White smoke

Asked by GuruV3DQ3 Sep 20, 2018 at 08:46 AM about the 1997 Ford Explorer 4 Dr Eddie Bauer SUV

Question type: General

My '97 Ford explorer 5.0L has white smoke
boiling out tailpipe. Tried to do a
compression test and gasoline shoots out
spark plugs and holes. What's the cause,
please?

1 Answer
44,020

Hornet_2497 answered 6 years ago

You probably have a failed head gasket on one of the engine's two heads. This will allow coolant into the combustion chamber causing the white smoke out the tailpipe. Smells like coolant too. Compression test won't tell you much more. But it's normal to have unburned gasoline coming out the spark plug holes during the compression test. You could pull the fuse to the fuel pump during this test but I wouldn't bother testing.

1 people found this helpful.
Mark helpful

Your Answer:

Related Questions

  • White smoke 1 Answer

    My '97 Ford explorer 5.0L has white smoke boiling out tailpipe. Tried to do a compression test and gasoline shoots out spark plugs and holes. What's the cause, please?

    1997 Ford Explorer 4 Dr Eddie Bauer SUV

    -

    General

  • Blowing white smoke 2 Answers

    My 96 ford mustang was blowing white smoke. Replaced the gaskets from the heads up and still blowing whit smoke everything was torched to spec. What's the reason?

    1996 Ford Mustang Coupe RWD

    -

    General

  • why is my truck blowing white blue smoke? 3 Answers

    just picked up this truck. Ive had it for 2 months. First month blew out smoke once maybe twice. This month countless times. Is it due to the colder weather? Also knocking engine sound is louder. Noti...

    Ford F-350 Super Duty

    -

    General

  • White smoke from engine 5 Answers

    I haven’t turned my car on in about two months (I know dumb). I started it today and was going to leave it running for a while so the battery could charge, and I noticed white smoke coming from the...

    2001 Subaru Outback Limited

    -

    General

  • Blue smoke coming from my exhaust after my explorer ran hot and now it won't crank 5 Answers

    Just put new thetmosat housing on it

    2003 Ford Explorer

    -

    General

Shortcuts

Search Ford Explorer Questions

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    OJ
    Reputation
    31,110
  • #2
    TransAm77
    Reputation
    7,890
  • #3
    Gene Arnett
    Reputation
    7,340
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used Ford F-150
321 Great Deals out of 13,618 listings starting at $1,712
Used Ford Expedition
21 Great Deals out of 811 listings starting at $7,888
Used Chevrolet Tahoe
12 Great Deals out of 906 listings starting at $12,900
Used Jeep Grand Cherokee
102 Great Deals out of 3,115 listings starting at $2,888
Used Dodge Durango
54 Great Deals out of 2,202 listings starting at $5,500
Used Toyota 4Runner
18 Great Deals out of 301 listings starting at $10,800
Used GMC Yukon
14 Great Deals out of 890 listings starting at $4,555
Used Ford Mustang
61 Great Deals out of 1,349 listings starting at $4,995

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.