My yard filled with exhaust on start...

overnight of

'floated' there

since my

arrived at my

loose or

I'd watch your coolant level. The engine might be sucking coolant into a combustion chamber.

Ken

WAH!!! NOOOO!!!!!

If this is indeed the case, am I headed for big trouble eventually? Is there any easy way to fix it? Does it mean it's going to start happening the other way around too (i.e. oil into the coolant line)?

I'll check it later on, I just did a 4 hour drive, so I'll see if it is any lower than it was when I left...

This all sounds fairly normal. Likely it was a windless day, and the water vapor produced by burning the gasoline just hung around rather than dissipating.

When you first start the exhaust system is cold and the moisture c> Hey... I got a used engine put in my car a year and a half ago and a new

This could be true, too. Time will tell.

Ken

overnight of

'floated' there

exhaust stopped

reservoir).

arrived at my

IF this is the problem, my guesstimate would be that it wouldn't go the other way. IF it's sucking coolant in, it indicates that the problem is in an area where the coolant leak is exposed to vacuum rather than compression or the crankcase. That doesn't mean that a gasket failure could happen in one place and then give out in another later. I wouldn't get too excited yet. Read Dan Hick's comment, as that is also a reasonable explanation.

Ken

That could be a coolant leak into the engine - normal cold-weather exhaust fog doesn't usually persist like that, though I suppose under some conditions it could.

The last (probably the only, actually) car that I saw putting out clouds of white smoke from burning coolant was also putting out a nasty, acrid smell..

Yes, it COULD be a coolant leak, but it definitely IS possible for "normal" cold-weather exhaust to persist like that, given the right conditions.

If it's a coolant leak then it will be obvious as the coolant level dr> That could be a coolant leak into the engine - normal cold-weather exhaust

I'm praying that the problem was just moisture burning off when the car started to warm up. However, I don't think this was it, because there was a little bit of a burning-in-the-eyes, and a smell, to the smoke, and it was thicker than steam, for sure...

But I just checked the coolant level after this 500 KM drive (300 miles or so) and its at the full-cold mark when just starting up... so it still looks like it's OK. The full cold mark is the thing in the reservoir where there's a little plastic line that crosses the opening, about an inch below the top, right? It's just about that little piece of plastic.

And indeed, I started the car again recently, in a garage that was a little warmer than the outside, say about 8 to 10 degrees Celcius (a little above freezing in Farenheit terms) and I let it sit for about three minutes in the garage... The exhaust was visible from the muffler, but it was only minimal, and wasn't 'floating' in the air as the other kind was. I think it was just normal for starting up the car.

I'm thinking it could be a rich mixture that occurred, and that it burned off too much gas... I'm guessing that because of the colour and the smell and the way it 'floated' in the air. What wuold be the signs of it benig too much gas, versus coolant burning off?

Thanks a lot guys... starting to get somewhere here. You guys on r.a.m.saturn are the best! I have done so much because of you.

Bad coolant temperature sensors are somewhat common on the S-series cars, and can cause an overly rich A/F mixture. If the exhaust smelled gassy, that's probably what it is. If it was burning coolant, from my experience the smell is distinctly unlike any normal exhaust, rich-running or otherwise..

The way exhaust moisture behaves is highly variable, depending on the precise conditions of temperature, humidity, and wind. If humidity is relatively low the fog dissipates fairly rapidly, whereas if the humidity is fairly high it will hang around. The slightest bit of wind will dissipate the fog, but if it's perfectly still it will tend to hang around.

The fact that you CAN'T reproduce the fog suggests that it's ordinary exhaust moisture, vs something like a coolant leak. But in any event, watching the coolant level won't hurt.

Generally it goes like this. Black smoke is fuel (ie, too rich). Blue smoke is oil burning. White smoke is coolant burning. Each has a smell associated with it.

there is nothing wrong with your car. the smoke is condensation, water, in the muffler, in the gasoline, in the air, my jaguar always does that oncold days too. so do all cars, just some more then others, this is typical of european cars on cold days. you can buy a gasoline dryer at a boating facility or marina. might try to lean the air misture screws to 1 1/2 turns out. make sure the choke KICKS OFF after about a 3 minute warm up Slam it to the floor and release then wait for slow idle. your carburator is simply TOO RICH in gas. always use the lowest octane fuel. if you can afford champion gold platinum plus spark plugs use them. also use STP oil treatment, won't hurt. change the air cleaner, it might be wet with water, condensation, moisture in the fuel system. this problem is embarassing for you AND THE FUZZ

Ummmm, yeah.......... This car doesn't even have a carburetor......... And I've never heard of anybody ever liking champion spark plugs other than in the lawn mower......and spark plugs don't make a performance difference either......