car uses coolant, and white smoke

[mgcook]

ok i know its cold outside but even after an hour of driving my car at a stop light it will still put out white smoke. also about every week the low coolant light goes off. so i know my car is drinking coolant somewhere

i know its not the headgasket because that was replaced 6k ago.

is it because my turbo has a blown seal in it? or what?

 

[Ervin_S]

yes, if there's a crazy amount of smoke coming out of your exhaust even when the engine warms up that means that your turbo seals are blown. Change the turbo asap or you'll be seing more and more smoke in the future from the exhaust and even the engine. I had the same problem on my celica alltrac.

 

[femmeDSM]

There are about a million things that can cause problems in the cooling system. A blown turbo seal is definitely one of them, so I would check that out.

Other things to check or consider include:

-Check all hoses (radiator and heater hoses -- everything that touches coolant). Pinhole leaks in the system can cause slow but consistant coolant loss, similar to what you've described.
-Check radiator itself for cracks/holes
-Change thermostat (something you might as well do if you haven't already...$5.00 part)
-Pressure test rad. cap, purchase a new OEM one if necessary (don't get the cheap Autozone version)
-Headgaskets can go south at any time -- sadly, even if you've just replaced them. Don't ever rule it out entirely until you find the problem elsewhere.
-How's the water pump? Any belt noise?

Coolant loss is tricky to pinpoint....Are you ever able to see it, either on the ground in a puddle or inside the car? Inside the car (passenger floorboard) would indicate a blown heater core.


All that said, the excessive white smoke out of the tailpipe *usually* indicates either headgasket or turbo seals. Check the turbo seals first, then proceed w/ the rest of the suggestions. Like I said, don't rule out the headgasket entirely. I've seen brand new ones (literally -- less than 5k miles) go bad.

Good luck

 

[mgcook]

well i know for a FACT the turbo seals are gone, i had a small heaterhose bust the day i got it and its got a brand new metal radiator etc.

so basically i assume its just from where the turbo is on its last limb

good thing i've got a new one coming next week

 

[mgcook]

oh yeah, its got all new radiator hoses. along with a new timing belt and water pump. its losing oil also due to the seals, so i try not to go into boost if i dont have too. even though its tempting sometimes.

so when i change out the turbo we'll see how it goes.

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

If the turbo seals were blown it would smoke blue from the oil. White is coolant and just because you had a headgasket replaced doesn't mean it wasn't torqued wrong or something like that. Get a compression test and come back with the results. If the turbo seals were blown it would smoke insane amounts and you would use oil not coolant.

 

[mgcook]

the turbo seals are going out. simply put. i know this for a fact. 3 blades are chipped and it puts oil into the pipes.

it doesnt smoke under acceration either. only at idle..so i dont know.

its been an all stock DD since it was rolled off the assembly line for the last 180k miles. the guy who done the head also had it resurfaced, valve job, seals, mitsu h/g. etc...his 2g auto car also runs 9's. so i'd trust that he done the headgasket right.

 

[tpr103]

smell the smoke if it has a burnt smell its oil, if it has a sweat smell its coolant! just by your description i would say head gasket, just cause somebody has a 2sec. car doesn't meen the head gasket didn't seal right either. onother good thing to check is look for signs of coolant ing your oil

 

[mgcook]

smell the smoke if it has a burnt smell its oil, if it has a sweat smell its coolant! just by your description i would say head gasket, just cause somebody has a 2sec. car doesn't meen the head gasket didn't seal right either. onother good thing to check is look for signs of coolant ing your oil

well everytime i drive its at night and i cant really tell if its white or blue, but i did smell it, and it smelled like oil burning. im going to drain the oil this weekend to check it out.

 

[L2RTSiAWD]

Drama taken care of, thread re-opened.

[Hey! You deleted MY post! - leet]

 

[mgcook]

what happened i must have missed it. darn

oh well i got a look at it today its blue smoke from the turbo.

on top of the slave cylinder busting out.