I've got a 68 LeSabre with a 350-4v. Today, I notice a great amount of white smoke exhaust and moisture coming out of the tail pipe. The smoke was white and thick and moisture dripping. I thought it was just the cool weather but it seemed more unusual than just the weather. I checked the oil and it was clean, normal (not milkly or cloudly). Any suggestions? Thanks, Pete
Depending on temperature and humidity, you will notice more or less water vapor coming from the exhaust. If you have a blown head gasket, the exhaust will smell like anti-freeze, and the engine will use anti-freeze. Doing a compression test wouldn't hurt.
Sounds like a head gasket leaking into a cylinder. I had that exact same issue one morning....thought it was just cold, but really started to bellow out of the exhaust when I would drive it.
Suggest You Drive The Buick For 25 Miles Or More & Then Do A Engine Oil Check. Sure Sounds Like Head Warped Or Head Gasket Problem .
Thanks for the replies. Damn, am I really dealing with a blown head gasket? :ball: I always thought the tell-tale sign of a bad head gasket was coolant in the oil that creates a milkly oil, but my oil was clean and normal. If a no coolant leaks into the oil will a compression test confirm the head gasket problem? Thanks, Pete
Sometimes when a motor gets old or needs a rebuild, the rings go bad and therefore causes the motor to use oil and the effect is white smoke. My v6 that I swapped out of my '76 used to smoke a bit on startup, sometimes very thick white smoke and it used about 1 quart every month or so, and I was told by a knowledgeable mechanic that my problem was probably the rings. The motor only had 104k miles on it! o No:
I would almost bet on the head gasket then. But do as Larry said and run a compression check. Pull the plugs and see if there is one that looks different than the others. If you find one, then that's the culprit cylinder. If it burned oil, then the smoke would be more bluish, and you can tell the difference between coolant and oil burning smells. Cody, usually if a motor smokes only on startup, it is more than likely the valve seals.
Actually, it was white, and it only appeared on startup. Couldn't have been coolant, because it started to smoke at about 96 thousand, and did so up to 104 k miles when I pulled it out. If it was using coolant, then my 231 v6 must be invincible because I added no coolant to it from the time it started to smoke to the time I pulled it, which was about 8 thousand miles. It might have had a bluish tint to it, but it wasn't pure blue, as in sky blue. p
Bad trans modulator? Burning trans fluid will produce white smoke, although not the moisture you seem to see at the tailpipe. Is the coolant level down?
I had a minivan that did exactly what you're describing, a puff of white smoke on startup. After a while it started getting worse and worse. Turns out it was a warped head and it was anti-freeze, not oil. The anti-freeze would leak into the cylinder when it was shut off but didn't get burned off until I started it. Blue(ish) = oil - rings or valve stem seals White = water - bad head or head gasket Grey/Black = excess fuel
