2.7 Rough start, white smoke

Heeey everybody,

I got in my truck today after it sat for a couple days and cranked it up only to have it cut off as soon as it turned over. After that, it took a couple long tries to get it started. Once it was running, there was a small amount of white smoke from the exhaust which increased when I stomped the gas. After it ran for little bit (maybe a drove it a half mile), the smoke was gone. I checked the oil and it doesn't (appear) to have any coolant in it and the level is good. Any ideas?? It only has 113,000 on the original engine...

 

Maybe water in the fuel tank??

 

blueish white smoke is typically oil, white smoke is coolant...might be a head gasket going in your future.

 

Was the outside air cold or humid? Are you sure it wasn't condensation given the outdoor temperature? Also, has it overheated recently? If so, a HG may be a problem (leakdown/compression test is in order). If not, check your coolant in the radiator for oil.

 

Sure it's smoke and not steam?

 

It could have been water vapor, I suppose. I live on the Gulf coast and we have had huge temperature fluctuations in the last couple weeks...and we typically have at least 90% humidity. Currently, its about 73F outside.

Would that keep it from starting up though?

Hasn't been overheated since I bought it, but that was a whole 8 months ago..

If it does it again I will definitely be running a compression test and try to find a leak.

 

Those are fightin words around this here parts!!

 

0 here this morning.

Agree with the coolant leak hypothesis. If a bad or failing gasket, it's going to continue. Keep a look out.

 

Pull the plugs. They will tell you real quick of what your engine is doing.
Find a super clean one? Coolant steam cleaned. No good.
Find nothing but normal plugs........condensation build up in the exhaust. Especially in humid environments.
Find sooty plugs......burning rich (O2 sensor failure)

 

You DON'T want to know the temperatures here in Scottsdale Az. But I will tell you the humidity is about 15-20%

 

Yeah, if you tell me your temperature, I might blow my own personal head gasket.

 

OK, you took me over the edge and have my drone over your house in AZ =

 

It started right up this morning with no issues. Revved it up for a while and it started pushing out a lot of steam to the point that it was consistently dripping.

Just for fun I pulled all the plugs and they looked consistent and good.

Time will tell if it was a false alarm I guess! I may be a tad bit paranoid since I haven't owned it very long..

Thank y'all for the info!

 

Understandable.

 

Keep an eye on your Power Steering Fluid level. If you notice the smoking continue (especially in the afternoon when the outside temp has warmed up, or humidity drops), you may be seeing PS fluid burning (I have been there). The High Pressure line has a small vacuum valve on it, with two (2) vacuum lines running to the Intake Manifold/Throttle Body, if you pull those lines and find fluid in them (from the valve on the high pressure PS line), it has failed and you are burning PS fluid in your cylinders. It was blowing white smoke on my 2.7L after I rebuilt the motor. That part is ridiculously expensive, but I can post the part number if you need it.

You will know if you are low on PS fluid. When you turn full lock it will whine like crazy.