The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support STM Tuned
Please Support ExtremePSI

White Smoke / Car Is Smoking White [Merged 7-9]

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Apeximprt2nr

15+ Year Contributor
620
5
Apr 20, 2005
Northern, New_Jersey
Alright guys, well I just finished my 14B install in my 95 GSX. All is well besides some minor oil leaks on the return line and the SS feed line at the filter housing. There was also a VERY minor coolant leak from the front banjo bolt on the turbo. I tightened it a tad and I think i went away. Now the turbo is spooling really late because I think there may be a leak before the turbo.
Now on to the problems.

1. The turbo does not smoke at all besides at WOT sometimes it blows out whiteish grey smoke. I'm trying to think of where it could be burning coolant. It never did this before the turbo install.

2. There was some white smoke the past 2 days at the manifold. I'm thinking its the shitload of PB Blaster that I sprayed all over the car but I'm not sure.

3. There's a smell coming from my engine that I can smell if I pop my hood and it becomes more noticeable when I'm driving and really get on it. It smells like burning plastic sort of, with a mix of burning rubber. The lower heat shield is not on the car because it's a pain to get on and I haven't put it back on because I haven't had time. Nothing is touching anything hot so I 'm confused...The only possible thing is maybe I pout on a new 4 ply exhaust mani. gasket as well as antiseize on most of the bolts and the turbo-mani. bolts.

Any help? Thanks.
 
I see my old topic got merged and its been a year or so since I first posted but here is where I am today. I got a new (rebuilt) turbo and put it in. Car still smokes and it is a lingering smoke. It doesn't smell sweet per se but it doesn't smell oily either. All I know is there is a lot of it, and it lingers. After a few minutes of running, the big cloud goes away and only has small puffs.

I did a compression test, and here is what I got.
150,150,130,140. I get the feeling that my head gasket is bad and probably between the last two cylinders. Maybe it has faded...I don't know. Are there water jackets running through there? If there are, that would explain it. Can a bad injector seal cause these sorts of issues?

The car is weak...it doesn't feel like it has much power, and loses boost above about 3500-4K RPM. Im thinking head gasket, but I don't know. What are symptoms of that other than smoke?

Thanks!
 
So a year later still the same issue and you haven't changed the head gasket?? Sounds like you have bad valve seals or rings to me.
 
Hey Wraith. No it had been sittin in the garage due to lack of money and various other family emergencies so was just....sitting. About 4 months ago I was able to spend the time/money to get the axles in and get it back on the road, and finally was able to compression test, with those numbers. Thanks for the info. When I get time (and tools) to do more digging I certainly will, and i'll keep what you said in mind.

Thanks
 
Please bare with me as I try to go into detail of my car's issue,thank you. Just recently i fixed a overboosting problem,which
was caused by the intercooler hose not properly fitted on the turbo. It's been that
way for a bit. After I double checked all the piping, i took the car out for a test
drive everything seemed fine until I went WOT (boosting) for like 5 seconds. Out of no where

a massive blue cloud appeared making it almost impossible for me to see. So I
pulled over and looked under the hood and it was just flooded with oil! Everything had oil on it. I removed the spark plug cover be4 so on top of each spark plug wire had Oil on it,sort of a pool. Checked all spark plugs, no oil on any of them,just carbon deposits. Now i have a miserable oil leak from under my car on the driver side. I realized that if i drive without boosting up the turbo, everything is okay...I could drive and slowly get the car to 7k without ne blue smoke or nething but its once the turbo gets going does the blue smoke appear. Is that a sign of bad turbo or something else like rings or what not?

I Also have white smoke coming out of the exhaust from time to time...and my car over heats after driving for like 20 minutes. Filled up the over flow with coolant and changed the radiator which was the cause of a overheating issue before. Now wth? im thinking its gaskets...not sure so hopefully you guys could point me in the right direction yet again.
 
I would think this sounds like multiple problems, not just one causing the issues.

Blue smoke = Oil being burnt, and White smoke is consistent with coolant.

If you are overheating you may be suffering a head gasket failure.

Start with a compression test, and check all the valve cover gaskets for proper fit. If a sparkplug well gasket is not seated properly or the cover is cracked it could cause your pooling issue.
 
I would think this sounds like multiple problems, not just one causing the issues.

Blue smoke = Oil being burnt, and White smoke is consistent with coolant.

If you are overheating you may be suffering a head gasket failure.

Start with a compression test, and check all the valve cover gaskets for proper fit. If a sparkplug well gasket is not seated properly or the cover is cracked it could cause your pooling issue.

Okay I will definitely take a look at the valve cover. Is it difficult to change the head gasket?
 
a good service manual will help you change the gasket and for the most part simple hand tools is all you need but you will need a torque wrench for the head bolts and something to compress the timming belt tensioner.
 
Please bare with me as I try to go into detail of my car's issue,thank you. Just recently i fixed a overboosting problem,which
was caused by the intercooler hose not properly fitted on the turbo. It's been that
way for a bit. After I double checked all the piping, i took the car out for a test
drive everything seemed fine until I went WOT (boosting) for like 5 seconds. Out of no where

a massive blue cloud appeared making it almost impossible for me to see. So I
pulled over and looked under the hood and it was just flooded with oil! Everything had oil on it. I removed the spark plug cover be4 so on top of each spark plug wire had Oil on it,sort of a pool. Checked all spark plugs, no oil on any of them,just carbon deposits. Now i have a miserable oil leak from under my car on the driver side. I realized that if i drive without boosting up the turbo, everything is okay...I could drive and slowly get the car to 7k without ne blue smoke or nething but its once the turbo gets going does the blue smoke appear. Is that a sign of bad turbo or something else like rings or what not?

I Also have white smoke coming out of the exhaust from time to time...and my car over heats after driving for like 20 minutes. Filled up the over flow with coolant and changed the radiator which was the cause of a overheating issue before. Now wth? im thinking its gaskets...not sure so hopefully you guys could point me in the right direction yet again.

Blue smoke=Bad turbo or the turbo isn't getting enough oil. Maybe the oil feed or return is leaking. This will cause it to prematurely ware out.

White smoke & overheating is a good sign of headgasket failure. Is your car pushing coolant? After running hot youll get a lot of coolant in the overflow bottle.

Replacing a headgasket is fairly simple if you've done something like that before. But you'll have to pull the timing belt and such off. If you haven't done a Timing belt, water pump, balance shaft belt, and so on replacement in a while then would be a good time to go a head and do that since it will be easier to get to it all when you have the head pulled off. I often tell everyone to do premaintive stuff before performance upgrades.
 
I had white smoke and it was oil being burnt. Turns out my turbo was bad. I replaced my turbo and no more smoke ever since.
 
Alright so I got a new exhaust on my talon and did a retune. I noticed I was getting a puff of smoke in between gears. Also when I would do a pull and push the clutch in I get a lot of tail smoke. I also get it sometimes after i 2 sept it. It a white smoke and it doesn't smell like oil or anti freeze but its really hard to tell with the e85. Does anyone else have this problem with e85?


I have a couple suspects in the back of my mind
There included turbo on its way out, possibly a head gasket. The problem is the car isn't using either of those fluids and the levels have been consistent for over 1000 miles.

Any thoughts.

NOTE: i just changed my pcv valve. during a boost leak test i noticed pressure come of the valve cover breather. I never took the pcv valve out to confirm it i just assumed that was the problem. And i never checked it with another blt. Is there anything else that would cause excessive crank case pressure?
 
White smoke can deffinately be oil also. I've suspecting a pcv valve or turbo seals on the way out. Its only smoking on downspool/down gearing. It wasnt to noticeable untill I had to slow down for a huge bump in the road and I pulled her down in second and as soon as I got back on the gas had a cloud behind me. I had a similar issue on my integra and it ended up being pcv so thats what im trying first. Plus its the cheapest :)
 
Please go to my name and look at what i have installed....
Ok i replaced the HX-35 turbo with a new HX-35 turbo
i also had to take the whole exhaust off ### there was oil in the muffler/exhaust so im draining it out right now.

anyways the car was smoking real bad before i did any of that so i thought it was the valve seals going bad.

took the exhaust/muffler off to drain

then i took the spark plugs out theres no oil or coolant in the cylinders

i took the wastegate off dry there

took the manifold off dry in there

and i look in the exhaust ports dry there as well

the exhaust housing has no oil on there either

so

i put the turbo back on and the maniolfd and the wastegate and the spark plugs all back on

started it up again.........still white smoke and i mean a $&IT load of smoke.

but then after i turn it off and look under the car theres what looks to be oil coming out of the exhaust elbow that i left on the housing but when i put my finger up there... no oil is leaking out.

i have no oil leaks at all

what can this be???? trying to get this running asap thanks
 
You said it's white smoke which would be coolat. Blue smoke is oil and black smoke is gas. Have you looked at your coolant at all to see it if discolored or milky? Oil in the pan clean and not milky? Are you missing any exhaust studs?
 
You said it's white smoke which would be coolat. Blue smoke is oil and black smoke is gas. Have you looked at your coolant at all to see it if discolored or milky? Oil in the pan clean and not milky? Are you missing any exhaust studs?

Yeap white is coolant, You can get a gray smoke from fuel also. I would be looking at a headgasket for sure. How did the plugs look? Any sign of it burning coolant?
 
The oil is all new and the coolant is all new. there is a stud missing but theres no smoke coming out of it. new oil filter too

also plugs are fine too

coolant and oil is not milky at all
 
WHITE SMOKE IS COOLANT.

You have either blown your headgasket or you have coolant leaking into your turbo. I dont know if HX35's are water cooled or not. If not, it narrows it down to your head gasket.
 
Wow, if you had a MLS gasket blow then your head/block surface wasnt decked perfectly. Yes a cheaper alternative would sufice. Try a factory Mitsubishi headgasket or a cometic. If your head and block arent virtually perfectly smooth then a MLS head gasket is just asking for trouble.
 
Take the cap off the coolant fill, start the car and look for bubbles. That's one symptom of a bad HG.

Which stud on the exhaust manifold are you missing? The 2nd one from the right on the top row goes directly into the head. You WILL leak oil if that's not sealed properly.
 
im not missing a bolt on the manifold im missing a bolt on the exhaust housing that is bolting up to the manifold


its when you look exactly at the bolts it will be the bottom left one closes to the radiator
 
okay welli just did my head gasket on my talon, and the idle on it is fine no smoke what so ever, even if i rev it, but as soon as i drive it a huge cloud when the turbo spools, and i take off my rad cap, and there is coolant and oil mixed together, what could it be? a bad turbo? because the head gasket is brand new, and the timing belt is aswell.
 
okay welli just did my head gasket on my talon, and the idle on it is fine no smoke what so ever, even if i rev it, but as soon as i drive it a huge cloud when the turbo spools, and i take off my rad cap, and there is coolant and oil mixed together, what could it be? a bad turbo? because the head gasket is brand new, and the timing belt is aswell.

Oil in your coolant system can be because of a crack in your head. Did you have your head lathed and pressure checked first?
 
I agree. If your head is cracked you will have this problem. Also if your head is warped this can happen. Did you make sure you torqued your head properly?
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top