1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse White Smoke

Tiny
97CLIPSE
  • MEMBER
  • 1997 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 153,000 MILES
Hi, I own a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse and I just bought this car, I Tighted the tensenor pully for the drive belt because it was so loose that it wasent even grabbing the power steering or ALT. I fixed that though. Now, after driving the car for a couple days I've been noticing white smoke in my rearview mirror. I started the car up in my driveway and theres no smoke; I let it idle for about 5 mins then it started smoking a little bit like you'd see in winter, then 8 mins went by and it started smoking a lot. I checked the oil level and its fine, (maybe whoever sold the car to me toped it off because it burned oil?) She said she had a 2,000 repair overhaul on the engine last year. I check the coolant and its fine, for now. Im confused, could this be valve guides for oil or seals for coolant?
Monday, June 23rd, 2008 AT 11:56 PM

8 Replies

Tiny
BLACKOP555
  • MECHANIC
  • 10,371 POSTS
Whitesmoke is never oil it is coolant leaking.

Bluesmoke indicates the burning of oil.

Since it has had a overhaul before I would suspect an issue with the heads or headgasket.

Install a compression guage and go through the process and you can post the results back, perform a wet and dry test also.
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Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 AT 8:36 AM
Tiny
BLACKOP555
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Also could indicate excessive water in the fuel.

Another quick check of the headgasket is to remove radiator cap and look for bubbles. Or a green substance on teh oil fill cap, dipstick or on the bottom of the pcv valve.
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Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 AT 8:40 AM
Tiny
97CLIPSE
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  • 4 POSTS
I'm back and after getting the white smoke fixed. (It only smokes in the rain or after it has rained) *wired* My exhaust smokes white smoke up from where the headers meet the converter, I had it up on the lift and when I reved it to about 2 grand the converter looked like it was restricting like it was clogged or soemthing and throwing out white smoke. Thats the least of my worries now.

Now I have a ticking noise, slight tick at idle then it gets more rapid and amplifies as I apply throttle or let off the throttle, Lifters maybe? Checked my oil and it does have a valve cover leak or head gasket leak, oil is going somewhere but it still ticks when I have the oil where it should be.

If it is that how much will this cost me for labor, should I just do it myself? I take a tech class at school I dont feel like paying an arm and leg. Thanks blacktop
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Monday, July 21st, 2008 AT 12:39 PM
Tiny
BLACKOP555
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Well with a sound like that it is either the lifters or a bad exhaust leak, and since you have headers I wouldnt doubt that it could be the headers not torqued properly or are leaking.

Could be lifters, run vehicle with valve cover off, stand back oil will come out, hopefully does it sound louder wiht cover off?
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Monday, July 21st, 2008 AT 7:32 PM
Tiny
97CLIPSE
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
I just took the cover off but that was before I saw this post. Took it off and I was looking it over and everything seemed ok. I wasent sure I could run it, though. I'll try that tommorow, now that I think of it, I do have a really bad exhaust leak. Could that cause the engine to tick like that? That loud? I should just replace the exhaust and if its still ticking ill do what you said, thanks.
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Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 AT 9:40 PM
Tiny
BLACKOP555
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An exhaust leak can cause ticking like you wouldnt belive. I would check that first, especially at the header collector.
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 AT 7:00 AM
Tiny
97CLIPSE
  • MEMBER
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Wow, thanks, I never knew that. I hope its just the exhaust. Ill let you know in a week or so. Thanks for your courtesy, thats awesome
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 AT 9:19 PM
Tiny
BLACKOP555
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Thanks for the politeness

and thank you for choosing 2carpros for all your automotive repair needs.
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Thursday, July 24th, 2008 AT 1:01 PM

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