white smoke from exhuast

[xavier3jr]

ok i have a 96 eclipse gs no mods aompleatly stock

when my car is idle i get a big ass cloud of white smoke not imidiatly when is tart it or anything it just keeps comein but as soon as i start movein the smoke goes away till im idle again like at a stop sign or street light....what could be the proablem

[BlackEclipse97]

stop at a stop sign? u have to do that??? lol j/p

[Hpnotiq86]

Maybe your valve retainers/seats have cracked or gone bad allowing gas to drip onto your pistons when your car isnt started/at idle. You said it only smokes at idle basically right? Well, maybe because the bad valve seats/retainers lets too much fuel for the pistons to combust into exaust at such low RPMs leak into the combustion chamber...

Just a suggestion.

[xavier3jr]

excuse my newbness but what are those lol

[EVOclipse]

maybe its a headgasket

[joemathews]

White smoke=burning coolant. If you're sure it's white, you are combusting coolant somewhere, most likely the headgasket. Chances are you don't notice the smoke as much when you're moving, that's why it seems like it only smokes at a stop.

[xavier3jr]

how do i fix it if it is th e coolant

[xavier3jr]

i mean like the smoke gets so thick if i took a picture of it u could see it clearly

[EVOclipse]

umm u need to take ure car to a mechanic

[xavier3jr]

i mean its not runnin bad or nothin it just makes mar car look like its a POS

[joemathews]

Originally Posted by xavier3jr

i mean its not runnin bad or nothin it just makes mar car look like its a POS

If white smoke is pouring out of your exhaust, you need to get it fixed. Coolant is getting into your combustion chambers, like I said, probably through a blown head gasket. Unless you know what you're doing enough to change it yourself, you're probably looking at about $500-600 to get it fixed by a mechanic.

If you don't get this fixed, you are going to run out of coolant and your car is going to overheat and melt a piston, warp the head, or otherwise cause major damage. Get it fixed.

[george536]

Yeah those are pretty pricey to change. Not soo much the parts, but the installation of it. a mechanic will need to take the whole head off to replace.

[eagle9760]

Sounds like you are getting replies from non-mechanics. Let me attempt to help. If it is coolant the smoke will evaporate quickly and you can tell a difference between the smell of steam (water and antifreeze) and smoke from oil burning. Too, if it is getting oil in the combustion chamber it woul probably affect performance and would sooner or later affect how well the engine runs. Most likely the plugs would be covered with oil or be very black from carbon residue from the burned oil. You can attempt a little diagnosis by checking compression with a compression gauge. All cylinders should be very close in compression. Not sure what compression should be but I'd hazzard a guess of about 120-159 psi and all should be within 10 psi of each other. If it is a coolant leak you can like go to Autozone and barrow a coolant system tester which usually comes with instructions. Basically, you remove the radiator cap, clamp on this little pump thingy and pump it up to your radiator caps capacity, something like 12-16 lbs. The system should hold the pressure for about 3 minutes without losing more than 1 lb. of pressure. If it is losing pressure then you have a coolant problem.
The other guys are somewhat correct in their guess. It could be valve stem seals which might allow oil to come thru the valve covers into the cylinders. Otherwise the only way for coolant to get in the system is thru a cracked head or blown head gasket. If your oil is milky or anything like not green or black then I'd suggest having someone knowledgeable to look at your oil... an old test was to heat up a frying pan and put a few drops of crankcase oil in it. If it sizzled and pops or bounces around it has water in it and if it just smokes and burns then it is pure oil and gunk.

[EVOclipse]

well...mr eagle we may not be mechanics but were trying to keep it simple. and this guy doesnt seem have a clue what hes doing either which is why i stated he should take it to a mechanic...heres some nonmechanic advice anyways...goto a autoparts store and buy some of that "radiator/block/gasket sealer" stuff its brown liquid u pour in your radiator and see if that helps your car. FOLLOW the directions on it too

[xavier3jr]

thnx for all the replys ill go to autozone monday when they open again
thnx for all the help ill post back and tell u guys wut happens