1997 Mercury Sable White Smoke out of exhaust pipe

Hi there,

the first thing to do is get the fault code read, this will be held in the memory and can be retrieved. See what set the fault and have it rectified. As for the white smoke, check that the engine id not loosing coolant, as this is the most common cause of white exhaust smoke, coolent leaking into a combustion chamber.

Mark (mhpautos)

Definitely check that engine code. You may want to return the car, to the person who you bought it from as in some states there is a 30-day Lemon Law.

As per the white smoke, I agree that coolant is likely entering your manifold/engine from either a blown head gasket, or because of the first problem, there may be a boil-over situation that is allowing hot steam to enter the exhaust. But I'd be cautious on keeping that car, as a head gasket change is not the best thing to have to deal with, especially if the engine block has become cracked or warped. I've had this problem before and it's very time consuming.