white smoke on cold startup

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » March 6th, 2006, 10:28 pm

Engine - 94 1.6L DOHC ATX

It blows a lot of white smoke on very cold mornings - had been doing that for a while. I was convinced that its a head gasket problem. But for the past few days i noticed that if i put it in gear ("D") the smoking stops immediately, i.e. It smokes only if i let it idle on "Park" after cold startups - If i put in on "Drive" or "Reverse" and start driving, the smoking stops and if i do it soon enough there is no smoke at all. Is this still indicative of a faulty head gasket? Thanks for the help.

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » March 6th, 2006, 11:19 pm

probably condensation

neutral · Post by **neutral** » March 7th, 2006, 6:50 am

mitmaks wrote:probably condensation

Agreed. The cat converter functions to produce H20 as a byproduct so on a cold morning, ya get billowing steam out the exhaust pipe.

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » March 7th, 2006, 6:03 pm

Thanks for the replies.

Its a dense white smoke that takes a little while to dissipate and it has a burnt smell. I am not sure if its condensation.

I thought of a theory that my motor mounts may be funky and they are twisting the head when left overnight in cold and coolant drips into the chamber at startup - when the tranny is engaged it somehow twists the head back into the normal shape - it makes some sense but seems highly unlikely. And i dont know how i would even test it - the motor mounts are new by the way.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » March 7th, 2006, 7:59 pm

<-- no kat no condensation

tons of pollution..

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » March 7th, 2006, 8:25 pm

Likely its condensation.. but if your really worried about it.. wait till morning and before startup.. do a compression test.. that will tell you if you have any head sealing problems.

Tunes67

i'm_rich · Post by **i'm_rich** » March 7th, 2006, 8:45 pm

it might be either valve seals or piston rings. if it only smokes when you start it then it's probably valve seal. i've done them before in my 1.6 DOHC and they were kind of a pain. If it smokes most of the time and not just on startup, then it's probably the rings. i've done those in my engine as well. but that tend to produce more of a blue colored smoke. If that's the case, you can actually change the rings without pullin the engine which makes it kind of easier.

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » March 8th, 2006, 4:06 am

hey rich how did u do the ring seals im trying on my 1.6 and cant figure out hoe to compess the sping i have the cylinder full of air but cant figure out how to compress the spring to get the top off of them.

i'm_rich · Post by **i'm_rich** » March 8th, 2006, 10:30 am

hey man,
i'm not sure what spring you're talking about. when i changed my rings i pulled off the head. i also had to remove the oil pan and the craddle. The craddle is what the oil pan bolts to. once you do that, you just unbolt the pistons from the crankshaft and push the pistons out through the top.

i'm not sure how clear this is so if you need more info just ask. you can email me if you need to at rcraig@vtc.edu

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » March 8th, 2006, 10:47 am

hey rich how did u do the ring seals im trying on my 1.6 and cant figure out hoe to compess the sping

First off.. they arent ring seals they are valve seals

And you will need a specialty tool called a Valve Spring Compressor tool to compress the spring so you can remove the retaining clips.. dont loose the retaining clips.. it will make your life hell LOL I like to use a telescoping magnet tool to grab the retainers rather than my fingers.. a bit easier to make sure you get both retainer clips from each valve. Here is a link showing various types of valve spring compressors..

click here

One other tip.. use a nylon sleeve (or a small piece of a straw from fast food place) over the valve stem when sliding the new valve seal down over it. This will protect the new valve seal from the hard edge of the valve stem.. preventing the valve stem from ripping the new seal.

Tunes67

Billyd · Post by **Billyd** » March 11th, 2006, 10:04 pm

Sounds like you may have water in the throttle body from condensation....mine did that last time I cleaned out the throttle body (I was also flushing the cooling system at same and like an idiot I got a little water and antifreeze in there)...smoked like hell first few mornings I started it, thought I had blown head gasket but it went away after I recleaned throttle body out.

Knightrider · Post by **Knightrider** » March 22nd, 2006, 1:19 am

Mine does the exact same thing on a cold engine! Lots of smoke until it warms up after a few minutes and then gradually goes away as I drive it. I figured it was either the piston rings or the valve seals? I know that they guy I bought it from had it sitting out doors for a long time, but I'm pretty convinced it's one of the above and not condensation forming in the throttle body. But let me check out the throttle body first. Can you tell me exactly where this water might gather in the throttle body. I've had the car for about a week now and I haven't had the chance to do any work on it myself yet. I'm waiting on the weather to warm up some more, before I start climbing under and over this car finding all sorts of probs!!!
So far I've added Bardhal to my oil and will be doing an oil/ filter change before adding more Bardhal to thicken up the oil inside the engine. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks.....
Steve

Billyd · Post by **Billyd** » March 22nd, 2006, 10:02 am

just pull the big air intake hose from the throttle body and wipe out the inside. If it has been sitting I can guarantee you got some build up in there....may change your performance some too. Good luck.

Billyd · Post by **Billyd** » March 22nd, 2006, 10:03 am

....by the way I added some oil addidtive too and that made it smoke again. I would suggest just running a Castrol GTX or something in it only as that seems to work best for me!

projectmx316 · Post by **projectmx316** » March 22nd, 2006, 3:43 pm

mine smokes on start up every once in awhile and i think it is the valve steam seals on it my throttle body is good and clean but it smells like burning oil when it does and i get the same smell from it if i start to floor it or go past half throttle.