White Smoke....Help

[virgamanda]

Is there any other reason why white billowing smoke would be coming out of my tailpipe. I have been told that it is probabaly a head gasket but there is no water in my oil and all spark plugs are wet. How could they all be fouled. I know that the white smoke is steam, but could there be any other reason for it.

1994 Isuzu Rodeo
3.2 V6
145000 miles

[VinceH]

Maybe a cracked cylinder head??....Try running the engine with the radiator cap off and if you see excessive bubbles than it might be the head.

[Cat Fuzz]

A blown head gasket won't usually allow water into the oil.

[mwt]

Originally Posted by Cat Fuzz

A blown head gasket won't usually allow water into the oil.

Coolant in the oil (milky color)is the first thing you look for when you suspect a blown head gasket.

Mike

[Cat Fuzz]

Originally Posted by mwt

Coolant in the oil (milky color)is the first thing you look for when you suspect a blown head gasket.

Mike

It is more common for a head gasket to blow between a water jacket and the combustion chamber. Very little or no water gets into the oil this way. It all goes out the exhaust as steam.

[mwt]

Originally Posted by Cat Fuzz

It is more common for a head gasket to blow between a water jacket and the combustion chamber. Very little or no water gets into the oil this way. It all goes out the exhaust as steam.

Yes some of it gets turned to steam. Antifreeze doesn't boil at the same temp as water. It gets past the piston rings and Some of it winds up in the crankcase and turns the oil a milky color.

The engine will also start misssing as the compression goes because of the leak. Once again I state that the first thing you look for in a blown head gasket is milky oil.

Mike

[95.5 Rodeo]

I'm just throwing things out here.

Before this happened, did you have excessive oil leaking from the engine that was not coming from the valve covers? I want to know because I believe my head gasket on the driver's side is passing a lot of oil.

I am wondering why all of the spark plugs are wet. If a head gasket blows, I would think a spark plug on one bank or the other would be wet, not all of them.

I would do what Vince suggested, look for bubbles coming from the radiator. I would also check compression and reinspect the engine oil.


Dale