Cloud of white smoke on startup
 

Title pretty much covers it, upon turning the car on for the first time today a fairly dense cloud of white smoke came out of the exhaust for about 2-3 seconds. I immediately checked my oil level as soon as the engine cooled down and it was at the proper level, changed it about 1000 miles ago. After doing some research on the forum I then checked my coolant level and it was at or slightly below the minimum line so I filled it up to the appropriate level as well. Also checked the engine oil by eye and feel for any signs of a coolant emulsion to no avail, although I'd hardly call the test definitive. The white smoke hasn't shown again, even at high RPM, hopefully this isn't a gasket issue...

Background: My car has roughly 17000 miles on it, only mod is Nameless Offset Axleback exhaust. The past few weeks I've been running A/C on max and the car has never been raced or tracked. Had my HPFP replaced months ago due to crickets.

Did the exhaust smell sweet?

Do you have a camera or gopro that you can video it (someone with a phone works too).

most likely condensation

Condensation... If exhaust/oil smells sweet it would most likely be the head gasket. It would have a bit more of a bluish hue, and be quite thick.

The exhaust smelled normal, which hopefully means you're all right about the condensation build up and would also explain why I've yet to reproduce the smoke. Can condensation really cause what I saw though? The cloud nearly completely engulfed the car. Really hoping the low coolant level was just a coincidence then...

Coolant level goes up and down with engine temp... are you checking it at consistent times?

That was a common problem with my boxer BMW R 1150 RT, especially when it had been parked on its side stand and oil was allowed, over time, to seep into the cylinder head.

I have an uneducated idea of what happens. It takes a few if's but if the piston rings happen to be aligned in just the right order oil will seep thru the small gap in the rings and work its way into the cylinder heads. It seems to only happen to boxer engines because the cylinders are laid on their side and there's no gravity to prevent the oil from working its way thru the rings. It should be only an occasional happening and I wouldn't worry about it unless it was consistant.

Most likely just condensation. If your car doesn't do it when it's at full temp don't sweat it. Gotta let the exhaust pipes get hot enough before you start worrying.

If I take the car cold out of the garage, wash it and re-garage it, the next time I start it I can duplicate the white smoke every time. In that case at least, I think its due to a cold start followed by a quick shut down. Odor is one of unburnt fuel, not condensation.

Just so everyone knows, I had this issue this morning.

Yesterday it rained, but after driving the car home (during cold/damp conditions without rain), I parked the car in the garage for the night.

This morning, upon initial startup there was a thick white cloud behind the car. The engine had just cranked so it was not normal condensation in the tailpipe (that takes a few seconds to warm up any water in the exhaust).

No CEL, no weird issues, just a cloud of smoke at startup. The smoke was mostly white with a slight bit of blue.

12xxx miles on my car.

-alex

I noticed this too...

But I also noticed that my car produces more condensation when driving in cold weather compared to other cars...and does not seem to stop producing condensation "smoke" even after driving a while. It doesnt smell funny or anything...anyone know why?

More white stuff than this (at air temp of about 50 degrers F)

[ame]http://youtu.be/KJUxBJMlkQk[/ame]



If so, a video would help.

Does your "white stuff" smell like oil? Water? Wierd eggs?

humfrz

It did not smell abnormal, however the "abnormal" part was the fact that I parked the car inside the garage daily.

Even if it was raining outside, the garage is generally pretty dry due to the location of the water heater (as well as the fridge) that dries the air.

Since it was the only time this has happened, I will now attempt to replicate the problem. Video will be hard to come by, as I usually do not have time in the mornings to film these things before going to work.

-alex

Could it just be that it's cold outside and most cars get hot exhausts and produce white fog when running?

I wouldn't worry until you see white smoke on a 60+ degrees day or you are losing oil or coolant.

I just had this issue when I left work today. White smoke from the exhaust on start up for a couple seconds. I got out quickly to smell the exhaust and I didn't smell oil.

I also had white smoke come from the vents yesterday when I switched the A/C from recirculate to pull in air from outside. It didn't really smell like anything. It has been hot the past couple days so I have been running the A/C quite a bit, but I did not use it this morning going to work. Almost 20k miles on the car.

Usually if it's condensation, the steam will dissipate quickly.

Smoke lingers, and floats away depending on wind.

The white smoke is actually steam, and happens to just about every car. It is more or less depending on the weather humidity.

The cooling exhaust causes condensation inside the same as water collects on a glass of ice water.

White SMOKE on startup usually indicates rings or valve guides, and I'd be surprised if either of those is happening on a newer, low miles engine.

A brz owner at the last autox (80+*temps) had a tomei 60s exhaust and was also getting some white smoke, and we couldn't figure out what it was.

As @whaap mentioned above. Boxers are notorious for smoking a little right at startup.
Especially if it sits for a long time or is parked at an angle.
OR.... if you overfill the oil

I am feeling confident that it is steam now. When it came out of the vents it disappeared pretty quickly, and had no smell. When it came out of the exhaust on start up, by the time I jumped out of the car to check it out all the smoke/steam had disappeared.

Yeah, this happens to me just about every morning. I'm pretty sure it is steam. I have a Manzo catback. The exhaust tips are angled up. So any time it rains, the muffler could get filled with water. I almost need those flappers you see on semis to keep the water out.
So yes I do keep it in the garage. But when it rains here it RAINS.

Condensation from high idle and cold start rich fuel mix. Normal

While I normally would agree with condensation, high idle, etc, this is probably something unique to the boxer engine.

Today, this issue happened again.

Conditions:
~ 70-75F, mid-day (around 1PM)
Car has been parked in garage since the weekend, I last drove it on Sunday (all day), and moved it today because I am swapping out the diff.

Upon startup, there was a large plume of smoke behind the car. I got out, smelled it, it's definitely oil + condensation as it's not entirely blue, but has enough burn smell to let me know it's oil.

Oil level is very good, no other burning oil. Currently at close to 5000 miles, oil was changed back in May 2014.

It is not condensation. It's not rain. I have only had this happen twice, both times there wasn't anything to produce condensation in the amount that would produce the smoke volume exhibited.

FWIW: the amount of smoke was about the same as if you ran a fog machine about 2-3 seconds. I'd say about 2-3 tablespoons of oil burnt at the same time...

It's honestly not an issue, just posting this for documentation purposes so people can stop attributing this to just "condensation"...

-alex

i have this issue too. this thread seems dead so hopefully i can revive it.. my car seems to be producing steam/smoke at all times at night even when the engine is up to normal operating temps. it does this in the morning as well but i just chalk that up to cold start in the morning.
i was wondering if anyone else had this issue? its not smoke its more like steam, it dissipates quickly into the air. if the answer is simply this is normal i want to know why

Because water vapor is a normal byproduct of combustion, and when the exhaust gasses, carrying that water vapor are cooled (by colder ambient air) that water vapor condenses out into condensate.

This thread was dead because the question had been answered 20 times already!
The answer is not going to change.