According to bystanders...there were clouds of white smoke that would come from my tailpipe during a race. Someone told me that perhaps it was because i was running lean at higer RPMs. But I run premium fuel on a near stock motor, so how could this be the problem? Please flame me if I have no idea what it is to be running "lean".

 

Running lean means too much air and not enough fuel, that kind of condition will kill your motor VERY fast...

List your exact setup.

 

well.. it would help to mention what year and motor is in your car

 

white smoke occures usually when you are burning coolant.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by majeed11 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">white smoke occures usually when you are burning coolant.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Its a 90 ls with 132xxx miles. Nothing on it except for cold air intake and exhaust.

 

Check your radiator for oil in it. It floats on top of coolant so, you will see it.

 

how does oil get into the radiator?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xstalkrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how does oil get into the radiator?</TD></TR></TABLE>
BHG

Edit: I forgot not everyone knows the acronyms. BHG = blown head gasket.

 

Might want to replace your pcv valve, although it should be a bluish puff of smoke.

 

ok ill have that checked out. Another thing, I shouldnt be running lean with premium octane gas right? Flame me if higher octane has nothing to do with how rich or lean I am running.

 

i had the same problem.
here's a pic someone took of me at my last autocross last weekend.

I have a 95 GSR.
JRSC, 6psi running stock injectors, JR FMU, timing back to 7 degrees, kami 4-1, carsound, 2.5" piping & dynomax muffler.

at first i thought that was smoke from my tires cuz after the run, they were scalding hot to the touch almost since I did a really big burnout before each of my runs, and that was towards the end of my lap.

But my friends who were watching told me it was coming out of my exhaust, mainly going to around 3/4 throttle to WOT, to 3/4 blipping it around turns, but that on straightaways it wasnt making much noticable smoke at all, only on turns...

 

HeadGasket!

 

ok....but the chance of me running lean is next to none with 93 octane right? Im not running anything FI or major horsepower gains.

 

A higher octane has nothing to do with a lean or rich situation.

 

What causes a lean or rich situation?

 

It is when you are putting a load on the engine, like racing, and you are not getting enough fuel. That can be caused by a clogging fuel filter, a bad injector, a fuel pump that is getting ready to go. But the first thing I would do is just check your oil. If the oil ont eh dipstick is milky colored, you have a blown headgasket and that is the problem. The only problem with that theory is that normally if you have a blown head gasket, it will smoke no matter what RPM or load you are placing on the engine. When was the last time you had the fuel filter changed?

 

i would do a compression check just to be safe.

 

Burning synthetic oil will make white smoke.

 

i have the same exact problem, when my car is running at high rpm's it leave a cloud of smoke behind. i have a 92 ls, then engine is stock but it is not the original motor.