Is this the end? White smoke..

[artandscience]

Ok, visited the folks this weekend and saw my Q45 that they've been driving.

1994 Q45, 258k miles.

I've been religious about maintenance, but I fear this may be the end.

Under acceleration (up a hill) or on the flat, I'm seeing white smoke in the exhaust. Now it's been pissing rain here in Seattle (and cold) so it's a bit hard to confirm but I suspect that either the head gasket is gone or there is a leak in the intake tract.

Anyone got any thoughts as to whether:

1) this is a reasonable start to diagnose?
2) the way to tell which this is?

If it's the intake plenum, I could remove it and put in new gaskets. If it's the head, I think the motor is toast as far as I'm concerned.

Anything else it could be?

Car is a bit down on power going uphill, no signs of water in the oil or oil in the radiator (so far).

thanks,
Stefan in Seattle

[qship96]

What makes you think it is anything more than the normal "white smoke" commonly seen coming out the exhaust from water vapor.......Q is legendary for producing tons of this due to its massive dual exhaust system burning off water vapor,especially in cooler weather. Check coolant levels carefully, if it has not gone down,I would not think there is any "problem".....also smell the exhaust, as if it is burning coolant, you will smell a strong sweet smell from the tailpipes.

[Q451990]

Ditto on everything qship just said... if the coolant level is ok, your oil doesn't look like a chocolate milkshake, and the exhaust doesn't smell sweet - you should be fine.

We used to get a ton of "is my car burning oil" questions every fall. I guess now we're pretty much to the point that everyone just assumes that their car does.

Heath

[OwnerCS]

Add another to the list here.. I thought I had a bad head gasket, bought a kit to test coolant for engine exhaust, and all it turned out to be was a lot of condensation built up in the mufflers. I was running the engine for short intervals, and it was just enough to build up a lot of water in the exhaust.

[Skibane]

all it turned out to be was a lot of condensation built up in the mufflers. I was running the engine for short intervals, and it was just enough to build up a lot of water in the exhaust.

Yep - I've never seen a car that could accumulate more condensation in the exhaust system than the Q. On a cold day after a few short trips, the amount of steam you can generate by punching the throttle is truly amazing!

Suggestion: Before you do anything drastic, drive the car for an hour or so, including some operation under heavy throttle at 3500+ RPM. Immediately afterwards, check for white smoke. My guess is that you won't see any.

[Strangef8]

Agreed with above posters. Now, that is alot of miles, so it may be worth checking out those areas. But just this past November got a 2000 Q45 AE (like 54,000K, OM, NICE!).

On cold and humid days, I would notice alot of white smoke myself, sometimes very thick. On warmer less humid days, it would start off with the white smoke and then after warming up well, go to virtually nothing. So yes, I believe weather has something to do with it.

I got down and sniffed the exaust, no sweet smell, the smoke was never even the slightest shade of brown and when my mechanic pulled the plugs and replaced them he assured me from the look of the old plugs, I was not burning oil.

I did notice a very slight, "spoiled egg" smell, which obvously points towards the cat / cats (shows you what I know, not sure how many I have). But my mechanic said unless it gets worst or I notice performance loss to keep driving it and not to worry. He said it would have nothing to do with the white smoke and wait until the problem needs attention, because it's expensive. This is one of the situations he recommended OEM original parts and that's not cheap.

Also, on the "egg" note, don't do what I say, I can't control you (don't do this in your own vehicle!!!). Once I got the Q good and hot, several times, I "punched it" at different speeds and RPM's levels and approached "red lines" to try to (blow her out). With such low miles, I figured some "old timer" must have owned my car. Now, the slight egg smell isn't noticeable to me.

Hope this helps!

Wayne
(Strangef8)

[artandscience]

For the first time yesterday, I had the car back, and in spite of crap weather took her for a long drive. Remembered to punch it after about an hour and hey presto! No white smoke. So I think it was just what the "wisdom of the forum" has suggested, and condensate in the exhaust. Very happy that she is still ticking!

[Q451990]

Very happy that she is still ticking!

Me too!