White smoke - car used infrequently

[GJD]

Hi forum

 

I test drove a 93 auto TT MKiv today (GZ model). Generally I was happy with the condition and performance except for a white smoke issue. It was a cold day, but the engine had been run before earlier so was warm. No smoke immediately after starting, but a trail was visible after less than a minute. Still there after a few minutes of running. Then we did a bit of blipping and revving. Smoke increased a bit with revs, but still what I'd call a trail, never as much as a cloud. During the test drive (which included some hard acceleration and high speed) the smoke appeared to have stopped (as far as I could see from looking in the rear view mirror - unfortunately I didn't have anyone available to follow us and watch) but it's difficult to tell when the car is moving. After returning from the test drive, the exhaust was smoke-free (although it smelled quite noticeably) for two or three minutes, then the smoke returned as it had been before the drive.

 

For the last four or five months this car has been driven very little (although started and run - probably just briefly - quite often) so has mainly just been parked in the same place. There was no hint of a problem starting at any point today.

 

I have seen there are quite a number of "white smoke" threads on this forum and I'm looking through them, and I am aware that nobody is going to be able to give a firm and thorough diagnosis over the internet, but I wonder if anyone out there is aware of any reason why this smoke issue might be linked to the car being largely unused for a few months such that simply driving it regularly might be part of the solution.

 

Many thanks in advance

Gavin Deane

[bignum]

Sounds like steam to me, quite normal in cold weather.

[supra matt]

Thats ever steam or turbo seals mate what's the millage?

[CardiffSupra]

Start it up from cold and look for a blueish colour smoke. White is most probs just steam, i get it alot.

[TT-DEK]

Yeah in cold weather, ie winter, mine is the same, its just steam.

[hogmaw]

Other than the smoke/steam - what did you think of it?

[dini_the_owl]

water evaporation from exhaust most cars do it in this weather

started mine today for 1st time in a week and it did the same!

[magictorch]

Mine does the same...cold weather i guess;)

[GJD]

Thats ever steam or turbo seals mate what's the millage?

 

Steam I can cope with. A turbo problem would be more offputting. The car has done just under 90k miles.

 

Steam appears to be the general opinion looking at the responses so far. Thinking about it, it did look more like steam than smoke, but maybe that's my rose-tinted glasses because I was otherwise very pleases with what I saw :-). I should have put my hand in the "smoke" to see if it was damp I suppose.

 

Gavin Deane

[GJD]

Other than the smoke/steam - what did you think of it?

 

The drive, the handling, the general condition were all good. Everything seemed to work. Other than this issue (which may be a non-issue if it's just steam to be expected) and some minor cosmetic damage I liked it.

 

Gavin Deane

[edge]

Mine makes clouds of steam. Its Bad on a cold night as i there is quite abit and i have trouble reversing but if i do it during the day i can see. and i dont use mine alot either.

After a few minutes driving it should clear although in this waether you may still see some hot exhaust/cld weather etc.

[bodilx6]

Same here. As soon as the weather is moist, damp and cold it smokes vapour constantly. The only thing I can come to think of is if it could be coolant burning somewhere. I think there is very little chance for this, but if you run it again, fill the coolant completely and check for any loss. It should probably be a long drive for it to show though

[Sheefa]

Does it clear very quickly after exiting the tailgate? I.e. 1-2 seconds?? If so, then it must be steam. You'd find that any smoke would linger for a longer period.

 

It's hard to define another problem like Valve Stem Seals or Turbo Seals without knowing how she starts from cold, what she's like on and off boost, idle overrun etc.

 

I' sure it's a bit of mild steam though which will typically tend to show this time of year as others have already said.

[ManwithSupra]

If it is white steam it could be one of two things,

 

1. Already mentioned here just condensation inside the exhsaust evaporating and turning to steam - which its more likely to be tbh.

 

2. Engine coolent getting into the cylinders, Engine coolent makes a very very white dense cloud of smoke when it burns off - to eliminate this check your oil cap and see if there is any white sludge there, also check the expansion bottle and rad cap for signs of water mixing with oil, this will suggest that the head gasket has gone.

 

I honestly think its just condensation evaporating into the cold air.

A cataltic converter turns the Hydrocarbons into harmless gases of which some of the result is Carbon Dioxide and Water !

 

Warm dense moist air coming out of an exhaust in the cold weather means steam....

 

Thats why when you have stopped normal driving the exhaust gases start to cool down (water stops atomising through higher temps whilst driving) as it makes its way down the exhaust pipe it then starts to condense when it hits the cold air therefore you get steam after a few mins.

[R Black]

mine smokes like a trooper in cold weather, always figured its just steam, no cream in oil cap, my last turbo car did it too.

[GJD]

If it is white steam it could be one of two things,

 

1. Already mentioned here just condensation inside the exhsaust evaporating and turning to steam - which its more likely to be tbh.

 

2. Engine coolent getting into the cylinders, Engine coolent makes a very very white dense cloud of smoke when it burns off - to eliminate this check your oil cap and see if there is any white sludge there, also check the expansion bottle and rad cap for signs of water mixing with oil, this will suggest that the head gasket has gone.

 

There was no sign of water contaminating the oil or vice versa. On reflection I think it probably was steam - just didn't think of that at the time. To answer Sheefa's question, it did clear quite quickly after being emitted.

 

I'm reassured by the responses here so I won't write the car off as a possibility.

 

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

Gavin Deane

[Sheefa]

Good man. Good luck with the car viewing and keep us updated. Make sure you get him/her to start the engine up from Cold too and check for any blue smoke at the rear. A light puff is all you need to see to have doubt about the integrity of the the Valve Stem Seals.

[GJD]

Just to close this thread off...

 

I went back to see the car again. It started first time, from cold this time, with no hint of smoke. The owner had been driving the car more regularly over the intervening couple of weeks and I got the impression that that had reduced the steam output a little. So with no other worries about it, last night I handed over a chunk of cash and now I own it. 93 J-spec TT Auto GZ, Silver.

 

Thanks again to everyone who answered my original question, and also thanks to whoever was involved in putting together the "What to Check on a Supra" guide and the model differentiation chart. Both very useful.

 

Gavin Deane