i am purchasing a car and the buyer says that the car blows a little white smoke after driving, not on startup. the motor only has 600 miles on it, and he says it's because the rings aren't fully seated, but i don't think that has anything to do with it. white smoke is usually coolant, and if rings aren't seated right isn't it usually blue smoke you'll see from burning oil? anyone have any idea what it could be?

here's the motor:
2.0L gsr
84mm weisco pistons
manley turbo tuff rods
je iron sleeves
acl bearings
ati damper pulley
itr oil pump
arp head stud
ge 84mm hg

 

sounds like a problem, run a compression and leakdown test, since the last thing you want is a split cylinder. Good luck.

 

Rings are pretty much seated after running for 20 minutes or so. If it's white and it evaporates real fast after leaving the muffler, then he's leaking coolant into the combustion chamber. Could be a variety of things such as a sunken sleeve... bad headgasket, etc.

 

****. that is NOT what i wanted to hear. this could be a deal breaker. how much smoke should cause worry?

i'm definitely doing a compression test when i get there. anything else that i could easily check in less than an hour?

edit: ok, as long as the compression is fine i doubt it is anything major. perhaps just an imperfection somewhere on the head or block which could be causing a comprimise in the headgasket seal. i don't care if the headgasket needs help, i just don't want to end up footing the bill for a rebuild.


Modified by SM00TH976 at 1:45 PM 5/12/2006

 

results?

 

no not compression test. LEAK DOWN TEST FTW

 

i may do a leakdown if the compression test looks bad, but if the compression is fine then the leakdown should be fine too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SM00TH976 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i may do a leakdown if the compression test looks bad, but if the compression is fine then the leakdown should be fine too.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wrong the leak down is more accurate in pin pointing the problem. I say stay away from buying used built motors you could be buying someone else problems and creating a bigger headache for yourself. Proceed with caution

 

im guessing head gasket, or poor sleeve install or sleeve itself since it was bored out to 84

 

i think its normal.

when i had my gsr motor rebuilt it threw out a little puff of white smoke when i would shift gears at first. it did it for about 800 miles or so and then it just went away.

 

i'm not really buying a lot of what's being said.

if the problems were as major as what you guys are saying the car would run like **** and there would be oil/coolant mixing like crazy.

i'm aware that a leakdown test would be more accurate at pinpointing the problem, but if the compression is fine then the leakdown would be fine as well. a leakdown test will tell you where the problem is, a compression test will tell you if there is a problem in the first place.

if this guy had a dropped sleeve there would be a lot more symptoms than just a puff of white smoke. the car would run like ****.

 

a compression test wont really tell you anything....

i blew all 4 ringlands on my b16. 2 of the 4 compression test came out fine 190psi

 

did a leakdown test tell you otherwise?

 

did you do wot, when i belw my 3of my ringlands on a gsr it showed up 190-70-60-55

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by komat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a compression test wont really tell you anything....

i blew all 4 ringlands on my b16. 2 of the 4 compression test came out fine 190psi</TD></TR></TABLE>

no you're wrong...if you blew all 4 of your ringland and still pushing 190 psi then you got a broken gauge..you will loose compression w/ broken ringlands..and if theres a bent valves a compression test will show up alittle weak too...all a leak down test do is show exactly wheres the problem...but theres other things you can check before a leak down check.

 

THE WHITE SMOKE WILL GO AWAY, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT

 

compression was within 4 psi across all 4 cylinders.