Hi Trev here my ts magna v6 auto blows i think white smoke,could be a light blue colour,on start up.I give a little rev to clear,it don't clear rite away i go for a drive & the smoke is gone,i can rev it & no smoke,its only done 126,000 klms,but the strange thing is when i got the car 3 weeks ago it has no coolant just water in the radiator,i do not have any overheating problems & when i changed the spark plugs,2 of them had white on the electrodes,the rest were like carbon on them,is there a big problem here,cheers.

Probably a blown head gasket, and the steam seals are most defiantly rooted. That motor does not sound in good shape at all

Hi Trev here my ts magna v6 auto blows i think white smoke,could be a light blue colour,on start up.I give a little rev to clear,it don't clear rite away i go for a drive & the smoke is gone,i can rev it & no smoke,its only done 126,000 klms,but the strange thing is when i got the car 3 weeks ago it has no coolant just water in the radiator,i do not have any overheating problems & when i changed the spark plugs,2 of them had white on the electrodes,the rest were like carbon on them,is there a big problem here,cheers.

Like TUFFTR just said, It's possible you have a blown headgasket.

Check the oil, is there any milky residue under the oil cap? Check the radiator overflow, is there any oil in the water at all?

Give the radiator a good flush with some green coolant and change all the hoses as they've probably never been changed with an engine that has such few KMS, but is quite old in terms of years.

hi i checked the top and bottom hoses yesterday,they were full of crap like dirt brown crumbly stuff,the radiator over flow bottle is full of dirty crap like the hoses,no milky residue in oil filler cap,i don't know if theirs water in oil,there are floaties in the radiator water though,looks like its from hoses.

Oh the head gaskets & timing belts were done at 100klms the guy said.

Sounds like it needs a damn good service man. Get all the hoses changed and give the coolant system a good flush and refill with proper green coolant.

can dirty hoses cause these problems,do you think the gaskets could still be blown,cheers

can dirty hoses cause these problems,do you think the gaskets could still be blown,cheers

I mean it's possible. Do these things first and see if anything improves, then go from there.

The crap in the hoses is what is left of engine alloy when it rots away with straight water. Pull the engine apart and fix it, alloy welding can do wonders these days. The head gaskets would be ok, just the alloy around it. lol


Good (but late) advice: Never buy a car with water instead of coolant in the radiator.

OK,i will do this asap,new hoses and flush then add coolant.Do i flush with the new hoses or old ones And i appreciate your help thanks.

Remember the white deposit on two spark plugs? Definite sign of water entering the cylinders. New hoses and flush/fresh coolant will not fix that.


---=== Am I on people's ignore list or something? ===---

Please dont start with head gaskets etc etc, he has stated that there is no cross contamination at all

It is common for really bad valve stem seals to give a puff at start up, I would say 99% that this is the cause.

Also the hard crap inside the hoses is hardened rubber, it starts to break down and will go crumbly if left too long, I see this all the time

Best bet, get your stem seals done, replace ALL hoses, give a really good cooling system flush and go from there

If you are really worried, pressure test each cylinder and see if the coolant level rises, if no rise, no blown head gasket

Pressure test first though. Really find out what is going on inside that neglected engine.

Madmagna, cross contamination doesn't always happen with corroded heads, I have seen a number of Mitsu engines corrode and allow water straight into the exhaust port. Lots of steam, dropping coolant, but no oil in water or water in oil.

I will get compression test done & go from there,cheers.

Does water with no coolant eat away the heads,cheers Trev.

Yep. In the manufacture of Aluminium, the raw product (Bauxite, red in colour) is refined to alumina (Aluminium oxide, white in colour) and then it is electolysed to aluminium.

In water, the aluminium oxidises back to alumina, mixes with dirt in the water, and you get the red bauxite colour back.

Guess who used to be a chemistry teacher? lol

Do the cooling system pressure check, or cylinder compression test, but don't be surprised at the results. Old coolant is worse for corrosion than straight water by the way. Sounds like this car has been sitting around for a long time, with out the proper storage precautions.

Hi Mad Max,if it is what you think about water leaking into a exhaust port,why don't i get smoke when engine is under load,i hope i don't have to pull the heads off,cheers.

So if comp test is low,this mean a alloy welder is needed

The steam is there all the time, but you don't see it once the exhaust system warms up. You found brown dirt in your hoses, right? That's corrosion from the cylinder head, and other aluminium alloy parts, like the water pump. Flush the system with clean tap water, add some chemiweld, if the problem goes away you know what the problem is, but it would only be a temporary fix.

Get a mechanic to do the pressure tests and take it from there. Let us know how you get on.

Are you using any water at all, the common issue with the second gen v6 is not so much corrosion but the heads tend to crack and seep into the exhaut port

If you are using any cooant or water at all, then this can be a feasable reason

Another test for the stem seals, warm up the engine, let idle for a good 5 mins then give a good rev, if you get a good puf then it is your stem seals also

Oh and please dont EVER use chemiweld in a Magna, fix the issue, dont mask it as it will come back with a vengence and you may not find the issue as easily next time as the gunk has covered it up, also the Magna Rad is very small core, you will also be up for a new radiator and heater core

If that is the problem,this will be a nightmare to fix properly,will see what comp test says.

Trevor, forget the comp test, do as I have said above and you will see what the issues or issues are. I have been working on second gens pretty much since Mits first released them new, believe me I know these cars down to the last screw

Pressure test to check the head gasket, this involves pressurising each pot and keeping an eye on the rad level, is best done when engine is hot so as to have the open thermostat, just dont burn yourself

Do the idle test as well for the stem seals

The water level is down a fraction but you can still see water in the radiator,have not had to top up,i have noticed there's a wet spot under the front exhaust port near the last nut on passenger side.

. . . . I'm keeping quiet until he gets some sort of pressure testing done, and comes back with the results . . . . .

So i buy new hoses flush engine add coolant,get compression test done then go from there.Thanks you very much for helping.

Hi i done the idle test,madmagna said to do a big puff of white smoke steam came out of exhaust& a light spray of water came out.i reved again smoke clears up but have wet line marks in exhaust.head pressure test is happening soon,cheers.

First thing the mechanic said to do is a co2 test,then if nothing shows on that , i get the compression test,now on Tuesday i will let everyone now the results.

HI i got the co2 test done today,this is what the printout said, CO2 Test confirm water by pass through cylinder head,so i will have to pull the heads of now & check the gaskets & get the heads pressure tested for leaks,is this what i do,i am also looking for a good but cheap set of heads,cheers.

You don't need new heads, get yours fixed. Once you pull them off it will be obvious where the leak is, either a damaged head gasket or corrosion on the alloy of the head. If they need welding you need to strip the valves and springs off, a good time to do oil seals on the valve stems and get the seats recut and valves tidied up. You will need a VRS (valve regrind set ) for the gaskets, which will include the valve stem seals.

PS looking for a "good but cheap" set of heads for a 15 year old car is near impossible, you may find a good but expensive set, or a cheap and worn out set, though.

could i do that my self or take it to a mechanic,how hard is it,i did the tappet cover gaskets,but i now iam going to be dealing with timing once the heads are fixed

I couldn't do this job a year ago, but now I can, because I did it a few months ago. You need - courage, soap, the manual, lots of spare time, more courage, and some tools which you can buy with the money you save by doing it yourself. Any job on a car, from filling it with petrol to a full engine overhaul, is daunting, the first time you do it. Once you have the heads off you need to find a workshop that can check them. All I can suggest is you start by downloading the manual, have a good read, take a deep breath, and get stuck into it. We are here to help if you have questions. It gives you a warm glow when you fix your car yourself, builds character. lol

Thanks for that,i have a person from a engine reconditioning workshop to alloy weld the heads if need be,but i will download the manual&put it back together myself,thanks,i will post again once the heads are off,thanks MadMax.