White smoke and black tailpipes

**akielb** · 10-28-2008 09:33 PM

I was told by a coworker today that my car has been putting out large amounts of white smoke/exhaust when I leave work.

Also my tail pipes have a jet black residue on them

not low on antifreze

Any idea's

**calvin1.8t** · 10-28-2008 10:07 PM

the jet black residue might just be the condensation mixing with the carbon deposits. as for the smoke could be burning oil or mabey your cat is not working well.

**akielb** · 10-29-2008 11:01 AM

Bump to the top - any other idea's

**xraycer2012** · 10-29-2008 11:08 AM

White smoke can also mean your burning coolant, check your coolant level. You might need a new head gasket. It could be leaking coolant into the cylinders.

**JumboBlack1.8** · 10-29-2008 11:16 AM

Damnit.....my car is doing this too.....I was trying to convince myself that it wasn't the head gasket, even tho i KNOW it is.......open the hood and look behind the engine, and see if there are any oil or coolant spills on the top of your tranmission. That could be a result of coolant and oil leaking out of the gasket

**oldblu** · 10-29-2008 01:38 PM

^ If you have the 2.8, where should you look for evidence that it's the the head gaskets?

**generik777** · 10-29-2008 04:27 PM

It has been pretty cold around here the last few days. You sure it's not just the exhaust due to that.

**akielb** · 10-29-2008 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by generik777

It has been pretty cold around here the last few days. You sure it's not just the exhaust due to that.

No this is over a couple weeks when it back in the 70's.

And as for coolant, as I said in the OP Antifreeze is not low.

Turbo going??

**JumboBlack1.8** · 10-29-2008 08:18 PM

Could be the turbo....depends on how much smoke ur spewing out of there.....a few weeks ago, when my BT went, I noticed a substantial amount of white smoke (more than usual, considering I don't have a cat) and it was in the 70s out.....If it IS ur turbo, then that means that ur oil seals in the turbo are likely gone....so check ur oil level frequently, and keep a mental log of it over the span on a few days (it might be hard to tell, but give it a shot). If you notice it going down slightly, then it could be ur turbo.....OR it could still be that headgasket, since oil could potentially leak from there too