thedon360

Ok so I just replaced the manifold/cat converter. Been having some white smoke coming from under the hood and out the tailpipe. If your facing the front of the car the white smoke seems to be coming from under the cat converter on the right side. Sometimes if the car has been driven for a long period of time. Say a hour and a half straight and then it sits for a 2 hours or so it takes it a long time to restart again when the key is turned in the ignition. I have to hold down on the gas for it to catch and start up. Once up and running everything is fine. I am thinking a cracked head gasket however someone told me if the white smoke only comes out when the car first starts then quickly goes away it might be a coolant leak. In my case the white smokes usually is gone and not seen after a minute or so. I also get the strong smell of coolant when I do a cold or warm start. My question is how would I find this coolant leak? Now when the car has been sitting for a long period of time....say like a day everything is normal.

Side note - before I changed my cat/manifold I had the p0420 code. I also had a crack in my manifold. However once I left the car to sit in my driveway for about 4 days straight. Started it up and drove not even 15 minutes and the check engine light went away. I am guessing I have a bad coolant leak and it is hitting the cat somewhere and just evaporating into the white smoke. Or is this the sign of a cracked head gasket. Also for some reason the coolant is not being sucked up from the reservoir. I have to refill it by pouring it into the radiator myself and then bleeding out the air bubbles.

Gasket or leak from one of the hoses? Is there a way to run a test to determine this?

warriorautotech

you have a head gasket leaking. you can take it to a shop and have them test for hydrocarbons in the cooling system, but from the symptoms you describe, you've blown the head gasket. possibly an external leak also, maybe water pump?