smoke when starting

[Shawn-dizzie]

whenever i start my 87 trans after sitting for like 30 min smoke comes out. How can i find out the problem? Its not burning oil i checked so what else can it be and how do i check?

[Mr. Luos]

Color of smoke?

[Shawn-dizzie]

the smoke is white. it can be a little thick too if it sits for a couple hours.

[Mr. Luos]

No leaks?

White smoke is normally coolant I believe.
Maybe a head gasket.
Doesn't smoke while running after start-up??

[Shawn-dizzie]

nope only at start up. even when i rev the engine it is clean just right when i start it.

[Mr. Luos]

Is it a lot of smoke??

Or just a couple puffs?

[ikeyballz]

just a giant puff right? i had that on my 88 formula.. i always thought i was burning oil, since it seemed my oil would drop a little.. but i dont know for sure, it seemed like the coolant level would never drop eithier..

and also, it doesnt smoke after it sits around for a long time right? only if its sitting for like an hour..then it smokes.. if it sits overnight, no smoke right?

my car worked fine for months after that started happening tho.. by any chance, did you do a oil change before it started doing that?

(i couldnt find out how long my engine would last after that..cuz it got totalled)

[doodad]

is that steam or smoke? are you sure it is not any kind of oil burn? how does it smell? did you open the hood and check where the smokes come from?

have you messed with your heads or valve covers lately? if you did, might be the gaskets.. man, you should start the engine and open the hood and wait for the smoke and inspect where it is coming from..

[Mr. Luos]

Sounds like it is smoking out of the tailpipe.
Could just be condensation burning off.

[ikeyballz]

hmm.. mine wasnt condensation.. (i live in hawaii..really muggy you cant really see much condensation).. its pretty bad too right? like..you can SMELL it. i swear it was oil for mine, the smoke was white.. but you can smell the oil-y burnt smell..

[Shawn-dizzie]

no. sometimes its thick sometimes its not. no ol smell though thats one way i rulled oil out. you think it might be water in my gas? how bout gas buildup? it is weird i went and started it just now at 10 in the morning , its been sitting for like10 hours and barely no smoke. so im guessing oinly when i run it then let it sit for a hour it smokes bad. any ideas.and yes it a puff not constant. and it is comeing out of the tailpipe.

[wrightz28]

Trans fluid comes out as white smoke as well. If you have a vacuum modulator diaphragm on it's way out, the fluid will get sucked past it into the intake manifold.

To rule it out, you could trace the vacuum hose for it to the intake and check it for signs of fluid, it will be pretty obvious if it is.

[ikeyballz]

ooh. now that you mention that, i DID need to rebuild my trans a couple times..and my trans fluid level would drop a bit..

[97cavalier]

i would run some heat in your gas to make shure there is not water in it and run some injector cleaner after that change your fuel filter and then see what happens.

[Shawn-dizzie]

turns out i am burning oil im almost posotive. tommorow im taking the plugs out an dlooking to se if theres oil. if so where should i look for a leaking gasket first? also i had someone tell me is it true that for that year(87) they had different rims for the front and back?