white smoke with sweet smell on cold starts
#1
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white smoke with sweet smell on cold starts
hi All,
l used to daily drive my 2012 infiniti G37s coupe and for last two to three months, i have been starting it may be once or twice a week for short trips within the city.
I started to let the car warm-up for a minute or two before driving it and it is when I started to notice sweet smell and white smoke coming out of the exhaust till the car warms up. during warm up, the car idles rough at around 1200 rpm and slowly comes down to 600-800rpm as the engines reaches its operating temparature.
my first thought was coolant leakage and started to check the levels of coolant in the reservoir. the level remains same although i have to admit that i never drove the car for long distances since noticing the smell.
I acquired the car in July 2018 and it had around 43,000 kms then. now, it is close to 50,000kms. I did got it checked by local infiniti dealer at the time of buying the car and they told me that the car is in very good condition.
i am still concerned and am very much tempted to try to use gasket sealants liquids available in autozone. the car is due for regular maintenance this month.
below are the checks I did -
1. no change in the level of coolant in the reservoir(white box with min and max)
2. no bubbles observed from the coolant next to the engine
3. after letting the car warm up, there is still very small amount of white smoke coming but without the smell. I gave the accelerator hard pushes for couple of seconds and observed that the density of white smoke increased a little with smell and also observed small drops of water dripping from the exhaust.
the water was colorless and odorless. i let the car idle again for couple more minutes and this time there is no noticeable white smoke or smell from the exhaust.
4. Engine oil cap looks clean beneath with no milky substance observed.
sorry for the lengthy post. kindly let me know if I need to be worried about my car.
Regards and Thanks,
Sai Bollineni
l used to daily drive my 2012 infiniti G37s coupe and for last two to three months, i have been starting it may be once or twice a week for short trips within the city.
I started to let the car warm-up for a minute or two before driving it and it is when I started to notice sweet smell and white smoke coming out of the exhaust till the car warms up. during warm up, the car idles rough at around 1200 rpm and slowly comes down to 600-800rpm as the engines reaches its operating temparature.
my first thought was coolant leakage and started to check the levels of coolant in the reservoir. the level remains same although i have to admit that i never drove the car for long distances since noticing the smell.
I acquired the car in July 2018 and it had around 43,000 kms then. now, it is close to 50,000kms. I did got it checked by local infiniti dealer at the time of buying the car and they told me that the car is in very good condition.
i am still concerned and am very much tempted to try to use gasket sealants liquids available in autozone. the car is due for regular maintenance this month.
below are the checks I did -
1. no change in the level of coolant in the reservoir(white box with min and max)
2. no bubbles observed from the coolant next to the engine
3. after letting the car warm up, there is still very small amount of white smoke coming but without the smell. I gave the accelerator hard pushes for couple of seconds and observed that the density of white smoke increased a little with smell and also observed small drops of water dripping from the exhaust.
the water was colorless and odorless. i let the car idle again for couple more minutes and this time there is no noticeable white smoke or smell from the exhaust.
4. Engine oil cap looks clean beneath with no milky substance observed.
sorry for the lengthy post. kindly let me know if I need to be worried about my car.
Regards and Thanks,
Sai Bollineni
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venkatasai1989 (02-13-2019)
#3
Registered Member
Thread Starter
thank you for replying.
just asking for my understanding, the smell and smoke usually goes away after sometime and there is no difference in the coolant levels in coolant leakage cases. so, how can i confirm if it is a coolant leakage?
i saw some posts and videos where there is continuous white smoke from the exhaust even after the car is heated up which is not the case with my car. so, does this still mean that there is a possible leakage in my car?
just asking for my understanding, the smell and smoke usually goes away after sometime and there is no difference in the coolant levels in coolant leakage cases. so, how can i confirm if it is a coolant leakage?
i saw some posts and videos where there is continuous white smoke from the exhaust even after the car is heated up which is not the case with my car. so, does this still mean that there is a possible leakage in my car?
Last edited by venkatasai1989; 02-12-2019 at 01:06 PM.
#5
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#7
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I restarted the car again now(the weather is sunny at present) and the the idle was smooth and no smoke or water was observed from the exhaust. I let the car run for a minute or so and then pushed the accelerator hard couple of times. i then observed light white smoke from the exhaust and also little water from the exhaust. after few seconds, the white smoke disappeared tho.
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#8
Just say no!!!!!
iTrader: (14)
I restarted the car again now(the weather is sunny at present) and the the idle was smooth and no smoke or water was observed from the exhaust. I let the car run for a minute or so and then pushed the accelerator hard couple of times. i then observed light white smoke from the exhaust and also little water from the exhaust. after few seconds, the white smoke disappeared tho.
Blue circle = reservoir cap
What is the level under the cap circled in red?
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venkatasai1989 (02-13-2019)
#9
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iTrader: (7)
Steam is expected from the exhaust. It is visible in cold weather until the entire exhaust system warms up. Water vapor makes up about thirty percent by volume of the exhaust.
The sweet smell is a tell-tale of coolant going through the engine. The only way it can enter the engine is by cracked block cracked head, blown head gasket.
The sweet smell is a tell-tale of coolant going through the engine. The only way it can enter the engine is by cracked block cracked head, blown head gasket.
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venkatasai1989 (02-13-2019)
#11
Registered Member
OP, I think there are test strips that will reveal if there are hydrocarbons in the coolant. If exhaust is mixing with coolant, you have a failed head gasket and/or cracked head.
#12
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#13
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Thread Starter
Steam is expected from the exhaust. It is visible in cold weather until the entire exhaust system warms up. Water vapor makes up about thirty percent by volume of the exhaust.
The sweet smell is a tell-tale of coolant going through the engine. The only way it can enter the engine is by cracked block cracked head, blown head gasket.
The sweet smell is a tell-tale of coolant going through the engine. The only way it can enter the engine is by cracked block cracked head, blown head gasket.
As of today, the coolant level is observed from last few weeks to be just above MIN level in the reservoir(white box) when the engine is cold and between MIN and MAX after driving the car for a while.
#14
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I tried checking for leaks but couldn't find any noticeable leaks at the hoses or pumps.
#15
Registered Member
Thread Starter
thanks to everyone for responding. I might be overthinking or the car does indeed might a problem. I just want to make sure that all the checks are being performed before taking the car to a mechanic.
i don't have complete confidence on the infiniti agency here in my city and the mechanics usually take you for a round. i had a very bad experiences with my previous car, Altima that had transmission issues. So, I want to make sure about the cause of the smell before checking with a mechanic.
i don't have complete confidence on the infiniti agency here in my city and the mechanics usually take you for a round. i had a very bad experiences with my previous car, Altima that had transmission issues. So, I want to make sure about the cause of the smell before checking with a mechanic.