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Right. Am getting royally p1ssed off with this. Having searched both on here and on t'interweb in general I've found a squillion reasons for white smoke from the exhaust, most of which contradict each other 
My mate has white smoke bleching from his exhaust on his 1.8 Mazda from cold start up. It stops once the engine's warm. He also has a raspy leaking exhaust (unrelated to the white smoke, I think, but I like to state all the facts).
From various 'experts' across the web I've read that white smoke is due to:
- coolant getting into the combustion chamber (producing steam)
- oil getting into the combustion chamber
- condensation in the exhaust (producing steam)
Possible causes I've read about are:
- failed head gasket (allowing coolant into the combustion chamber)
- cracked head (allowing coolant into the combustion chamber)
- knackered valve stem oil seals (allowing oil to dribble down into the combustion chamber when the car's sat overnight) - depending on whose version you read, this either a) burns in the combustion chamber producing white smoke, or b) coats the sparkplug, thus impeding the spark and resulting in only partial combustion, and white smoke
- knackered piston rings allowing oil to get into the combustion chamber
Can someone PLEASE point me down the straight and narrow on what can produce white smoke from cold, but stops when warm? I've also read that oil burning gives blue smoke, black smoke and white smoke. Unburnt fuel gives grey, black and white smoke. WTF???
:chairshot :chairshot
HELP! PLEASE!
My thoughts are that we'll do the following:
-check for chocolatey mayo on dipstick and oil filler cap (head gasket or cracked head)
- check for oil in coolant (head gasket or cracked head)
- remove rad cap, start engine from cold and watch for bubbles in rad (cracked head or head gasket)
- if any of the above, take it to garage for radiator 'sniff test'
Any other ideas on diagnosing what the problem might be?
My mate has white smoke bleching from his exhaust on his 1.8 Mazda from cold start up. It stops once the engine's warm. He also has a raspy leaking exhaust (unrelated to the white smoke, I think, but I like to state all the facts).
From various 'experts' across the web I've read that white smoke is due to:
- coolant getting into the combustion chamber (producing steam)
- oil getting into the combustion chamber
- condensation in the exhaust (producing steam)
Possible causes I've read about are:
- failed head gasket (allowing coolant into the combustion chamber)
- cracked head (allowing coolant into the combustion chamber)
- knackered valve stem oil seals (allowing oil to dribble down into the combustion chamber when the car's sat overnight) - depending on whose version you read, this either a) burns in the combustion chamber producing white smoke, or b) coats the sparkplug, thus impeding the spark and resulting in only partial combustion, and white smoke
- knackered piston rings allowing oil to get into the combustion chamber
Can someone PLEASE point me down the straight and narrow on what can produce white smoke from cold, but stops when warm? I've also read that oil burning gives blue smoke, black smoke and white smoke. Unburnt fuel gives grey, black and white smoke. WTF???
HELP! PLEASE!
My thoughts are that we'll do the following:
-check for chocolatey mayo on dipstick and oil filler cap (head gasket or cracked head)
- check for oil in coolant (head gasket or cracked head)
- remove rad cap, start engine from cold and watch for bubbles in rad (cracked head or head gasket)
- if any of the above, take it to garage for radiator 'sniff test'
Any other ideas on diagnosing what the problem might be?