Fixed 1 problem, Now heres another...

[LegacyDriver]

Was overheating recently, just replaced the thermo.

 

Had it running for about 30 minutes, was a really rough idle and acceleration at first, then evened out. Before I knew it white smoke was pouring from the middle of the under carriage near the cat.

 

Symptoms:

 

Rough idle and weak acceleration before warming up

Thermo says normal temp.

White smoke coming from around catalytic converter.

 

I know it's not much to go on, but I'm at a loss here. Any ideas??

 

PS I'm leaning towards the idea that it might be the head gasket, but I've searched and can't find anything telling me what would happen other than antifreeze being in the oil, and I can't very well drain the car right now. Also, when I do drain the car's oil, will it be obvious if there was antifreeze in it?

[WESTcoast]

Yeah Im 50/50 on the problem with ya, its ethier the dreaded headgasket or coolant if the smoke smells sweet it might be the coolant. I do know that if you do your oil change the coolant should separate from oil(ie. you'll see something irregular in your oil pan)

 

ps. if it does turn out to be coolant in the system, when your drain it grab some oil honey (there are alot of other names for it) but its really thick oil to fix compression. The reason I say to use this is to have it lube between anywhere the coolant might of slipped through. just to be on the safe side. let me know!

[LegacyDriver]

Is there a way I can get under there and take a look? Would it not be possible to see what's going on? Either way I will drain the oil, just can't afford new oil right now and wanna make sure.

 

Hey thanks for the reply! Ok I'm just a little confused. Let me make sure I got this right. It could be either a blown out headgasket... Or it could be coolant leaking into the oil lines? I'm new to this whole mechanic thing so i'm sorry I don't mean to offend.

 

About the oil honey. You mean to add the oil honey to the oil when I'm putting new oil in, not the coolant (If there is coolant in my oil catch pan)... correct? Dumb question I'm sure.

 

Hey man, again, thanks for the help. I was getting worried. Already posted it on Craigslist for $750. What's the going rate for these? I know what KBB has a pretty high value for them (~$2,000). I could also take a video of what is happening for you. I don't know if that would help, but it is possible.

[WESTcoast]

I cant tell you what else to do other than drain the oil, just go buy some 2 bottles of castrol non synthetic run you about 2-3 bucks a piece, put a pan under oil pan and drain some oil but not alot, just enough that you have about 1 bottle oil, look for any of the color change or thickness change or any of that like i said. then pour in one bottle of oil back into your engine, start it, give it a minute or 2, turn it off check oil level if you need more use your second bottle and if not throw it in the trunk (comes in handy when something goes wrong).

 

doing the oil change might fix it and if you see a change in smoke (alot of smoke to little smoke) that might be the cuprit. you can tell my smell of the smoke what is wrong but i forgot how it went haha ill look it up unless someone else can fill me in on that.

 

Yes add it when doing the full oil change the not when checking like i said in the last paragraph. do this if there is coolant found so that incase the coolant got into anywhere where the oil couldnt (coolant is thiner than oil). I would still recomend adding it just to help lubricate the tight parts of your engine. Remeber when doing the oil change oil and coolant wont mix so you will see one floating on top of another, in this case the oil looking different you'll see it.

 

hope that helped