White Smoke, completely lost.
Asked by bensmith1 Jun 12, 2013 at 05:48 PM about the 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have no idea what is wrong with my car. I have been driving it for months perfect and then suddenly today when I changed my oil and filled up my tank I've been smoking out like crazy. Not overheating, idles fine, starts fine, no problems stopping. Just intermittent white smoke while driving. It didn't have any problems going to work this morning, or running my other errands. Just after I changed the oil. And immediately after. Any ideas?
8 Answers
it also seems to be worse if I have my a/c running.
If it stops all you did was spill oil that is burning off. White/bluish smoke is oil whether its burning out through tailpipe or burning off hot exhaust pipe
That's what I thought but it seems excessive. Its billowing out but it doesn't appear to be any other kind of smoke and doesn't have a bad scent to the burn. Just hope that's all the problem is.
I've never owned a gasoline powered vehicle before so this is just new to me.
If this was your first oil change I certainly hope you filled it in the right place, and not over full...
The_Sheese answered 11 years ago
if its coming from the tailpipe it could be a head gasket failure, hopefully not
I checked my engine and it doesn't appear to be coming from the engine and I have taken it on 2 rides around the block since posting to test the burn theory. First run was pretty smokey, second run next to no smoke. The spread of my smoke clouds makes me think it from the engine compartment cause my exhaust is pointed out the passenger side and the cloud is just all across the back. However upon further inspection I have either a faulty fan or bad relay. Thanks for the help fellas. If it's a gasket I can work my way through it, as long as I know where to look. If I have any other questions I will post a new thread. Thanks again. Also David, I've done an oil change on the car so no worries there. Had to jerry rig a funnel though so there was some splash damage.
Stuck open fuel injector, water in oil (check the oil to see if it looks chocolate milk colored) due to cracked head check for low coolant, bad bent/froze valve.