White smoke out of one exhaust pipe

[Ironhead]

While I hope that it is just condensation when the engine and exhaust system is cold, I'm concerned about the "sweet" smell, which is usually a sign of coolant going through the combustion chambers. I would mark the coolant level when the engine is either fully hot or fully cold, drive for a while, then check the level again to see if coolant is disappearing. If it is, it has to be going somewhere.

Good luck on this one.

 

[livelifewideopen]

Had exact same issue when my head gasket went. Easy way to check is do a compression test. for example all my cylinders had between 76 and 80 psi of compression but my cylinder #7 maxed out the compression gauge and spit water when I hit the valve to release the compression. if it is head gaskets yours isn't as bad as mine was. Also does it crank even? my truck had a hiccup in the crank when mine went bad. I also had no coolant in the oil but did have some floating orange goop in my coolant.

 

[Justin S]

If its that slight of a leak, might not be a bad idea to try one of those head gasket sealers where you drain the coolant and run water with the sealer. i've used it twice when it was just starting to go, and worked both times.

 

[LOUDRNU]

I had the same thing happen, the smoke wasn't anything more than what you would normally see when it was cooler outside, oil was fine & truck ran great...for about a year, then just recently i noticed it began to run warm & loose coolant but no leaks were found.
I just tore it down and the intake gaskets were shot, I wasn't going to do the head gaskets but my buddy insists I do, so i'm gonna pull them tomorrow & drop them off at his machine shop. Along with the $750 in parts n' gaskets I just ordered from Rockauto I think I will be good to go for a while.

I don't believe anything in your truck to "fix" a leak unless your getting rid of it....if I recall didn't you recently buy your truck?

 

[TylerZ281500]

750 in parts for a head gasket job!? what. sounds like intake especially if the map thinks vacuums a problem. regardless pull the heads off while the intakes off.

 

[olered98]

I would suggest giving all intake bolts about a 1/2 turn...see if the problem stops....but honestly for the price and the time to do it... it not a bad job to do intake gaskets...and if your doing intake your almost there so do the head gaskets....because the longer the leak..the more that can happen...best of luck

 

[Rich Jacob]

Condensation doesn't have any odor if it's coming from the exhaust. The good news is it will tell you for sure in the coming weeks, it will only get worse if it is the head gasket, but by then, there may be more than a gasket replacement to remedy the problem. You can't do a head gasket anyway without removing the intake, so you'll kill two birds with one stone. It's not the end of the world. You didn't mention the miles on your truck, or if you ever overheated it. Head gaskets usually go from poor maintenance and overheating the engine.

 

[Justin S]

I had the same thing happen, the smoke wasn't anything more than what you would normally see when it was cooler outside, oil was fine & truck ran great...for about a year, then just recently i noticed it began to run warm & loose coolant but no leaks were found.
I just tore it down and the intake gaskets were shot, I wasn't going to do the head gaskets but my buddy insists I do, so i'm gonna pull them tomorrow & drop them off at his machine shop. Along with the $750 in parts n' gaskets I just ordered from Rockauto I think I will be good to go for a while.

I don't believe anything in your truck to "fix" a leak unless your getting rid of it....if I recall didn't you recently buy your truck?

I used the Bar's Leak Head Gasket sealer on a Dodge Shadow and on a Pontiac Grand Am, one had an external coolant seap and the other had a little white smoke coming out the exhaust. After performing the procedure, both were fixed. The Shadow I drove for a few more months with no issues, till I smoked the trans and junked it. Obviously I don't recommend it if smoke is pouring out, or misfiring. Also, the stuff I used doesn't sludge up the cooling system, just leaves some little copper flakes floating around after you flush it back out.

 

[Sampuppy1]

If you do tear down and do head gaskets make sure you get new head bolts. The factory torque to yield bolts are one time use only...

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[TylerZ281500]

If you do tear down and do head gaskets make sure you get new head bolts. The factory torque to yield bolts are one time use only...

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only on vortec, tbi isnt TTY