor out slowly.

it is possible the head gasket is seeping from a water jacket and into the chamber but the only way to prove that is to have an emissions test (a sensor shoved up your exhaust pipe), even then im not sure if that will tell you

ive had my fair share of trialling additives to both oil and petrol and ive found that if you need to add to your oil, then the oil isnt doing its job. but then in saying that, i dont use normal oil lol

that comment is in no way slagging off previous comments made in the thread, its simply my opinion

my car blows smoke to. even with a big exhaust it just smokes and smells like strong fumes. i think my oxygen sensor attatched to my extractors is broken. -it could be a few things. just take it to a mechanic to have a quick look at and find the needed parts/ broblem and have a mate fix it (cheaper).

i used to use those lucas oil products and my oil kept going off (burnt smell) very quickly (within 2000km of a change) and the car was serviced every 4-5000 on Mobil1 SuperSyn 5w-50. It was only when adding the lucas products it would smell off, not fuelly but burnt (like off tranny fluid but no where near as bad)


There's a very good reason for that! Lucas stabiliser (and Morey's) are not synthetic, they are made from oil. So, you are mixing a synthetic with a non-synthetic essentially. Now mixing isn't normally bad, but you must remember non-synthetic oil has a shorter lifespan! Out of the two I think Morey's may be better, but regardless of that they aren't really any good adding to a synthetic. They are great in straight oil or most semi-syn's (depending on the oil/synthetic ratio). Some refer anything below a fully synthetic a cheap grade oil! (hence, so its only suitable for cheap oils)!

I haven't seen or used it myself, but Lucas does have a synthetic oil stabiliser, based on 100 percent synthetic oil not 100 percent mineral oil!
http://www.lucasoil.com.au/content/view/12/30/

Below is the standard one, as you can see it says its 100 percent petroleum:
http://www.lucasoil.com.au/content/view/10/30/

Although it does mix etc, it is well known petroleum based oils don't last as long as synthetics...

So if you do wish to use an oil stabiliser in a semi-syn or fully-syn, then the 'Synthetic oil stabiliser' would be a much more wise choice.