I have a 97 Max that has 100,000 miles on it. I just recently bought it so I do not know the history. I did a CARFAX on it and it was all ok.
The problem is occasionally it will blow out white smoke. It does not do it all the time.
Sometimes I will here a rattle coming from the head area (valves) and then the smoke will come out and then go away.
Sometimes it will blow out a little at start up but not all the time.
I am thinking that it is not a ring problem but more a vavle problem.
The car seems to run very well. It gets good MPG (25-27) and does not rattle but occasionally and usually when accelerating. It will not do it when sitting idle and reving the engine.
I have searched through many of the messages but have not seen anything about this trouble from anybody else.

I am curious to know if anybody else has had similar problem?
Does anyone have suggestions on what I should do?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

White smoke results from a coolant leak. You need to get this investigated quickly. If you have a bad head gasket, that's not too bad. But, it could be a cracked head, which is a big ($$) problem.

 

I don't think that it is that type. I think that it is more oil burning smoke so maybe "white" was not the best description. It is more of the dirty white type.
Thanks for the response though.

 

Well, if you're pretty sure it's oil smoke, that's a different story.

The smoke coming with a rattle would suggest a bad valve guide or seal.