Oldsmobile - Alero :: 2001 - Exhaust Intermittently Throwing Off White Smoke - Cracked Head Gasket?
Jun 1, 2011
2001 Oldsmobile Alero, 4cyl, purchased in March with around 150k miles.About a month and a half ago I topped off the coolant. 2-3 weeks ago I noticed the exhaust was intermittently throwing off white smoke. Not thick, opaque plumes or anything, but more like how your exhaust might look on a cold day. Being May though, I knew the temperature was not responsible.
This white smoke would occur intermittently and usually stop after driving for a a little bit. Since the white smoke was not constant and the coolant levels seemed to be okay I figured maybe it was something with the EVAP system or the fuel mixture. On a hunch and as a matter of maintenance I put in new Oxygen sensors a few days ago. The next day my coolant light went off again. Since then I've put radiator stop-leak in the coolant and some STP "gasket rejuvenator" in the oil.
My theory: if the head gasket is indeed cracked, it's a very small crack--small enough so that after the engine warms up a bit the gasket expands essentially sealing the crack. This would explain the intermittent nature of the white smoke and and slowness of coolant leak. Are there any other tell-tale signs I should look for with a bad gasket, if this indeed that case? I saw in the store some stuff similar to stop-leak specifically designed for sealing head gaskets that involved draining the radiator, dumping this stuff in and running the engine for a bit, draining it out, and letting the car sit for a day before putting new coolant in. If the head gasket is the issue would the combination of stop leak.
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Have a 2000 Alero. Mechanic says oil on ground is from leaking head gasket. $3000 to repair, or buy rebuilt engine for about the same. I thought head gasket leaks were into the coolant, not outside. Is this legit, including the cost? Valve cover gaskets were replaced earlier this year. Should I get another opinion? Other possible sources of leak?
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My 2000 alero was WAY low on oil so I added a quart then drove for about 45 mins at 40 mph the car seemed fine. the following morning when I went to start it the car turned over but would not start when it finally started the engine knocks and it is putting out a lot of white exhaust. obviously I need to see a mechanic but what might be wrong. my neighbor said one of the cylinders isn't doing what ever it is supposed to do he said it passed a compression test but I don't know what that means...
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I have a 64 Olds Cutlass. I drive it once a week or so. That means it sits most of the time. Lately it's been very damp and rainy. I've noticed that when I start the Olds up there is white smoke coming from the exhaust. This lasts about a minute or until the car warms up and I start driving. Then it disappears. Is this just condensation burning off or, I hope not, a blown head gasket? How can I tell the difference?
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So just a few days ago my car started puffing out white smoke, not all the time, but every so often. I noticed last month, that when i am sitting still, my temperature gauge is slowly moving up, but when i would start moving, the gauge would go back down. I know my cooling fan is working, because when i would turn the car off, i can hear it going. My car has been drinking oil and coolant like crazy, it has hard starts sometimes, it never runs boiling hot, but it has gotten right above the middle line. Is this a "bad" head or a "blown" head? Its still driveable, i only need this car to last me through may and i am getting another one in june, so if the engine goes by then, i dont really care, the car has 253k miles on it, its ready to retire anytime now. How to make it last one more month? Does this sound like an engine head problem?
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I have a problem with my Stratus, its the 2005 V6 MotoR 2.7L 24 valves Chrysler LH (USA imported model)
The problem started months ago when a piece that connect several hoses and it have the temperature sensor (coolant air bleeder?) broke, we replaced it for a new one and also changed the thermostat, however the car still overheated (the heat level didnt ascend from half so the fans didn't went on) and the cooling water from the deposit was bubbling, behind the spot where the deposit is, white smoke/steam (?) was coming out and it was making a weird noise also.I changed the water deposit pressure cap, but it keeps doing the same.This happens just 15 min after I turn on the car so the mechanic disconected a piece from the fans, so the fans are always on. Still, after 45 minutes it start again.
The mechanic did a test in the deposit they said that the pressure was very high and it was probably a problem with the head gaskets, it can be that?
Researching for my own, I found that it can also can be a problem with the water pump, and maybe it needs to be replaced
What should I do?Is there any test that I can do to know if the head gasket is the problem or if the water pump isn't working?I don't want to buy the head gasket and realize that the problem was the water pump, or the other way round
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Well I finally went and bought another Ranger. Pretty red 5spd 4WD long bed. I knew it didn't run when I got it (crazy leaky fuel line...stupid squirrels), and the owner was pretty sure it had a head gasket failure. He claimed it was blowing white smoke and using coolant. I hadn't been able to get it to run to verify that, but I can't see why he would lie about that.
I finally got the fuel line fixed today (FYI, don't waste your time or money buying those Dorman OEM connector patch kits at Advanced Auto). While we were cranking the truck, I noticed gas escaping the degas bottle the radiator was pressurized before the thermostat should be open. That to me says blown head gasket (crossing fingers it isn't a cracked head) for sure. I tried to get a picture of the dipstick, but in the light it definitely looks like peanut butter. I just wanted to make sure before the massive ordeal of pulling heads/top end work that will follow
Anyway, plan is to fix her up and get her back on the road! Some picture enjoyment .......
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Our family recently purchased a used BMW 528i (40K miles). Perhaps this is nothing, but I just wanted to make sure anyway.
Today, at around 2AM (maybe 50 degrees C), within minutes of starting the car, we drove into a McDonald's Drive Thru. While I was ordering and pressing on the brakes, I noticed continuous discharge of white smoke/vapor from the exhaust. For maybe a minute this continued. When I moved the car a little bit to get closer to the window, the smoke stopped. But when I stopped again to receive my order, I saw the white smoke/vapor again. My friends who were with me told me that it might just be water vapor, but the hypochondriac in me wants to make sure this isn't a blown head gasket or anything else I've read about in the internet. BTW When I drove away from the Drive Thru and continued driving, I stopped seeing the white smoke/vapor.
I'm as clueless you can get with cars. Do I need to be worried?
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I have white smoke pouring out of my exhaust in my 2001 Jetta1.8t , it happens at idle and then a lot at acceleration. The smoke is white and everyone and a while it has a hint of blue. I don't know what is wrong but what do yall think could be happeneing?
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I have 04 santa fe with the 3.5 l engine that just started blowing white smoke out the exhaust. I didn't see any smoke when I test drove it and all. but previous owner said that a/c compressor blown which i replaced etc (but found out it was the connector that was needing to be replaced so still have old comp when doing the a/c compressor i saw it has been leaking from valve cover gasket (front can't really see the rear).
I changed oil on it about a week after i got it looked good then. about 3 weeks after that it needed some oil about a qt low, then just last month i noticed a little bit of smoke nothing big and there was barely any oil in it. (oil light came on)... did another oil change and put 4 quarts of oil in it.. now it is smoking more and more smells like burning oil and something else (oil was real low again put 2 qts in to take it just over half). when i check the oil off the dip stick it does not appear to have any color change (not milky or anything).
I am thinking it could have a bad head gasket too (besides the valve cover). BTW it runs good except for the gas mileage kinda dropping a little bit. very strong doesn't not appear to have any pressure drop in cylinders or miss firing. NO codes showing up. So i am at a loss on what it is. (figure head gasket would case pressure loss). I did notice it was low on coolant but has not over heated (put in about 2 quarts of 50/50 coolant). What it is and why it appears to be going thru so much oil.
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I recently bought a accent, changed the oil then upon starting it back up it just pours out white smoke from the exhaust. i might have put a little too much oil in, would that cause the issue? It didn't happen before the oil change either.
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After a hard rain overnight, my truck would not stay on. I had to give it gas while still in park or it would cut off. Also I noticed white smoke from the exhaust while doing that. Eventually car stayed on. But now at when I come to a stop, the car will cut off when I put my foot on the gas to take off. I also.noticed the overdrive button will start to blink. Once the car gets going a few miles, then it's fine. Then this process starts all over again once the car is parked. Also the service engine soon light came on.
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I have a 2001 Town and Country and when I start it up, in about a minute or so, it starts to leak gas from the exhaust. White smokes come from the exhaust and gas starts dripping out onto the ground.
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2001 SD F-250 SuperCrew 4WD, 7.3L (completely stock), 114K miles, automatic
We took Dad's SD for a 600-mile trip yesterday and today. The oil had 2000 miles on it, and we checked it before we left. The oil level was half-way down the hatch-mark, so we had added a little over a quart of oil to top it off, and I think that we may have added a little too much. Last night, when we got to the hotel and got out of the truck while it idled, a lot of white smoke that smelled like burning oil (like when you spill oil on an exhaust manifold) was fogging out of the exhaust.
It did this for a minute or two, then cleared up. All day today, on the way home (300 miles), about every time that I let off of the throttle either going down the interstate or stopping at a red light or stop sign, white smoke would pour out of the exhaust briefly, then stop when accelerating or in the throttle going down the road. What is causing this? Would too much oil (a little over a quart too full) make it smoke like this? The truck runs strong, starts and idles good, and no 'check engine' lights came on the dash.
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If the exhaust manifold gasket is broke / cracked will it making a ticking sound?
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My 2001 Oldsmobile Alero only starts about 50% of the time and has also turned off twice when I was driving, once in a parking lot and once when I was stopped at an intersection. It cranks and the radio and lights work. The fuel pump was replaced two years ago and sometimes you can hear the pump turn on and sometimes you can't. My husband replaced the fuel pressure regulator and has switched out the fuel pump relay but it hasn't fixed the problem. Based on this, can you tell whether the fuel pump might need to be replaced again or whether it could be something else connected to the fuel pump, or something else entirely? The fuel pump is under warranty at the dealership that replaced it, but unless the fuel pump is bad then I don't want to go back to this dealership and would rather go to different repair shop.
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I have an 01 Alero that is a great little car with only 80k on it. Runs and drives like a champ but it has 2 issues that drive me nuts. The AC doesn't work at all. If you press the button on the dash, it does not light up. The compressor doesn't do anything either. I did check all the fuses trying to eliminate the simple but I didn't find any bad ones. What would be my next thing to check? Is it ever the AC relay?
Then the one that really frustrates me: the rear defrost. I live in MI, so 75% of the morning I need it to clear either snow, ice or fog. The button works but the lines don't heat up. I checked them all for power and none have power. I also checked each one for breakage and continuity and they are fine. I saw somewhere that the connection at the module likes to fry but I inspected it and didn't see anything burned.
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My 2001 alero 3400 engine is getting hot again this alero is running with a 2001 impala engine run great for few months, replace radiator, hoses, thermostat and suddenly coolant start leaking in the overflow, fans not working even with ac on, i replace the etc sensor and did not work, the fans turn on when I disconnect the etc sensor so i think the fan motors are ok. I got one pcm module from the salvage yard in case I need to replace it but I read that only the dealer can reprogram the computer system because vin number issues....
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I believe my head gasket is blown, but no one really knows what's wrong with it.. Car stalled & then smoke came out the oil tank an coolant tank an muffler? I just got this car used a month ago.. where to start..
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I have an 01 olds alero, I been having problems with the engine stalling out. i was told it may need a new fuel filter so I replaced filter and now it idles rough till it stalls. What to do next? I replaced the plugs 2 years ago also.
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2001 Olds Alero. i'm getting a P0300 reading, Cylinder misfire, and i was told a could months ago my mass air flow sensor was out of range. are they related? how serious is a misfire? can i drive a couple hundred miles before service?
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