OK, i have a 1988 nissan maxima, with 151k miles, when driving down the road i get a big cloud of white smoke, now heres the catch, sometimes only sometimes it smokes. even at idle it sometimes smokes. im thinking its burning oil because i go through alot in it, and sometimes when driving along normally it shudders. The weird thing is i just took it to nissan for the injector recall and it never did anything of this sort until after i got it back from them. With the smoking i took out the plugs but there is no oil on any of them, and compression is 120 all around, so i dont know why it would be smoking from the exhaust. I just need some help on this one. Thanks

 

Blue smoke = burning oil
Black smoke = running rich
White smoke = burning coolant

 

Check coolant level. Is it low?
Check timing.
Does it smell when the car is smoking?

 

yes it does smell pretty bad, but the coolant level is fine, what would be the cause of coolant though. like i said i checked compression in everything. Thanks

 

Ack! 120psi each cylinder? That is really low to me. Obvious oil consumption. Have you check the oil to see if it looks like a chocolate shake consistency? Unfortunately, I hate to say this....but your motor might be on it's way out.

S

 

It sounds like a blown head gasket.
Check the oil how does it look.
Whatever you do don't add any aditives to the oil. Nothing that will stop the leak, or boost compression. They will make things worse.

 

to add to this...

if milkshakeish: is it sparkly?

 

I am having the same problem with my 3rd gen after working on the injectors. I am leaning towards a gasket problem in the intake area, since the upper intake has to be removed in order to get to the injectors. The other thing people are suggesting is that there may be a leaking injector or one that isn't sealed right and it's dumping too much gas in.
If yours wasn't doing it until after you got it back, you really need to take it back to the dealer and have them fix it. And if you do, let me know what the fix was!