white smoke from right tailpipe & loosing coolent

[white fish]

any help???
its got CEL but haven't had it checked

from what I understand the headgasket on these 4.2s are robust

[roboto_1337]

I'm no master mechanic, but I remember being told once that white smoke is typically coolant/water in the engine.... and blue/black smoke is oil burning... I'd see if you can find some similar problems that people have been having or get a mechanic to have a look.

[SprintBlueWorld]

Haven't heard of a headgasket going before but that doesn't mean it can't happen. Your description certainly doesn't sound encouraging. Stop driving it immediately and get it checked out.

[pandapod]

I'm not entirely well versed with this engine but I'm guessing oil cooler or water pump.

[white fish]

so would you but a 08 car with 168miles with these symptoms?

[gautam]

Did you pull codes from the CEL?

[white fish]

no the seller hasn't got it scanned
its about 2 hours away from me and my VAG com is the old one on ver. 3.11

[white fish]

he says exhaust smells like coolant
but recently had valve cover gaskets changed

[gautam]

no the seller hasn't got it scanned
its about 2 hours away from me and my VAG com is the old one on ver. 3.11

Seller? So the car isn't yours?

I'd stay away from it, 168k miles is a lot, you should get the car thoroughly inspected for other potential problems you might face if you buy it.