White smoke was coming out of the exhaust

2003 CHEVROLET CAVALIER
145,000 MILES • 2.2L • 4 CYL • FWD • AUTOMATIC
Avatar
BABYJAY531
  • MEMBER
  • 89 POSTS
So today I drove my car and this white smoke was coming out of the exhaust like it looked like the car was on fire that is how much smoke was coming out. so I got out and went to the muffler and has oil dripping out of it. I also saw oil in the air cleaner vent. Help I am stuck.
Jul 22, 2017 at 6:25 PM
Advertisement
Avatar
CARADIODOC
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 34,308 POSTS
Perform a chemical test to check for a leaking cylinder head gasket. White smoke is caused by burning engine coolant in the engine.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Please let us know what you find.
Jul 22, 2017 at 6:57 PM
Avatar
HARRY P
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 2,292 POSTS
White smoke coming from the tailpipe was probably actually steam. A symptom of a blown head gasket, caused by overheating the engine. The oily looking stuff coming out of the pipe was probably water/coolant that had gotten dirtied up by all of the dirt and other gunk that has built up in the exhaust pipe. If you check your oil now, I will bet that it looks more like mud or chocolate milk, because coolant has mixed with the engine oil.

Check the oil and let us know what you see.
Jul 22, 2017 at 7:01 PM
Advertisement
Avatar
BABYJAY531
  • MEMBER
  • 89 POSTS
It looks like black mud.
Jul 22, 2017 at 8:19 PM
Avatar
STRAILER
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 53,870 POSTS
Hello,

Please run this test which will confirm the head gasket failure.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Please let us know what you find.
Jul 24, 2017 at 12:30 PM
Avatar
HARRY P
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 2,292 POSTS
I'm going to go ahead and say that the gasket is likely blown. If you're lucky, the head itself isn't warped or cracked and you haven't done too much damage to the block running the engine with coolant/water in the oil. Go ahead and confirm the blown gasket, and then start looking for a mechanic to do it.
Jul 24, 2017 at 6:59 PM