Question: white vapor coming from pipes after start up

[repairman1]

1985 set through winter. on starting it up after min or so there is what seems to be white vapor coming from exhaust pipes. it dissapates kind of fast so don't think it is smoke. no odor of oil burning. turn off and little puffs will still come out for min or so. have also noticed a rich smell after shutting car off. car seems to idle fine no miss or anything. give it gas and revs up. anybody have a idea of what it is or what i could check sure appreciate the help. thanks

 

[WhalePirot]

white smoke is either oil or water vapor. Oil smoke won't usually disappear real fast, so maybe it is some water in the exhaust, perhaps from condensation after the last shut/cool down, particularly if the last run did not allow for everything to get nice and hot.

You didn't say how long the car ran before you shut it off. Check fluid levels, but if this continues after a full warm up, particularly of the exhaust system, I'd pull spark plugs to see what color they are. Each one should be a very light brown color. Any rust indicates water getting into that cylinder, which I have seen, left unfixed, will steam clean all the lubricating oil from the cylinder walls >>> eroding them quickly.

 

[norwegianvette]

Worst case is your sylinder head gasket are blown. Remove your oil filling cap and check if there are any white colored grease on it and your cooling water for oil. Both means gasket. Whith a rich smell it might be from the colant fluid and i am quite sure it is a blown gasket :-((

 

[c3guy]

Leaking intake

I have an 85 as well, and an 89, and they are all notorious for leaking intake and plenum gaskets I don't know anybody with one of these cars this age that hasn't done them as yet. Perhaps Hib can shed some light as he knows these cars really well.

 

[boomdriver]

1985 set through winter. on starting it up after min or so there is what seems to be white vapor coming from exhaust pipes. it dissapates kind of fast so don't think it is smoke. no odor of oil burning. turn off and little puffs will still come out for min or so. have also noticed a rich smell after shutting car off. car seems to idle fine no miss or anything. give it gas and revs up. anybody have a idea of what it is or what i could check sure appreciate the help. thanks

After storage, its likely some built up condensation in the exhaust system. The system needs to be run for a good half hour by driving it to heat up the pipes/cats/mufflers and cook the moisture out of the exhaust.Be sure to check fluid level before.
While doing this be careful to observe the temp gauge to make sure the water is not coming from the engine internally. After the drive and cool down, recheck the radiator and engine oil for cross contamination. If there IS water loss from the radiator and the steaming continues, it is probably just an intake gasket. I really don;t see that being the problem since it has been in storage and not driven for a few months.

The color of the "smoke" is the key.
White is water or moisture.
Blue is engine oil.
Black is excess fuel.
Combinations of white/black with the smell of richness is not unusual due to water in the combustion process preventing the fuel from being completely burned. If there is water in the engine at the point of combustion that is a good indication of a bad intake or head gasket.

Condensation and short trip driving is the #1 killer of exhaust systems. They need to be up to full temp in order to get the water out. Short trips just make them warm and cause the water to rust the system out. Since the cat/converter produces water, this adds to whatever water has collected from storage. It takes getting it HOT to prevent premature wear from rust. Also why stainless steel systems are priceless.