ive noticed lately that when i take off from a start, i will have a faint cloud of white smoke come from the exhaust. there is no noticeable smell and its not a lot of smoke. its only when i take off, not while driving down the road. i just put a new engine in it about 3 months ago(94 accord lx f22) and its been doing it for a little while now. the car runs fine too. any idea what could be wrong? thanks

 

when you say new engine do you mean

1. Straight from junk yeard?
2. Rebuilt?
3. or new right out of the crate?

WHITE smoke is almost always (like 99.9999999%) coolant getting into the exhaust. This can happen several ways (Listed from most common to least common)

1. Blown head gasket
2. Cracked head or cylander block
3. Craked intake manifold (not sure if F series has coolant that flows through intake). A lot of V6 and V8 cars do as this is the easiest way to get coolant from one side of the block to the other.

you can pull your plugs and inspect them and that will tell you for sure (the one with coolant residue on it)

 

yea it was from a junkyard. i thought maybe a headgasket too, but i saw no oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. i have no loss of water either. the level has stayed the same since i put water in it the day i put the engine in. the car doesnt run hot or is there a lack of performance.

 

you won't always get coolant in the oil with a blown gasket. It all depends upon where the gasket has failed or the block or head has cracked. You will need a cooling system pressure test done when it is cold to verify and also a compression test when it is cold.

let us know the results

 

does it happen every time you take off or just primarily in the morning? If it's just in the mornings or after first starting it and it goes away then it's most likely just condensation... if it's EVERY time you take off from a stoplight or something then I'd start leaning towards the coolant issue...

 

yea i wouldnt be too worried about it. it could very easily be condensation in the exhaust. if it goes away after the car warms up then you are most likely just fine.

 

it will do it when it first starts and when the engine is warmed up. it is only when i take off from a start too. i do alot of city driving and it will do it maybe one in every 15 take offs. its not too often but its enough for me to worry about it. i have no idea how to do a compression test. how is it done. i do seem to be losing a little oil also but its not dripping from under the car. i hope this isnt a disaster waiting to happen.

 

have a shop do a leakage and compression test,

 

does your exhaust smell sweet?

 

LOL!!- yes, but usually only after I've eaten ice cream.... sorry, couldn't help myself...

I had a '96 Camry that I sold a few years back that did that same thing every time I cranked it in the morning and sometimes when pulling away from a dead stop, just not with the frequency that you are talking about. Mine started doing it about 2 years after I got it and did it until I sold it. I had the car for about 7 years. I would definitely recommend getting the tests run just so you'll know, but I wouldn't recommend sniffing your tail pipe too much [sm=massbounce.gif]... your neighbors might look at you funny...