White smoke

Did any of you guys have issues with 2005 4.8 blowing white smoke? It’s not all the time but more often then it should.

 

White smoke is coolant burning. Most common thing is head gasket leaking

 

That’s what I figured. I was hoping it could have been something else.

 

You can pressure test to see where the leak is. It helps if the engine is at operating temp. If it is a head gasket u can pull spark plugs to see which cylinder is burning coolant

 

I don’t see any coolant mixed with the oil. And no it has not o we heated.

 

Thanks for the suggestion to test it.

 

White smoke means there's a new pope. Isn't that how it works?

 

And I thought this was a bbq thread lol

 

Are you sure it’s smoke or just condensation in cool wet weather? I’ve had people freak out before over white smoke when starting cars in cold weather when they aren’t used to it.

 

I’m sure. It blowing out white smoke from the exhaust. And then after a few seconds it stops.

 

Cold Start up? Then white smoke for few seconds? Then stops smoking?

 

Yeah...this is an important question.

A few seconds of white smoke that only happens after its been sitting could be something as simple as a leaking fuel injector or valve seal.

 

So it happens at cold starts and some times at Operating temp starts. For example, I drive to the store and it sits for 10 minutes then it will happen.
Also it smokes for a few seconds then stops but sometimes it won’t stop until a few seconds of driving.

 

How many miles on the truck?

 

170k

 

Service history?

 

So it's always on starting after sitting.

Are you loosing coolant or oil?

Head gaskets can fail in many different ways but usually you notice leaking coolant or overheating first.

Is there any smell to this smoke? A sweet smell is coolant, a burning rubber smell is oil.

Leaking valve stem seals will leak a little oil into a cylinder when sitting that burns off as soon as you start it. A leaking fuel injector can do the same thing but with fuel but usually causes running problems as well.

And a cracked block or headgasket leak can leak coolant for the same effect, although you usually then have noticeable coolant loss and or overheating.

 

It was not taken care of. The truck is new to me but the guy before never did anything. So I’m in the process of clean up. There was gunk in the motor and probably still is. Lots of carbon build up. So I’m in the process of all of that. I thought the white smoke was due to the seafoam but I stopped using for a little to see if it goes away and it hasn’t.

 

My truck produces some very light "smoke" after start up but I determined it to be condensation after doing research. When it's thicker white smoke and continues after its warm, that's more concerning.

In addition to the compression test, you can send in an oil sample to Blackstone labs and they can look for coolant in the oil.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

You could run some High Quality Synthetic Oil and change the oil and filter at 2k intervals to clean out any sludge. The carbon can be cleaned off your throttle body. Put in some new plugs and coils and new air filter. Basically, do an all around tune up.

 

That’s what I started with. I have changed the plugs but not coils yet. I put the seafoam I. The throttle body but have not actually cleaned the throttle body yet. So I’m chipping away at it little by little.
Thanks for all your help.

 

I know Acapulco Gold, Purple Haze and few other colors but White Smoke?





Ohhhh wait, you talking about your truck. Damn

 

Yeah the research leads to badness on this one sadly. Consistent white smoke doesn’t look like an easy quick fix already stated by the above posters.

 

If you're concerned the white smoke is related to a head gasket issue/burning coolant, you can start the truck and then get out and get a whiff of it. Burning coolant has a very obvious smell to it.

More often then not it is just condensation. Keep an eye on your coolant levels and engine temps.

 

Thanks. I will do that and see if I can smell it.

 

Mine has a puff of smoke once in a while white in color/blueish, but smells of oil. Very common. There is an oil catch can post online to catch and hold the oil before it goes in the PCV system.

 

Good to know. Thanks.

 

How's your power steering fluid? Have you checked it recently? I am only asking because my '00 tundra would blow a good sized cloud of white smoke every time I started it and then after a few minutes it would clear up. Turned out a seal in the switch controlled by vacuum on the power steering pump had failed and it was literally burning power steering fluid. Just thought I'd throw my two cents in there for what its worth.

 

I appreciate that. Last I checked power steering fluid was fine. But I will double check.