White smoke coming from the exhaust

Tiny
STEVIED1512
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 VOLVO XC90
  • 2.9L
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • MANUAL
  • 103,000 MILES
Intermittently, when idle the car will start to smoke and then as soon as you pull away and start driving, it stops. Moreover, when at cruising speed it can sometimes feel a bit ‘lumpy’.
Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 AT 12:40 PM

2 Replies

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

White smoke from the exhaust is usually a sign of burning coolant in the combustion chambers of the engine. This usually happens from a blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head, or cracked engine block. Sometimes, depending on your vehicle, a coolant crossover tube in the intake manifold will leak coolant into the intake and it will be introduced into the combustion chambers that way. A little bit of steam is normal for a modern vehicle to make when it is running properly from the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons to water and less harmful waste products. he exhaust heats up and turns the water to steam, which looks like white smoke. If you are burning coolant, there will be a noticeable loss in coolant and the smoke will have a sweet smell to it. Here is a link down below explaining everything in more detail:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/white-smoke-or-steam-coming-from-the-exhaust-pipe

Please go through this guide and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 AT 3:46 PM
Tiny
JIS001
  • MECHANIC
  • 3,411 POSTS
I just wanted to jump in as well. Was that video taken early in the morning? When the catalytic converter does it's job it is normal to see steam coming out the exhaust. The catalyst is turning the byproduct into water. All vehicles will produce steam during warm up. If you have more information let us know please but steam out the exhaust is normal.
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Thursday, November 7th, 2019 AT 11:17 PM

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