random white smoke at idle

[laserRSawd]

I have been getting a rough idle and white smoke the last couple of days. it seems to happen when the car is warm. like after 20 min of driving, also I get a lot of water spewing out of the overflow tank. I checked compression and the are all 150. I looked for water in the oil and oil in the water but they are both clean. The car runs good other than that.

In the last week I have installed a cat back, MBC stock boost, and a boost gauge. I also vented my bov for a half a day. as soon as I saw the smoke I unhooked the mbc and boost gauge.

Any ideas? I am thinking head gasket but the signs are not there, or my turbo taking a duke?

 

[Willjs7]

could also be a thermostat

 

[laserRSawd]

never really thought about that. I just replaced the radaitor and cap about three weeks ago. what causes it to smoke from a bad thermostat?

 

[Willjs7]

if water is coming out of the overflow tank. then it is too hot. (corect me if im wrong) Thermostat is easy and should be done with the cap. The smoke could be from coolant on the exhuast. But it also sound like a head gasket to me. Any one else have any imput?

 

[laserRSawd]

i'll try the thermostat first and hope for the best. I dont want to pull the head off to bad I just did that to a 95gst yesterday.
thanks

 

[stockmkt8r]

How long were you letting it idle before the white smoke comes out? I know if you let our cars idle for TOO long (don't know why) white smoke comes puffing out of the exhaust. This happened to me when I let my car idle for 15 minutes once at night, I noticed white smoke coming out. So now I let it idle for 5min max and the problem has never appeared again.

 

[stockmkt8r]

Also, since your compression is 150 straight across, that throws out the possibility of a head gasket leak, right?

 

[laserRSawd]

I drive it for like 10 min. and the go to park it and it starts to idle rough and white smoke comes out. I have not noticed any while driving. it still runs cool, and has never been overheated since I rebuilt it.


thats what I kind of thought. but i changed the thermostat this morning and it did not help. looks like I have to pull the head. unless any one else has any ideas??

BTW what is the part number for the mutsubishi metal head gasket and where is the best place to get it? should I get the head checked out while its off?

 

[Newlogics]

Originally posted by laserRSawd
I drive it for like 10 min. and the go to park it and it starts to idle rough and white smoke comes out. I have not noticed any while driving. it still runs cool, and has never been overheated since I rebuilt it.


thats what I kind of thought. but i changed the thermostat this morning and it did not help. looks like I have to pull the head. unless any one else has any ideas??

BTW what is the part number for the mutsubishi metal head gasket and where is the best place to get it? should I get the head checked out while its off?

Check to see if your belt skipped a few teeth.
Also check base timing. Screwed up base timing will cause rought idle and smoke. Been there.

It is possible to have a blown HG and still show compression. A leak-down test would prove more definitive.

As for smoking at idle, both of my 1Gs and my bro's 1G will start smoking when left idling for a while. It seems to be a common thing to have.