White smoke out of one exhaust pipe

[Trstrugar]

My truck is a 1994 gmc k1500 with a 5.7l. I noticed that I have a little bit of white smoke coming out of left exhaust pipe, but not out of the other. It smells a little bit sweet when I put my hand up to it. It is dual exhaust so my first instinct was head gasket, as it is only the one side. Any advice is appreciated thank you! I have been having a lot of fuel trim issues messing with sensors, and there is possibly a ton of carbon residue in the engine.

 

[kkirwan71]

I think you have the right track on the head gasket idea. How does it run? Any check engine lights?

sent from my glade air freshner

 

[Justin S]

That definitely sounds like coolant is getting into the exhaust for sure, it may be a head gasket, or even an intake gasket. Either way, from what you stated, might not be a bad idea to do a teardown and clean it all up

 

[kkirwan71]

Didn't even think of intake gasket

sent from my glade air freshner

 

[Trstrugar]

The truck runs and drives very good. Check engine light is on for a code 33 map sensor. Already replaced it and no change

 

[Curt]

If there's white smoke and it smells sweet, it sounds like coolant is exiting through the exhaust. Check to see if your oil looks milky and if there is any loss of coolant in your coolant reservoir. Has there been any change in operating temps while normal driving?

 

[Trstrugar]

No changes in temperature when driving and the oil does not look milky

 

[RichLo]

you can pull the plugs and see if just one or two are white, then its a head gasket but if they are all uniform its probably an intake gasket.

 

[Justin S]

Thats not necessarily true, if its leaking into the intake, it would still go into the cylinder and clean up the plugs. Still a good way to see which one it is though

 

[Trstrugar]

The white smoke is very slight, and is actually gone after the engine warms up. Maybe it is nothing to worry about for now. I'll watch it and post any updates on what I find.