Ok so recently my car is smoking a lot on startup. Every startup has smoke, cold starts have a lot of smoke. Car smokes most of the time I believe and now I'm worried it could be a head gasket issue or a cracked block. Yeah jumping the gun a little but I'm worried. Any thoughts? Just the cold? I don't think so since it's just started recently...not sure where to go from here.

 

does it smell like burnt oil or gas.

 

Maybe its just the cold weather.....Maybe you're running too rich. Have you smelled your exhaust? Does it smell normal, like gas, or like burned oil?

 

LOL, Nice...In the same minute!

 

ha ha we both said the same thing.

 

IN for a response for the Thread starter....

 

I have the same thing going on; at startup a bunch of white smoke comes out. I park my car in a temperature controlled parking garage so I don't think the cold outside temperature is the issue. Since the smoke appeared I have done the following in the name of preventative maintenance:
-Replaced fuel filter
-Replaced PCV valve
-Cleaned IACV
-Spark plugs
-Panel air filter
-Oil/oil filter

And the problem remains. The smoke doesn't have much of a smell IMO. I honestly don't think it is a head gasket or cracked block issue. My cooling system was pressure tested and failed a year ago, so I flushed the system and used head gasket sealer, flushed the system again, and have since passed a pressure test. And still, the smoke appears.

From what I have read the smoke seems to be due to valve lash; from the chilton's manual page 1-28:
"Maximas with the VG30E and VE30DE engines use hydraulic type camshaft followers which are not adjustable. If the engine exhibits excessive valve noise this may indicate valve train wear or clogged camshaft adjusters. These procedures apply only to the VQ30DE engines." It then goes on to describe how to check the intake and exhaust valves.

Anyone else having this issue? Any other thougts or suggestions?

 

unless it's an excessive amount of smoke you should be fine I would say wait till the winter is up and if it is still happening you should worry then.

 

Change your plugs to NGK ?
I had some autolite in mines for the longest time and I think that caused this white smoke. After changing to NGK vpower, it went away.

 

I was noticing white smoke and It's cold here but I let the car warm-up and I still see white smoke. I am worried I was thinking of a head gasket problem or a cracked engine block. The question Is If I had a cracked block wouldn't the oil mix up with the coolant and the oil will look milky,as far as the smelling the exhaust It smells like burnt oil with a little gas and I am sure The intake and the exhaust valves will have to be replaced that's If this is the cause. I will check again before I decide to change the valves or any thoughts of what It could be?

 

well i do have a lot of smoke. The way it's going does not seem like its the weather. My roommate and I agree it smells like oil. Sparks plugs are fairly new. Almost time for an oil change. But thats about it. Nothing else I can think of that would cause this out of the blue.

 

is there any smoke coming from the engine is the car throwing any codes.

 

Does the smoking stop after the car is warmed up?
Does it comsume coolant or oil?

If the smoking stops after warm up, and your not comsuming coolant & oil, leave it alone.

A good puff of smoke happening only during start up indicates worn valve guide seals. Rebuilding the heads will correct that.

 

Check your oil to see if it is milky white and brown. If it is, than it is most likely your head gasket. If it goes away, it is possible you have a very small leak that is letting a small amount of coolant into one of your cylinders. once the car is running and the head/block heats up thus expanding, it is just enough to close up the leaking area OR it is still leaking but is such a small leak the smoke is almost non existant because your car is burning off the coolant as it slowly leaks as opposed to letting it accumulate during the time it is parked.

I have been a member here forever and i can finally post...

 

Just for posterity, leaky valve seals will cause a puff of BLUE smoke.

 

no blue. Just a large white cloud. I made sure to pay attention to the blue.

 

True, thank you for that addition.

 

im assuming smoke is coming from the muffler.!!!!?...is it.you didnt say where its coming from, is this from when you open the hood or in the cabin or wat.?

 

smoke is from the muffler yes. I realized i had no coolant so I filled it up and we'll see if that helps.

 

ohh,ok.well let us know.

 

Cdg2125, is this what the smoke looks like? Below is a clip of my car on cold startup. You'll notice a puff of smoke right at startup and then one when I blip the throttle...

 

Having no coolant will not cause the car to smoke. besides, you probably do have coolant if you look in your radiator, your resivoir is probably just empty. if you really had no coolant you wouldnt have things like heat, and your engine would overheat, you would warp your heads.

to reiterate, check your oil... if you are LOW on coolant, you may have a leak into one of your cylinders causing the coolant burn off at start up. even if your oil is fine, you may still have a small leak

or... dont listen to the guy with 3 posts.

 

ive heard this mentioned before on the 4th gen forums

nothing but NGK in our cars.....

 

the coolant was my concern because I've had to refill the radiator and resevior twice in a few months...thats why I was worried. I shouldn't be having to refill like that. But I did refill and no smoke on startup this morning. So I don't know now.

 

Do you just keep adding water, or are you putting coolant in?

Now that you say you have to keep adding coolant/water it only further confirms my beliefs you are leaking coolant into your cylinders causing the smoke.

i bought my car in '03 and have never had to add coolant, furthermore, my car has never blown white smoke. However, If I was blowing white smoke the first thing that would come to mind would be, "hmmm, i bet i am low on coolant because I have a leak" unless a squirrel is sneaking into your engine compartment with a straw and drinking it at night, which is totally ridiculous being that 1. The squirrel probably would look funny buying straws from a store 2. Would have to be able to unscrew your reservoir cap 3. You live in CT, so he is probably hibernating...

All joking aside...

See, coolant runs all throughout your engine block, to include your heads, water pump, heater core and on some cars around the throttle body to increase the temperature of air coming into your engine (this is to increase engine efficiency and gas mileage).

When the coolant runs through your heads, which is mounted to your block it can tend to leak if your gasket is starting to go bad. Gravity than takes the leaking coolant and pulls it downwards in the form of drips or a small stream or a flow depending on the severity of the gasket leak. Coolant than accumulates in your cylinders and just waits for your car to start. when you start your car and your pistons start moving and spark plugs start sparking and fuel injectors start fueling, that coolant is burned and/or blown out of the cylinders through the exhaust port which is attached to... you guessed it, your header, to your y-pipe or what have you, to your muffler and finally to your exhaust pipe. At this time the coolant burn out in, what just so happens to be the color in question.... WHITE....

I am sorry if I failed to explain it better in my previous posts. I am new to this car thing.... not really.

But really, I hope I have helped.

EDITED FOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR

 

yeah man you helped. I understand how the coolant system works and all and understand that it is probably leaking. I just don't want to believe it because that means major repairs if it is. I only replaced coolant, not water. Well I'll check the coolant in a few days and see where I'm at. All I know is that the car didn't smoke today after I replaced coolant so I'm not positive on the leak or not. I will know in a few days I'm sure. It might be time to run this motor to the ground and invest in a new max.

 

okay try this. get the torque specification for your head, and tighten the bolts. that fix is free, and it may solve your problem. if it is as minor as it sounds, it will take you a long time to run it into the ground. remember, your still driving a maxima. i have put my car through a lot. i think if i my car fell off an 80 story building and than exploded, i could probably wait till the fire burned out and drive away.

 

yeah VQ man. Tough a$$ engines. I'll see what happens.

 

LOL @ retorquing the head bolts.

First off, they are torque to yield. Ummm yea..

Secondly, getting to them involves removing the cams, and that's not a 3-4 or even 5 hour job. It'll take you the better part of a day to get it done, and that's hoping no oil leaks have sprung up at the timing covers. Not for the faint of heart and all for naught... If you're gonna go through that much trouble, might as well replace the HG's.

 

are you serious about it being that hard at getting to the head bolts? if it wasnt so cold outside i would go look for myself...

and are you sure about the vq calling for yield contolled tightening. i guess im not really questioning you, i had no clue though

 

truth be told guys, I'm going to check oil and all and the coolant levels and if it persists bring it to my family friend shop and have him take a look. I just don't have the time now to go in the engine and examine. Or the expertise in the engine.

 

Yea VQ's have wet timing covers. That's where all the extra labor comes in, for the most part.

And the head bolts are sho-nuff TTY. 72 ft-lb, loosen, 25-33 ft-lb, 90-95°, 90-95°. <3

 

so after sitting in the garage all day today, cold startup had no smoke again. Just thought I'd relay some more info and see what was thought. Thinking maybe I have a radiator leak. Havent checked oil yet so I will post again when i check that.

 

I am wondering If you have the white smoke and the exhaust Is dripping water Is that ok, I sometimes rev the car and I see the water shooting out of the exhaust and the driveway Is wet with water. It's like a super soker gun squirting.

 

condensation ^^

 

Sounds like a bad waterpump.

Check the ground for coolant by the passenger side wheel.

 

ok so i checked the coolant today. Seems to be at the same level. Oil stick looks completely fine. Not sure what to think now. Maybe it's a slow leak?

 

Take this for what its worth. I had a '97 max come into the shop a couple months ago, reading random misfires (although it ran perfectly smooth) and smoking white on startup, and sometimes randomly while driving. Ended up being the MAF sensor. Just a thought, you didn't say anything about a check engine light. but all your other symptoms sound familiar,,,this one had LOTS of condensation from the exhaust too.

 

no engine light. Had one and it went away. Its been the EVAP system for awhile so I never check it. Will do if it comes back. I might need to try a new maf.

 

also forgot to inform that I have some oil in my tb. Now I know some build ups in the tb are oil and gas fumes and all but this is usually wet everytime I check it. Wasnt sure if it could connect. I thought it might.