Just today, I notice that when I shutdown and restart the car, there seems to be "steam" coming out of my exhaust that smells like coolant (you know, that sweet smell). If I let the car sit for a while, I dont notice it.. It seems to only happen when the car is still warm. Do I have a blown head gasket?

 

Did you do a compresion test yet? This would show for sure if you do or not. Otherwise, there are ways for coolant to sneek into exhaust like that... turbo seals and the like.

HTH

Here is to hoping it is nothing bad!

 

My turbo is oil cooled (18G), so how else could coolant get into the motor? The most recent change is a new 1.6bar radiator cap (my old 1.1bar one wasn't holding pressure). Also, when I drive the car, I don't smell coolant, and no steam from the exhaust from what I can tell. Haven't done a compression test yet, don't have the tools.

 

Does the car overheat? Is there oil/radiator fluid mixing? Look all around the head gasket sandwiched in the motor for fluid leaking with a flashlight. I would check those first things. You can do a comp test yourself its really easy. Get some help to do a leak down test.

 

No, it doesn't overheat. The water temp doesn't move pass the middle, but the oil temp will go up to about 230F. I haven't done this in a while, but the last time i check my oil cap in the morning, there was no condensation. Also, looking at the coolant in the radiator, there doesn't seem to be any oil either.

 

No not a headgaskt. i just reread your first post. After driving it you shut it down for a while then restart and poof theres smoke. Then you leave it running and it all goes away. You turn it off and wait and turn it on again and poof again right?

If so its oil seeping into the cylinders from the valves when the car is shut off. It accumulates in teh cylinders and when you start again it goes poof right at the beginging and then its gone. Ive had this for a while. I cant get rid of it short a fresh oil change then it all comes back.

 

do a leakdown test, and open the rad cap while you're doing it and see if you have any bubbles popping out of the rad

stan

 

If it was oil, the smoke would be blueish, right? It doesn't smell like oil, it smells like coolant. I'll pick up some tools this weekend and do a compression test and see what happens..

Any other ideas, guys?!

 

not necessarily oil looks greyish-bluish to me. Do what Stan said to know for sure but if youre not overheating then I highly doubt its the hg. Also if it only happens during start up after a rest then probably a valve seal or smoething. Are you smelling the smoke directly or just around the car? maybe you have a broken collant hose too? Hard to tell from here.


[Modified by S03Burner, 11:53 PM 3/12/2003]

 

I am smelling it from the rear, I start the car, and jump out and sniff like a dog. After about 3 seconds, the smoke (it actually is more like steam than smoke) disappears and I can't smell it any more. I have a feeling when I do a compression check, it will come back good.... then I am lost as to what it could be!

Since coolant flows through the head, could something have cracked in the head and cause the coolant to leak into the cylinder?

Thanks and keep the suggestions coming!

 

coolant doesn't flow in the head, only under it.

You may just have a build up of water after the car is shut down and thats the white smoke.

 

Okay, I did a compression test today. The motor was a little cold (ran it about 3 mins about an hour before the test). Results:

1: 220
2: 215
3: 212
4: 220

The motor is a 2.0 liter b18c1 with a compression ratio of around 9.3:1. The head gasket is a Cometic and I think it is a 3 or 4mm? This morning, when I started the car, I did *not* notice any white smoke, it only seems to happen after I've run the car for a while, and then shut it down, and restart it right away.

So, any ideas? The compression test looks okay to me...

 

just a stab in the dark, but what weight oil are you using? I noticed that my car was really hadr to start when I used heavier weights...lighter weights fired right up....might want to check the plugs too

 

Plugs look okay, and I am running 5w30 Mobile 1.