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weird smelling white smoke?

8K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  Lude Acts 
#1 ·
I got my exhaust installed yesterday. new high flow cat, and a catback. Ever since i picked it up yesterday I've noticed when I come to a standstill at a light, that I can see white smoke coming from the exhaust, and it smells really weird, almost sweet like. I've never smelled it before... and I was thinking maybe it was because it's a brand new exhaust or that it's because of the welds. I also heard it could be a head gasket. I just don't know that to think. Does anyone have any clue what I am talking about?
 
#4 ·
whats your idle at? it might be a tad rich. also when theres white smoke it means your burning more gas, also with a catback you are going to get more of a smell because your emissions are more raw. so unless its a large trailing smoke cloud i wouldn't worry about it. also you can check to see if your head gasket is going by checking the oil, if its milky or the oil cap has a milky froth on it get your gasket checked out. if not then just keep enjoying the lude :cool:
 
#5 ·
New exhaust Will smell Funny. For a while. It is usually a distinct metallic burning smell. However unburned fuel is Black smoke (an will smell like gas). Same as burning oil (minus the gas smell). You'll get White smoke on a COLD day, a Humid day or when your burning something other than Air, Fuel, and Oil (in a prelude). To see if it is a head-gasket there are a few visual checks. Pull your oil dipstick does it have oil on it or the froth from a mocha late'? If it's the late' then your head gasket is gone. Check you RADIATOR coolant level not your overflow tank. wait for the engine to cool off. Take off the radiator cap is the coolant low? Empty? Full?? If it is full you should be fine. IF it is low fill it up and go for a ride, wait for it to cool off an check again. If it is empty well you should probably pay more attention to your car. Pull the OIL fill cap or 710 cap if you don't know where to find your oil cap. Look at the bottom is it coated with oil or brown foam? Beg borrow or steal a Compression tester. Follow the guideline for using it Which are generally: Remove Fuel Pump fuse start car wait for car to stall. Remove air intake tube, Open throttle Butterfly all the way and tie it in place with a piece of wire. Remove one spark plug insert compression tester plug. Crank engine for 3 seconds. Check pressure write it down relieve pressure and repeat 2 more times. Write down the pressure from each time. Average them out, and then repeat procedure with all remaining cylinders. They should be relatively close to each other. Like 205, 210, 195, 200. Etc. You will never see them exactly the same. However something like 205, 210, 100, 200 is definitely a problem.

And who is this Shimee nubelett? :bigthumb:
 
#7 ·
Thanks a lot for the responses guys. I checked my oil, no frothy appearance, radiator is full as well as reservoir, idle is around 700. I haven't noticed much white smoke today. I agree with azn, I think he's on the money!
 
#9 ·
when i worked at a bicycle shop a long time ago, i use to hate this customer who came in because he always asked me the dumbest questions and was super bossy with a attitude problem, so one day he came in and went off on me so i put a couple fish sticks into his bike frame, from then on his bike smelt like Ass when he brought it in.

just saying maybe someone stashed some rotten food under your seat or something.
 
#13 ·
my first thought was youre burning antifreeze but it would be a strange coincidence if you just happen to damage your head gasket just when you install a new exhaust system. maybe it does just have something to do with your new exhaust but just in case, keep your eye on your coolant levels to see if youre suddenly loosing antifreeze.
 
#14 ·
White smoke=antifreeze\coolant
Sweet smell=antifreeze\coolant

All signs point to a bad head gasket. My guess is that the shop that put your exhaust on let one of it's ricer employees take your car out and fry the **** outta the head gasket by driving like an ass to "test" the new exhaust, and ya know, "check for exhaust leaks." So yeah. Either that, or it was you. No offense, just saying. More than likely, it was the shop, because they don't know how to drive your car, nor do they care if they F it up.
 
#16 ·
Actually, it is. I'm not tryin to be a jerk. But you were probably just mistaken about the color of the smoke. It's an easy mistake to make if it is real sunny out, or whatever.

Black\grey smoke= fuel
Blue smoke=oil
White smoke=coolant

That's pretty much the general rule. I suppose there could be exceptions, but basically that's it.
*no e-beef
 
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