nasty exhast...

My exhaust is nasty when I first start up my my maxima... I am guessing i am going to need new Piston Rings.... gonna cost me an arm and a leg?? Oh yeah, while i am at it, i have decided that i am going to go for a Borla in stead of the glass pack...:flipa: but...I CAN'T FIND THE DAMN THINGS ANYWHERE!!!!

Isnt the exhaust suppose to be pretty nasty in the inital start up since your CAT has not reached optiumum working temp yet? I did a graduation project on emission systems on cars and a cold CAT allows literally 10-20 times the amount of HC, NOX, and CO(the HC reading for a test honda was a 190 ppm differance for HC) then whne it is working properly. Anyone who has ever turned off there car before a emissions test knows what I mean cause they probably didnt pass. Just wording how you connect that with your piston rings, or maybe i missed something since i have slept 4 hours in the last 48 :bloated:

how is it nasty again ?

I assumed he ment smell, casue thats ususally what people complain about when they complain about exhaust.

What i meant by nasty is ... there is a huge puff of of smoke that comes out, and it keeps coming out for a good ten minutes then it goes away. But that only happens when my car is cold, when it warms up it doesn't happen, like if it has been sitting overnight then it happens, butif it has been sitting in teh sun then it doesn't really hapen that much, if not thay none at all. I assosiated my piston rings, b/c when those go out you start burning oil.. but i don't htink that i am brunign oil cause it's not like i am putting a quart of oil in every day, i still only have to change it every 3,000 miles. But can you explain that a little clearer about the classes you took. the puff off exhaust really bothers me and i would like it to stop b/c it is emarassing....
~LeighA~

what color is the smoke?

It's white... it's really smoke , it's just a puff of white exhaust... :cry:

Black smoke is buring oil, white smoke, if it stays for a long time (several miles after your car is warmed up) sometimes indicate your buring coolant.

White smoke = coolent. I would keep an eye on my coolent for the next week and see if it doesn't lose a little bit. You may have busted a little section of the head gasket that is allowing coolent and not oil into the cylinders. Do you have a y-pipe? If so that might be what is causing it also. As the aftermarket y-pipes have the precats removed. The precats are what help the car when it is warming up. That sounds like it could be conscidering it is just till the car warms up. those are a couple of ideas. Hope I can help.

Is it humid where you live? Cause if you leave your car out and it hits dewpoint then the dew in your intake manifold, engine, etc. may be causeing the smoke. The fact that is goes away suggest that it might not be coolant, but keep an eye on it jsut in case. In short what I am saying is it most liekly is a normal smoke that is coming out, probably if you keep your car in a closed garage it should have little to no smoke in the initial start up.

Well my caar is kept in a Garage overnight and it is pertty humid here, not everyday though. I live in North GA

How does it smell? Would you pass out if you happen to walk by? Does it stink worse then stuff you smelled before on other cars? If not then it should be fine but you might want to have a guy look just in case.

yeah, sounds like the coolant is sweeping out.

next time the engine is cold, open the rad cap and check the level and then turn on the engine. check to see if there are any bubbles.