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  #16  
Old 10-25-2005, 08:28 PM
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Manarius Manarius is offline
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Oil burns nice and white

If it were valve covers, it would be in the engine bay area, not out the pipes. And it would be white smoke, and it wouldn't puff. You'd get a nice odor near the front of the car.
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  #17  
Old 10-25-2005, 09:47 PM
THAWA
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Oil does not burn nice and white. ATF burns whiter than Oil, and that's not very white either. Coolant is the whitest burning fluid in your car.

Oil has a darker grayish/blusish tint to it.
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  #18  
Old 10-26-2005, 05:36 AM
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I've had several cars with bad valve seals, and they would blow a light colored smoke out the tail pipe when started, after setting a while.

These are the seals on the valve stems, not the valve covers, so they let the oil seap down the valve stem into the combustion chamber, then upon starting, it burns off the oil that had leaked in over time, once that build up of oil burns off, it runs clean (this is to clarify, why valves seals will smoke out the Tailpipe).

I'm not saying that it couldn't be coolent, but if it had a bad head gasket, or a cracked head, it would get Worse when the motor gets hot....
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  #19  
Old 10-26-2005, 11:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huck369
I've had several cars with bad valve seals, and they would blow a light colored smoke out the tail pipe when started, after setting a while.

These are the seals on the valve stems, not the valve covers, so they let the oil seap down the valve stem into the combustion chamber, then upon starting, it burns off the oil that had leaked in over time, once that build up of oil burns off, it runs clean (this is to clarify, why valves seals will smoke out the Tailpipe).

I'm not saying that it couldn't be coolent, but if it had a bad head gasket, or a cracked head, it would get Worse when the motor gets hot....
This explanation sounds close to what my friend said when he witnessed the puff of smoke. It just happens once when startin the car, *sometimes*, it seems like, its very slight, and the car doens't smoke at all while it's running.

I do have a nasty smell after accelerating, like rotten eggs, but I think I've got a fried cat which is causing that. I don't know if the fried cat has anything to do with this mysterious "puff" of white smoke that i get.

I love saying puff.

How concerned should I actually be about this, if it is the valve stems?
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  #20  
Old 10-26-2005, 12:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pipedream
How concerned should I actually be about this, if it is the valve stems?

If it's the valve seals, it'll run pretty much forever like that, but it will burn a little oil, and could eventually foul the plugs, they can be replaced in the car, but the valve covers, and cam carriers have to come off, plus a couple special tool would be needed.., so it is a pretty in-depth undertaking if you're not a mechanic...but can be done.
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  #21  
Old 10-26-2005, 02:42 PM
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Y'all lost me. Pipedream, you originally said the puff of smoke was coming from the engine bay, right? Valve seals leaking oil into the combustion chamber would cause a little smoke from the tailpipe.

Not that I have any ideas, but is this from a cold start? From whereabouts in the engine bay?

dcb
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  #22  
Old 10-26-2005, 03:17 PM
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huck369 huck369 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dcarrb
Y'all lost me. Pipedream, you originally said the puff of smoke was coming from the engine bay, right? Valve seals leaking oil into the combustion chamber would cause a little smoke from the tailpipe.

Not that I have any ideas, but is this from a cold start? From whereabouts in the engine bay?

dcb

Just re-read the original post...
And Valve stem seals will NOT cause smoke in the engine compartment, but can cause it to puff out a little smoke through the tail-pipe when starting the car..

I can't think of anything that will cause a puff of smoke from the engine compartment when starting a COLD car, other than an exhaust leak, and then your motor would have to be burninmg oil to smoke then... ....Ya got me...
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Last edited by huck369; 10-27-2005 at 05:48 AM.
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  #23  
Old 10-26-2005, 10:47 PM
THAWA
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You guys get confused too easily
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  #24  
Old 10-27-2005, 07:36 AM
dcarrb dcarrb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by THAWA
You guys get confused too easily
In my case, it's a perpetual state.
dcb
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