What causes white smoke to come out of the exhaust?

+1 vote
asked Oct 19, 2018 in Repairs/Maintenance by Yuri (280 points)
What causes white smoke to come out of the exhaust?

I've started noticing white smoke coming out of my vehicles exhaust for some reason and wondering if that's bad or is it normal to have white smoke coming from a vehicles exhaust?

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Oct 19, 2018 by Shelde (51,990 points)
First are you sure the white smoke isn't just steam coming out of your exhaust since the weather turning colder?

It's normal to see white steam coming from your exhaust since the hot exhaust hits the cold air.

But if it is actually white smoke coming from the exhaust then that is not normal and is due to coolant getting burned in the engine cylinders.

Coolant can get into the engine cylinders through cracked or warped cylinder heads, a cracked engine block, or head gasket failure caused by overheating of the engine.

A cracked engine head can also allow coolant to leak into one or more of the engine cylinders or into the combustion chamber of the engine causing the white smoke to come out of the exhaust when the fuel is burnt along with the coolant.

Check your engine oil and look for signs of coolant in the engine oil and if there is coolant in the oil you need to have the engine fixed before it leaves you stranded.

The coolant getting into the oil makes your oil less able to lubricate then engine which could cause your engine main bearing to go out and seize up your engine.

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