My old 3000GT used to puff white smoke and it ended up being the valve guides causing it. The car can run with one cylinder down but you would deffinitly notice something was wrong. Once you do the compression test post up the numbers.

 

My 1.8L also done that because of bad valve guides. It smoked bad after sitting for a while until I drove it around then eventually it would only smoke on start up. If the compression is still good you may just want to get the head rebuilt.

 

If compression is good I'm going to leave it be.

 

It has got to be oil or coolant, those both cause white smoke so look at the valve seals or headgasket, if compression is good I would not worry to much about anything but thinking about looking into it in the future to save money/hassle.

 

I have a new theory. Being as the car was fine when it was "put away" (minus the battery issue.

During the horrible winter snow blew up under my hood/chassis. We had temperatures in the really low negatives at some points during the winter too.

My new theory is that the minimal water in my oil is from condensation or snow that found its way into my crankcase. I'm suspecting my breather hose from the top of the valve cover. I plan to change the oil run the car and change the oil again. Then do a compression test. I'll post the results. But does this sound likely? Maybe even slightly possible?

 

Yea, it seems since it was just hibernating for a while, the car just needs a quick run to clear itself out. Or, the valve seals are starting to go.

 

I'd run it, and see if it clears up. If the white smoke persists, I'd run a block test and see if it turns green/yellow.

How long has the car been run since you first started it?

 

I let it run till it got to operating temp. So no longer than 15-20min. Im going to change the oil and run it for like an hour and see if the issue persists. I haven't had time to mess with it yet.

 

It could just be a lot of condesation in the tail pipe from sitting- my 300ZX used to do this since the exhaust liked to collect water after sitting through a storm or two.

The water heats up and comes out the back like white smoke- if it doesn't smell like coolant it is likely just water from sitting.

Engines have freeze plugs in them for a reason, they will give out before the block cracks most of the time.

 

Did you have a chance to smell the smoke? Oil and antifreeze have their
on smell. I guessing on condensate - no odor.

 

Hi. I have similar problem. To my knowledge the engine has overheated once, but not enough to cause real damage. When the engine gets hotter, it starts to give white smoke.
Also i ran engine at idle without a radiator plug. I saw little bubbles coming out. i also did a compression test and all cylinders are around 170-180psi. what could be the problem?
I also suspect a worn out water pump. going to check this soon

This might be related - today i boosted 0-60 and i had trail of oil coming somewhere. After inspection i saw that it came out of valve cover breather that has a small filter terminating it. The filter was soaked with oil. HOW is this possible?

 

EDITk.. this is nonturbo forum. I found this thread using search. My car is 99 turbo. Please help regardless