What to do when car blowing white smoke but not overheating?
Having a car blowing white smoke but not overheating is a common problem. This article will explain to you the cause and the answers for having smoke out of your vehicle.
Smoke is as common as having a car running on wheels. But, the problems come when you start seeing them on your vehicle. Unlike any other cause, you have to be careful of the smoke as it is associated with the fire. Although most of the occasions have ended up without fire, you cannot risk both you and your vehicle.
Table of Contents
- What Does It Mean By A Car Blowing White Smoke But Not Overheating?
- What Should You Do If Your Car Blows White Smoke?
- What Are The Reasons To Have White Smoke Without Increasing The Heat?
- How to diagnose the issue?
- FAQ
- Conclusion
What Does It Mean By A Car Blowing White Smoke But Not Overheating?
The first thing you need to remember is that the vehicle is not having a good time with the fluids. Since there are many types of fluids such as oil, coolants, water, and mixtures, they are burning. As a result of the burning process, you are going to see the car blowing white smoke but not overheating. If the heat is increasing along with the smoke, you will have to vacate the car as well.
What Should You Do If Your Car Blows White Smoke?
As soon as you realize that your car is emitting white smoke while you are driving, you should pull over to the side of the road and investigate the source of the smoke. If you are familiar with cars and mechanics, you might want to look more closely after reading what we have said about the potential causes.
Driving to the mechanic is the logical next step, but we assume you don’t have the necessary car parts and tools to fix the issue right away. In order to stop the damage from getting worse, you would want to have it repaired as soon as you can.
What Are The Reasons To Have White Smoke Without Increasing The Heat?
There are there main reasons to have white smoke from your car without raising the heat. They are, smoke caused by the oil, smoke caused by the leaking fluids, and electrical smokes.
Oil Smoke
Oil smoke is the most important smoke that you have to pay attention to. The most common symptom assisted by the oil smoke is the tar or asphalt-like odor. As a part that is supposed to be running on all parts of the engine, oil is crucial.
But when it comes to the leaks and other abnormal moments, oil tends to create blowing white smoke. Getting into the fuel system is a regular abnormality of the oil which starts blowing white smoke but not overheating. The replacement of the gasket will solve this problem.
Oil with foam in it.
You have white smoke coming from your exhaust, but before you check the balance in your savings, you refuse to believe you have a blown head gasket. Make this easy move: Check your dipstick to determine whether the engine oil and coolant have mingled.
The majority of the time when a head gasket fails, you will notice that the oil has started to resemble a milkshake and has froth-like bubbles instead of the usual clear, dark brown oil adhering to the dipstick.
If you see blowing white smoke through the filler cap,
That could have caused by an old car that has collected residue on the filler cap. If you suddenly see white smoke from the filler cap, that will probably stop after a couple of minutes.
If you keep seeing that, you will have to show your car to a mechanic. Since a clogged PCV valve can cause similar symptoms, you will have to fix the issue with a mechanic.
Fuel Mixture
One of the reasons to have to blow white smoke but not overheating is the issues with fuel mixtures. If you have white or black color smoke coming out of the vehicle, you will have to check the fuel mixing composition. If the smoke looks dark in color, you will have to check the fuel intake system.
There can be a faulty sensor that allows the fuel to mix in high amounts. When it comes to blowing white smoke but not overheating, you must be having an issue with the air intake. Since the oxygen is adding lots of air along with the fuel gas, the production of the white smoke increases. In such cases, you will have to check the oxygen sensor.
Other fluids.
If you see smoke and it doesn’t have a specific odor, what you are seeing is the water that is vaporized. Since there are limited areas in the car that can create this incident, you will be kept to a limited area.
As you already know, it is the coolant that burning off. Since the overflow tank is filled with coolant, the white smoke will occur without raising the heat.
If you feel a slight odor along with the coolant, you will have to remember that there is something else burning along with the coolant or any other fluid. When it comes to the other fluids that can be burnt, as white smoke, transmission oil, power steering, liquid-like fluids are crucial. You will have to check them when seeing a blowing white smoke but not overheating.
Electric smoke.
Although electric smoke is as common as fluid-related smokes, the smoke doesn’t stay too long as the burning ends quickly. If the electric burning odor is continuous, you will have to walk out of the vehicle quickly.
Because most of the vehicle’s wires are covered and insulated, you will not face such ugly incidents. But, the regular inspection of the alternator, AC compressor, and the plugs will stop seeing the blowing white smoke but not overheating.
Foam in the Coolant.
Just as there is engine oil combined with your coolant, there will also be engine oil mixed with your coolant if you have a blown head gasket, which is nearly often indicated by white smoke coming from your exhaust.
This is because combustion at high pressure lubricates the cooling circuit with exhaust gas and neighboring boundary-layer lubrication.
With a burst head gasket, coolant leaks through the exhaust as you put more miles on your engine, and a miasma of oil foam and exhaust byproducts replaces the cooling system’s volume.
How to diagnose the issue?
You should schedule service so that a team of technicians can look into the problem, utilize equipment and diagnostic technology to get to the bottom of it, and identify the source if your car is smoking but not overheating.
To identify the source of excessive white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe or engine smoke, they will examine several parts of the vehicle.
They will offer the required upkeep, repair, or replacement parts once they have established the root of the issue. They may make sure your car is in perfect working order and is smoke-free before you get back on the road.
FAQ
Does white smoke mean a blown head gasket?
Yes, most probably that can be the reason. Since the white smoke is caused by a blown head gasket, you can be correct. But, it is important to note that having white smoke can be caused by motor oil, transmission fluid, and even the coolant.
Can a faulty thermostat cause the white smoke?
Of course, white smoke can be caused by a faulty thermostat. But, you will have to look for car blowing white smoke but not overheating symptoms as well because they will lead you to the highest accuracy regarding other causes.
Can I drive my car when the car blowing white smoke but not overheating?
You must stop the car as soon as you saw the car blowing white smoke but not overheating. Although the heat doesn’t increase on such occasions, the issues might have arisen with the exhaust system. Therefore, there can be explosions as well.
Why do I see white smoke while accelerating the car?
If you get to see white smoke while accelerating the car, it means your car has a faulty transmission system. Most probably, the issue is associated with the transmission fluid, which you can see as vapor.
Conclusion
Having white smoke is not a rare incident. But, having understood the real cause will be the task assigned to you. Identifying the odor, locating the origin of the smoke, and the time you take to identify the smoke-like factors will decide how well you are going to face the blowing white smoke but no overheating issues.
