white smoke

panther · 13-03-2008, 18:46

Does anyone know about cars?

After fueling up today my fella went on the motorway to get home and coming off the roundabout a hugh puff of white smoke came out of the exhaust

, he said the engine went a bit slugglish for a few seconds then the smoke happened.
Everything is fine now, no smoke and the car is driving perfectly, so he was wondering what it could have been, I said it could have been a bit of **** in the tank, because it was nearly empty when he filled up

.....any ideas

slinky · 13-03-2008, 18:52

Is it diesel or petrol??

panther · 13-03-2008, 18:54

oops forgot to mention

...petrol

david1 · 13-03-2008, 18:55

It sometimes happends when there is a build up on the valves. It builds up when the car is just driving around town . when you go on a motorway it clears it,and it comes down the exhaust pipe and blows it all out. no need to worry about it..

slinky · 13-03-2008, 18:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by panther

oops forgot to mention

...petrol

Hmmm weird, If it was diesel , I would have asked if he had put petrol in by accident. I know Ginger once did this...... it smoked like hell and was sluggish. With a diesel, if you put petrol in, it's not as disastrous. BUT you would have known about it if he has put diesel in a petrol

so that rules out my theory of what it could be.

has he put new oil in very recently??

panther · 13-03-2008, 18:59

that makes sense david1, he only does town milege and its very rare he goes on the motorway....thanks for that

panther · 13-03-2008, 19:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinky

has he put new oil in very recently??

yes slinky
the car has had new oil change and filter and head gasket

slinky · 13-03-2008, 19:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by panther

yes slinky
the car has had new oil change and filter and head gasket

They could have spilled oil on the manifold..... smokes like buggery til it burns off!!

entwisi · 13-03-2008, 22:53

Oil makes a blue smoke, white is usually either water(possible head gasket on its way out) which would have the sluggish effect or a weak running engine can also smoke white, again a reason to be 'sluggish'. Rich mixture gives a black smoke. you don't mention how long he was on the motorway but could have been overheating/weak rad car blowing steam out the safety valve picked up by the air intake and then feeding through teh engine. what sort of car, how old etc? check plugs/points(if old enough) and the oil. if the oil filler/dipstick has a white 'mayo' type substance suspect the head gasket.

cashman · 14-03-2008, 00:02

Entwisi is quite correct BUT if theres 3 white puffs of smoke in a Vertical line,it means............................Cavalry Are Coming.

entwisi · 14-03-2008, 00:15

you mentioned head gasket recently done, was teh head skimmed? probably warped if not. looks like you might have another bill if you can't get it fixed, check that oil cap and filler tube. Has it used any water in teh radiator?

steeljack · 14-03-2008, 02:48

from the title of the thread I thought we had a new Pope

panther · 14-03-2008, 10:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by entwisi

you mentioned head gasket recently done, was teh head skimmed? probably warped if not. looks like you might have another bill if you can't get it fixed, check that oil cap and filler tube. Has it used any water in teh radiator?

I think the head wasnt skimmed

, the job was done under warranty so luckily didnt have to pay....if it is the head gasket....again, will it not be under warranty for that part?...it was only done last month

....just about 2 weeks ago!!

also he said the water levels are fine and the oil looks fine, do ya think he should ring the cowboys who did this and demand it fixed again....?

Ill go bloody mad if it is that again

jaysay · 14-03-2008, 12:39

Could possibly be a problem with the air filter, hey but i'm no machanic, just that something similar happened to me years ago

Neil · 14-03-2008, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by slinky

With a diesel, if you put petrol in, it's not as disastrous. BUT you would have known about it if he has put diesel in a petrol

Its the other way round.

A lot of petrol in a diesel engine can burn the valves due to the heat that is produced - you can get away with a bit but it is not advised. Diesel pumps create very high pressure's ( 15,000 psi and higher ) in a modern common rail engine which is produced by very expensive fuel pumps, petrol in the fuel will not be good for the pump.
Diesel in a petrol engine will make it smoke a lot, worst case it won't run at all. After the fuel system is flushed out with petrol all should be ok without any damage except maybe sooty plugs.