bugger (suspected blown head gasket)

[sal_park]

on the way into work this morning I noticed if I accelerate quickly I get a large amount of steam out of the exhaust. I replace the water pump ~ 3 months ago (no serious overheating though). I've had to top the coolant up a little bit now and then for as long as I can remember (2 years+), so this may not be a new issue. I think the first thing I should do is a cylinder compression test to check the rings are ok.

Any other suspects other than the head gasket ?


sal

[ArnZ!]

Did the steam go away. If so then its just condensation built up within the exhaust system.

[sal_park]

Did the steam go away. If so then its just condensation built up within the exhaust system.

Hi,

No, it didn't - this was after 15 minutes of driving and it's 100% tied into acceleration / large throttle openings.

sal

[Luftpost]

Any white milky substance in the oil?

My 525 produces a lot of steam as well, long into the drive. Can't remember where I read it (here or another board), but other folks say it is typical. Lots of condensation collects in the exhaust system. Do search under "steam" and you should find some good info.

L

[philbyil]

Have someone rev the motor for you...put a paper towel over the outlets, let it soak in for a while, then smell it. If it smells sweet....it aint sweet as it is a sure sign of coolant !

on the way into work this morning I noticed if I accelerate quickly I get a large amount of steam out of the exhaust. I replace the water pump ~ 3 months ago (no serious overheating though). I've had to top the coolant up a little bit now and then for as long as I can remember (2 years+), so this may not be a new issue. I think the first thing I should do is a cylinder compression test to check the rings are ok.

Any other suspects other than the head gasket ?


sal

[sal_park]

hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

[BMW4LIFE]

hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

sal i hate to tell you bud

but you are getting coolant in your oil and that its a bad thing...

the sure signs are the sweet smell and the gunk you found...

maybe its time for a head gasket change?!

[philbyil]

New head gasket (at the least)....sorry mate

hummm,

just drove home and and absolulty no smoke/steam at all for the first 3-4 minutes then back to smoke/steam on larger throttle opens & blipping the throttle for the rest of the journey

Lost about 2 inches of coolant, although I can't remember the last time I checked that.

The oil filler cap has some white/yellow oil/water gunk on it, but I only really do short jounerys (5 miles) so this could be normal. Dip stick is good with just oil on it.

After I got home, blipped the throttle a few times to produce some steam and smelling the exhaust it was quite sweet.

I'm getting a pressure tester and will test the cylinders next week & inspect the spark plugs for a steam cleaned one.

sal

[Tiger]

I am surprised... no one mentioned the coil pack boots. Qiote a few of us had this problem... lots of white smokes for super long time. Remember, lean unburned fuel also emit white smokes by the cat converter.

So change all your coil pack spark plug boots and the smoke will go away.

You do need to check for leaking coolant hoses with pressure tester.

[BennyM]

Now that the temp is down to 0 F, I've been noticing the same thing. Tons of steam when I gun the car from a stand still, or even under moderately hard acceleration. But otherwise, just normal amount of tail pipe smoke/steam that every car exhales in the winter. I do have a phantom coolant leak, but I'm pretty sure that's thanks to my leaky heater core. Haven't seen any oil contamination. (fingers crossed).