CatmanV2
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White smoke would possibly indicate a coolant leak into combustion, do you think?
C
3200 Starting problem....
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White smoke would possibly indicate a coolant leak into combustion, do you think?
C
saintetienne
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yes , that was I was thinking , along with the spitting misfire sound on the video ,the temperature sensitivity and lack of pot related emls .
saintetienne
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As said above I hope it ain't but worth eliminating . Run it up during the day and leave overnight before Con's suggested check .
This sounds scary to me... but the white smoke just happened when the engine marginally started... if I warmed up the engine and the engine start normally, no white smoke comes out....
Will try the test Conaero suggested tomorrow (wait the car cool off)... however for the spark plug stuff, may need to get back to my mechanic as I don't have the spark plug tool....
saintetienne
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I had a car previously where if the car was warm the water ingress into the bore was minimal (maybe evaporated due to temparature) but overnight it seeped in and affected the car from cold start . I hope this isn't the case but the symptoms and video are a bit remeniscent for me . Sorry meant to ask as before - does it use any coolant ??
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I've started the engine this morning after 15 hours cooled down.... it ran perfectly..... however, white smoke still coming out when the car was not too hot, the white smoke gone after the car reach to its normal working temperature at around 70 degree celsius.
I've checked the coolant, it seems to be at normal level and I have to check it again a few days later to see whether it drops...
By linking the symptoms, it sounds pretty similar and I think it could be possible, since the water leaking could be by small amount, so, if the engine is hot, the water vaporized. If the engine was not cooled off for a longer period of time, it won't affect the engine too much... but if I leave the car not running for more than a day or two, the amount of water could affect the starting and need to wait till the water vaporized before running normally....
Believe I better bring it to my mechanics to check on the spark plug to see whether there is any sign of burning coolant...
saintetienne
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I did not want to worry you unneccessarily ! But my car was noticably using coolant and I was topping up a bit - if you took a plug out after car had been setting for a time and cranked the engine then you could see a small amount of water expelled .
ledlights
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Hi, I don't know whether anyone else has suggested this but I think it would be worth doing a compression test on the cylinders along with a coolant hydrocarbon check to look for a failed head gasket. The compression test may well show which cylinder is to blame and if there is hydrocarbon residue in the coolant it's pretty certain you've found the fault? The high idle speed has me puzzled unless it's the ECU trying to compensate for a misfire..... High idle speed is often due to a loose plenum plate under the inlet manifold too on these cars.
Good luck on finding the fault.
Steve
Good luck on finding the fault.
Steve
Thanks all!
So far, my car had been started quite nice in the past few days, even I left it not moving for over 24 hours, no hard start up and the engine was not shaking, the engine sound was nice. However, what I noticed was the exhaust still came up with some white smoke when the engine's temperature gauge pointed to far left (i.e. lower than 50 degree celsius). Once the engine was warm, the white smoke gone. Since my car parked quite near to the wall at the back, I even notice that there was water condensing on the wall where the exhaust pointed to.... you may see the picture.
Couldn't notice the coolant level drop (of course, it could be just because of the drop was too small, so that I cannot notice). Planning to leave the car not moving for a few more days to see whether the start will become hard again.
Anyway, also contacted my mechanics to ask him to check it out after his long holiday....Thanks for your suggestions on spark plug and compression test, will check with my mechanics to make sure he will do that to confirm whether there is leakage.
So far, my car had been started quite nice in the past few days, even I left it not moving for over 24 hours, no hard start up and the engine was not shaking, the engine sound was nice. However, what I noticed was the exhaust still came up with some white smoke when the engine's temperature gauge pointed to far left (i.e. lower than 50 degree celsius). Once the engine was warm, the white smoke gone. Since my car parked quite near to the wall at the back, I even notice that there was water condensing on the wall where the exhaust pointed to.... you may see the picture.
Couldn't notice the coolant level drop (of course, it could be just because of the drop was too small, so that I cannot notice). Planning to leave the car not moving for a few more days to see whether the start will become hard again.
Anyway, also contacted my mechanics to ask him to check it out after his long holiday....Thanks for your suggestions on spark plug and compression test, will check with my mechanics to make sure he will do that to confirm whether there is leakage.
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CatmanV2
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Water in exhaust is a by product of combustion. I read once that burning a gallon of fuel puts a gallon of water out of the exhaust. That sounds about right to me. The point being I wouldn't get too worried about what's condensing out of the tail pipes, you're always going to get some of that, I suspect. At least until the exhaust system is nice and warm 
C
C
Ummmmm.... It's been a long time... I just wanna make sure my problem really solved before I post... Just put some writing here as a reference for others, just in case, similar situation happens. Please pardon me, it’s a long story....
Well... since I could, sometimes, start up my car, I planned to drive my car to my mechanic to solve the starting problem. It started marginally, and I tried to let it run for a while..... from my experience, when the engine temperature rise up to a certain degree, the engine will become smoother... so, I let it run. However, I noticed that the temperature gauge didn't move even the engine should be hot. I believe that the temperature gauge could have a problem, so, I started to drive my car to my mechanics believing the temperature is ok... unluckily, just few blocks away from my home, steam came up from my engine room when I was waiting for traffic lights. I swiftly pulled my car off the road and stopped the engine and a while later, all my coolant spilled out on the ground.... obviously, the engine overheated and I have to tow my car to the mechanics...
First of all, my mechanic had to repair the coolant stuff, luckily, it is just a few cramps; and I told him that the temperature gauge have to change as well as it didn't move at all. Other than that, in order to tackle the starting problem, he changed the camshaft sensor and it helps. The starting problem solved after it was changed.
However, right after I took my car back, I stopped my car for a while on my way back home to get something and started it again, an error code appeared, P0330, which related to Knock Sensor. Since I have an OBDII reader, I tried to clear the code and see whether it is a false alarm. The code will appear, but not always... I searched on the web and noted that, in fact, the code comes up right after starting up the electricity, even before the engine started, it comes out when the voltage goes to the sensor is too high or too low... Well... I felt better since it is not a warning about my engine got a knock problem, it could just be the sensor problem. Then, I notice that the engine temperature rose even over 90 degrees Celsius (which should not be the case in my pervious experience), but since I was quite near to home at that moment, I still reached home safely. When I stopped my car, I can hear that the fans didn't move.
Then I called up my mechanics since the fault code and the temperature problem needed to be solved and I tried to drive my car to the mechanics, hoping that the wind can help cooling down the engine down, but I failed... I noticed that the temperature was too high and I did not have confident that I can make all the way to my mechanic, so, I have to park my car on the road side and tow it to my mechanic again... sigh....
My mechanic then called me saying that, the fuse for the fans blew. He also said that the fuse for the cooling fans got quite a high current value, it's a 50A, so, it may indicate the cooling fans was too old and needed more power to run which blew the fuse. So, he recommended changing the cooling fans...
Man! The cooling fans are quite expensive items from the dealer... luckily, my mechanic managed to find suitable fans from other shops rather than buying them from the dealers. He did it and the fans costed me just around 125 pounds sterling, way cheaper than that from the dealers... He even said that the motors are exactly the same as the original one. Of course, he had to do some modifications, say, changing the blades of the fans (since the blade size doesn't match, so, have to use the blades from the old fans) and the power connector. He also changed the fan resistors as he noticed that resistors worn out quite a lot.
My mechanic also said that one of my fuses, which is a 25A fuse that connecting to the Catalyser temperature control unit blew… He tested, that, whenever he pulled out this fuse, the P0330 code would appear easily… Dunno whether it got any direct relationship, but, after replacing the blown fuse, the code fixed.
Well…. A long story with different problems blended together. But one thing in common is, the electronics in this car really the got some problem, especially after more than 10 years.
So far, my car runs fine now… except there is some noticeable engine vibration… not really very shaky, but… still noticeable when the car does not move. It could be caused by the coil pack problem… since I changed one of the eight coil packs due to a previous problem a year ago. At that moment, that mechanic (not the one I am using now) told me that better to change the eight coil packs together, but, it costs a fortune, especially, if I am going to buy it from the local dealer. So, this time, I ordered the rest of the coil packs from Eurospare, plus a pair of knock sensors, service kit, which includes oil filter, air filters, fuel filter, timing belt, poly v belt, etc., and also some other minor stuff to save the postage fee.
Stuff arrived; however, haven’t put the coil packs on yet, not sure it cures the problem, will see….
Well... since I could, sometimes, start up my car, I planned to drive my car to my mechanic to solve the starting problem. It started marginally, and I tried to let it run for a while..... from my experience, when the engine temperature rise up to a certain degree, the engine will become smoother... so, I let it run. However, I noticed that the temperature gauge didn't move even the engine should be hot. I believe that the temperature gauge could have a problem, so, I started to drive my car to my mechanics believing the temperature is ok... unluckily, just few blocks away from my home, steam came up from my engine room when I was waiting for traffic lights. I swiftly pulled my car off the road and stopped the engine and a while later, all my coolant spilled out on the ground.... obviously, the engine overheated and I have to tow my car to the mechanics...
First of all, my mechanic had to repair the coolant stuff, luckily, it is just a few cramps; and I told him that the temperature gauge have to change as well as it didn't move at all. Other than that, in order to tackle the starting problem, he changed the camshaft sensor and it helps. The starting problem solved after it was changed.
However, right after I took my car back, I stopped my car for a while on my way back home to get something and started it again, an error code appeared, P0330, which related to Knock Sensor. Since I have an OBDII reader, I tried to clear the code and see whether it is a false alarm. The code will appear, but not always... I searched on the web and noted that, in fact, the code comes up right after starting up the electricity, even before the engine started, it comes out when the voltage goes to the sensor is too high or too low... Well... I felt better since it is not a warning about my engine got a knock problem, it could just be the sensor problem. Then, I notice that the engine temperature rose even over 90 degrees Celsius (which should not be the case in my pervious experience), but since I was quite near to home at that moment, I still reached home safely. When I stopped my car, I can hear that the fans didn't move.
Then I called up my mechanics since the fault code and the temperature problem needed to be solved and I tried to drive my car to the mechanics, hoping that the wind can help cooling down the engine down, but I failed... I noticed that the temperature was too high and I did not have confident that I can make all the way to my mechanic, so, I have to park my car on the road side and tow it to my mechanic again... sigh....
My mechanic then called me saying that, the fuse for the fans blew. He also said that the fuse for the cooling fans got quite a high current value, it's a 50A, so, it may indicate the cooling fans was too old and needed more power to run which blew the fuse. So, he recommended changing the cooling fans...
Man! The cooling fans are quite expensive items from the dealer... luckily, my mechanic managed to find suitable fans from other shops rather than buying them from the dealers. He did it and the fans costed me just around 125 pounds sterling, way cheaper than that from the dealers... He even said that the motors are exactly the same as the original one. Of course, he had to do some modifications, say, changing the blades of the fans (since the blade size doesn't match, so, have to use the blades from the old fans) and the power connector. He also changed the fan resistors as he noticed that resistors worn out quite a lot.
My mechanic also said that one of my fuses, which is a 25A fuse that connecting to the Catalyser temperature control unit blew… He tested, that, whenever he pulled out this fuse, the P0330 code would appear easily… Dunno whether it got any direct relationship, but, after replacing the blown fuse, the code fixed.
Well…. A long story with different problems blended together. But one thing in common is, the electronics in this car really the got some problem, especially after more than 10 years.
So far, my car runs fine now… except there is some noticeable engine vibration… not really very shaky, but… still noticeable when the car does not move. It could be caused by the coil pack problem… since I changed one of the eight coil packs due to a previous problem a year ago. At that moment, that mechanic (not the one I am using now) told me that better to change the eight coil packs together, but, it costs a fortune, especially, if I am going to buy it from the local dealer. So, this time, I ordered the rest of the coil packs from Eurospare, plus a pair of knock sensors, service kit, which includes oil filter, air filters, fuel filter, timing belt, poly v belt, etc., and also some other minor stuff to save the postage fee.
Stuff arrived; however, haven’t put the coil packs on yet, not sure it cures the problem, will see….