couple problems: white smoke and jerking

[kraziqtashes]

Lately I've noticied that when I'm on the highway going about 65+ miles per hour, my car feels like its jerky. My steering wheel feels a little shaky also. My mom said its the alignment probably, but I wanted everyone's opinion on here. My tires are also completely bald (no money to buy new tires at the moment) and my brakes are just as bad--could this be causing it?

Also, today my mom was behind me in traffic and she said there was a lot of white smoke coming from my exhaust pipe. She said it came out the most when I was sitting at a red light and then started driving again once it was green. After I got going it slowed down. I heard that white smoke means burning coolant. Could I be burning coolant? I've had so many problems with coolant issues already that I dont see how it could be. I've had a manifold gasket replaced, waterpump, and thermostat.

Today my "Change Oil" light came. Could the smoke or jerking be associated with my oil needing changed?

I hope someone here can help. Thanks

[BNaylor]

If your tires are that bad then its probably the cause of the shaky feeling. Also, they may need balancing but since they are bald it is probably a waste of money.

The white smoke is either steam vapor due to cold weather or possibly coolant being burned off in combustion. Black = fuel. Blue = oil. If the car is using coolant or excess oil then you may have another bad intake manifold gasket. Or worse case a head gasket problem.

[kraziqtashes]

My car does use a lot of coolant. When I had my lower intake manifold gasket fixed they filled the coolant tank up, and a month or two later my coolant light came back on. Someone told me coolant is supposed to last much longer than that. Is it normal for it to be used so quickly? My car also smells hot all the time....

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by kraziqtashes

My car does use a lot of coolant. When I had my lower intake manifold gasket fixed they filled the coolant tank up, and a month or two later my coolant light came back on. Someone told me coolant is supposed to last much longer than that. Is it normal for it to be used so quickly? My car also smells hot all the time....

Maybe they didn't do the job right. Using that much coolant is abnormal. On some jobs they do not replace the intake manifold bolts and reuse the old ones. This is improper because they are worthless once torqued down. Not supposed to be re-used or an internal coolant leak may be the result. I'd get it checked out before it develops further and you blow the engine.

[vamc]

bnaylor3400(Bob) I agree with you about the intake manifold gasket. I bet you that the person who did it for him did not do it right. The person probably did not use a pad or something to get the rest of the gasket off the head, and put some kind of sealent on there and now this is the final product. I think it was done half a**! What do you think Bob?

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by vamc

bnaylor3400(Bob) I agree with you about the intake manifold gasket. I bet you that the person who did it for him did not do it right. The person probably did not use a pad or something to get the rest of the gasket off the head, and put some kind of sealent on there and now this is the final product. I think it was done half a**! What do you think Bob?

I agree Andrew. The only way to know for sure to tear it down and do an inspection to determine if it is an intake or cylinder head job.

[vamc]

Very true Bob.