White smoke with sweet smell on cold starts

Tiny
SAI_BOLLINENI
  • MEMBER
  • 2012 INFINITI G37
  • 3.7L
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 31,250 MILES
Does a coolant leakage always cause continuous white smoke from exhaust or it can be just for first couple of minutes during a cold start?

My problem/concern as explained below. Sorry in advance for the lengthy explanation.

Hi All,

l used to daily drive my car listed above s coupe and for last two to three months, I have been starting it may be once or twice a week for short trips within the city.

I started to let the car warm-up for a minute or two before driving it and it is when I started to notice sweet smell and white smoke coming out of the exhaust until the car warms up. During warm up, the car idles rough at around 1200 rpm and slowly comes down to 600-800 rpm as the engines reaches its operating temperature.

My first thought was coolant leakage and started to check the levels of coolant in the reservoir. The level remains same although I have to admit that I never drove the car for long distances since noticing the smell.
I acquired the car in July 2018 and it had around 43,000 kms then. Now, it is close to 50,000 kms. I did got it checked by local Infiniti dealer at the time of buying the car and they told me that the car is in very good condition.

i am still concerned and am very much tempted to try to use gasket sealants liquids available in AutoZone. The car is due for regular maintenance this month.

Below are the checks I did:

1. No change in the level of coolant in the reservoir(white box with min and max).
2. No bubbles observed from the coolant next to the engine.
3. After letting the car warm up, there is still very small amount of white smoke coming but without the smell. I gave the accelerator hard pushes for couple of seconds and observed that the density of white smoke increased a little with smell and also observed small drops of water dripping from the exhaust. 
the water was colorless and odorless. I let the car idle again for couple more minutes and this time there is no noticeable white smoke or smell from the exhaust.
​​​​​​​4. Engine oil cap looks clean beneath with no milky substance observed.

After letting the car cool for an hour or so, I restarted the car and this time there is no white smoke. However, when accelerated a couple of times, I did noticed a pale white smoke with water drops again from the exhaust.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Kindly let me know if I need to be worried about my car. 
Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 AT 9:05 AM

9 Replies

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hello,

I don't think you have anything to worry about. The Power-train Control Module (PCM)/Electronic Control Unit(ECU) a.K.A. Computer retards the timing for a couple of minutes during startup to help warm up the catalytic converters. During this time the PCM runs the engine by a preset map. This is called "open loop", and is why your engine rpm's are raised. When the catalytic converters reach operating temperature, the PCM then starts reading information from the sensors, mainly the upstream O2 sensor and start to optimize the engine controls. This is called "closed loop" and is why your rpm's drop down at idle.
Water coming out of the tailpipe is a natural by product of the catalytic conversion of your engines exhaust. So don't worry about that. The fact that you are not loosing any coolant anywhere means that it is not making it's way into the combustion chamber and being burned in the combustion process. Add in your vehicle's low mileage, and in my opinion you have nothing to worry about.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 AT 2:34 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,490 POSTS
If I can jump in here. It doesn't take much to have the exhaust smell like coolant burning and it may not show in the oil or have the coolant to be low. This is signs of a head gasket just starting to leak. To confirm the failure lets run down this guide.

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

Please run down this guide and report back.
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Tuesday, February 12th, 2019 AT 5:08 PM
Tiny
SAI_BOLLINENI
  • MEMBER
  • 11 POSTS
SCWICKEDSTANG - hi, thank you for responding. I am more confused about the smell as there is no change in coolant levels in the reservoir. Do you think the additives in gasoline (i use different gasoline stations for my fill ups) or the engine oil burning on cold catalytic converter can cause an aromatic smell? I read that a bad catalytic converter can cause rotten egg smell. But in my case, the smell is aromatic.
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 AT 7:42 AM
Tiny
SAI_BOLLINENI
  • MEMBER
  • 11 POSTS
Ken - thank you for responding. I performed the visible checks and all of them passed. I am planning to perform chemical test but it has to wait until March as I can only purchase it in my next trip to San Antonio. However, if the coolant is leaking into the oil pan or the crank case, this test will not help as it only detects the exhaust gases coming out from the coolant right. In case if the coolant does leak into the engine chambers, the symptoms will be the same or we need to look for milky substance in engine oil?
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 AT 7:46 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,490 POSTS
Yes, the chemical test will help because sometimes a head gasket only leaks when the engine is running and the coolant is burnt that why it does not end up in the engine oil. You can get a tester from Amazon for $36.00.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVBSFTF/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=2carprcom-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B06VVBSFTF&linkId=c1de5b517f0b4f88d35a8f7feee28dbf

Please let us know what you find.
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Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 AT 12:27 PM
Tiny
SAI_BOLLINENI
  • MEMBER
  • 11 POSTS
Hi Ken, thanks for sharing the link. However, I live in Mexico and amazon doesn't ship that product to the city I live in.

I wanted to update here on latest developments towards my issue.

I accidentally came across a car (older version Honda civic) that just did a cold start and after a minute or so, I smelt similar smell that comes out from my car exhaust.

I asked a friend of mine who drives a 2013 Honda Civic to check his exhaust for smells after cold start and he too confirmed to me that there was some kind of sweet smell at around a min after the start. This guy takes good care of his car and he only drives the car within the city.

Also, the amount of smell seems to be directly proportional to the amount of time the car hasn't been started. As they daily drive the cars, the smell stays only for few seconds and hence it was not observed by them earlier. I daily drove my car for three consecutive days and didn't notice the smell for long periods of time on second and third day.

My guess is it might be with the gasoline we are using in our cars here in Mexico as I think it is highly impossible that all three of the cars might be suffering from coolant leakages.

I still would like to get to the bottom of the problem to know what is causing this smell on cold starts. I will be taking my car for a long drive this Sunday just to check the engine temperatures and also the coolant levels.

Once again, thanks to everyone who took their time to read and comment on my problem. Will keep you posted if I notice anything after my long drive on Sunday.
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Friday, February 15th, 2019 AT 8:24 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,490 POSTS
You could be right about the fuel. What part of Mexico do you live?
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Friday, February 15th, 2019 AT 10:42 AM
Tiny
SAI_BOLLINENI
  • MEMBER
  • 11 POSTS
Hi Ken, sorry for taking long time to respond. I was waiting to make a long trip on a hot weekend but the climate here doesn't seem to be agreeing with me.
I did went for a drive of just around 250 kms in total with some long break in between the trip. I didn't observed any over heating (outside weather was kind of cool and pleasant) of the engine and the coolant levels were same the next day.
I also checked couple of neighbor's cars after the cold starting them and they all almost had similar smell from the exhaust. So, it has to do with the gasoline here. I live in northern part of Mexico, close to the border of your "lone star" state. :)

Thanks to everyone who took their time to read and post their suggestions for my issue.
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Thursday, February 28th, 2019 AT 9:38 AM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
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You are welcome. Use 2CarPros anytime, we are here to help. Please tell a friend.
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Thursday, February 28th, 2019 AT 12:11 PM

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