Lo all,

I'm not sure if its due to the weather...but I literally just noticed my car is putting out some white smoke. It kicks out quite far, it's not particurly thick smoke but I just want to be abit precausious incase its a blown turbo?

To be honest I can't feel any power loss, MPG has gone down a little but I guess that could be down to the colder weather & slightly longer warming up in the mornings.

Worse case scenario if it is...how much are ko3s these days? (2nd hand of course)

EDIT: I just read white smoke can be down to blown seals? What would I expect to pay roughly if this was the case?

Cheers!

Probably just condensation. Is it using oil? (though the smoke would be blueish if it was).

Seen a similar thing with mine recently. I'd put it down to the cold although it does seem to be using a fair amount of oil...... i have been driving it harder lately though.

White smoke - first thing to check is your water level and the colour of your oil. White smoke is caused by water, blue is by oil.

Most common is for water to get into the sytem via faulty head gasket. I think it can also be caused from damaged seals on the turbo coolant side also. Don't asume the turbo, best to check for the signs listed above and carry out a cylinder compression test to elimate head gasket first.

Is it loosing coolant?

If it's not and the 'smoke' has no blue in it, then it's probably just the weather

.....its probably nothing for me it's nearly due for its 60k oil change and will be getting done every 10k after. The oil change will probably explain the darkness of the oil although MPG has dropped by about 3-5mpg the past month but I've been putting it down to heavier traffic and the cold weather.

edit - i presume if water was leaking emissions would be an issue come mot time?

Edited 10 November, 200817 yr by Funkoid

I checked my coolant last week and it was a bit low! never been low before :eek: i have no white smoke out of the exhuast, header tank is clean with no oil in it and oil is ok with no signs of water, im going to keep an eye on the water level but im abit worried it could early signs of head gasket! :(

I had a quick check for any leaks but could'nt find any.

Cheers for all the advise guys. I'll check tomorrow morning when its actually bright. I did check the oil about a fortnight ago and the level was fine (It had just been serviced about 3k miles ago).

I'll get the compression test done as mentioned above, the smoke is definately white (or so it seem's, i'll check again in the morning).

Thanks again! fingers crossed its just the cold weather.

Cheers for all the advise guys. I'll check tomorrow morning when its actually bright. I did check the oil about a fortnight ago and the level was fine (It had just been serviced about 3k miles ago).

I'll get the compression test done as mentioned above, the smoke is definately white (or so it seem's, i'll check again in the morning).

Thanks again! fingers crossed its just the cold weather.

Only get the compression test done if you are loosing water!

Only get the compression test done if you are loosing water!

Arr ok, i'll check it first then

Assuming 1) it's not leaking water 2) it's not using excess oil 3) it's driving fine

Then I should be ok? And it's probably just the cold weather

Well mine doesn't seam to blow excess smoke (steam) out the back in cold weather but if your water level is not dropping, and your oil is not turning milky and the oil level doesn't drop then you have no problem and it must be atmospheric in my opinion. However if you are still concerned get a professional opinion.

Is it doing it when the engine is warm, and the day has warmed up. I suspect not, it's steam in that case. Most cars when cold on the right day will produce clouds of steam, most evident when you see one pulling out a drive - compared to the other cars warmed up on the road it blows clouds!

Most cars when cold on the right day will produce clouds of steam, most evident when you see one pulling out a drive - compared to the other cars warmed up on the road it blows clouds!

Mine generally does it all of the time at the moment anywhere between below freezing to 4.5C. Its not been warm enough to check thoroughly though.

Dumb question but wouldn't the vRS produce more with it being a higher emissions car next to a small Ka on the road?