White smoke out of exhaust pipe

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LUVKYLEBRIECHRLE
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I just bought a 1998 Dodge Caravan with 67,000 miles on it . I noticed that it has white smoke coming out of it when it idles. Once on the rode and driving there is not any smoke unless I stop and it idles again. I called the previous owner and she said it has always done that the entire 7 years she has owned it. They had it regularly maintainced and no problems were noted. I was wondering what it could be that wouldn't have caused any major problems up to this point.
Sep 15, 2007 at 11:42 AM
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RASMATAZ
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
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[quote:509cbd0066="luvkylebriechrle"]I just bought a 1998 Dodge Caravan with 67,000 miles on it . I noticed that it has white smoke coming out of it when it idles. Once on the rode and driving there is not any smoke unless I stop and it idles again. I called the previous owner and she said it has always done that the entire 7 years she has owned it. They had it regularly maintainced and no problems were noted. I was wondering what it could be that wouldn't have caused any major problems up to this point.[/quote:509cbd0066]

White smokes points to burning coolant in the combustion chamber-how's the radiator coolant level and resevoir.

You might want to have the block and pressure tested to find what's wrong. It's normal to have it during an initial cold start but as soon as the engine comes up on its normal temperature is diminish, if not you have an engine internal problem.
Sep 15, 2007 at 12:19 PM
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