Apologies if its been covered THICK white smoke

B13Sentra2DR · Feb 5th, 2005, 07:29 PM

92 sentra E 1.6L intake/header/exhaust ran AWESOME until i lost my license and starting it every other day for about 9 months has taken its toll, what used to be invisible smoke from the exhaust is now thick and white...maybe even grey at times? but its not blue (oil) smoke. Help? please?

Chris

95 SentraB13 · Feb 5th, 2005, 07:39 PM

Possible coolant leak due to a blown head gasket perhaps. Is there any white residue in your oil? Has the engine coolant level dropped?

B13Sentra2DR · Feb 5th, 2005, 11:14 PM

Oil looks great on the dipstick and even popping the oil plug for a moment it has not lost but a 1/4 quart in the 9 or so months it has been sitting, water level is great, possibly the low temperature??? but another thing is that it shows no visible smoke until it is revved to 4K or so (have no tach...) then blows thick white kind of smelly smoke

I'm tired of my usernamee · Feb 5th, 2005, 11:18 PM

could be bad gas from sitting for so long. Just try to do a full tune up and replace everything like plugs, change oil, new gas, cap and rotor etc etc etc....

B13Sentra2DR · Feb 5th, 2005, 11:19 PM

god i would feel stupid if this is what it is, but do you think it just needs to be driven? or that its just really cold out (im in oregon) it still roars as good as the day i had intake header exhaust installed

B13Sentra2DR · Feb 5th, 2005, 11:21 PM

91 sentra beat me to it, LoL!!! i will let you guys know...

while im spamming this thread, how hard is it to change timing belt on GA16DE??it has 140K and im not even sure when last belt change was... sigh. i already changed the alternator belt i think it was? and besides space being tight it was pretty simple.

95 SentraB13 · Feb 6th, 2005, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B13Sentra2DR

...how hard is it to change timing belt on GA16DE??it has 140K and im not even sure when last belt change was... sigh.

There is no belt, it's an internal chain which usually doesn't require replacement. It's very time consuming and difficult to change the chain. If anything the timing chain guides may be worn which would result in a constant and noticeable rattling / clatter. Replacing them involves the same procedure as replacing the chain itself.

Catman · Feb 6th, 2005, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B13Sentra2DR

92 sentra E 1.6L intake/header/exhaust ran AWESOME until i lost my license and starting it every other day for about 9 months has taken its toll, what used to be invisible smoke from the exhaust is now thick and white...maybe even grey at times? but its not blue (oil) smoke. Help? please?Chris

Just starting it every other day may be causing carbon build-up, or the excess gas is not being able to burn off. It may be better to just skip the other every day starts, charge the battery occasionally, and then drive it like you stole it once you get you license back. Just try not to get caught.

Also, you may want to run some injector cleaner to help clean out all the deposits. My personal favorite is Fuel Power (FP60) http://www.lubecontrol.com/. I am on my second gallon of the FP60. My Sentra has never run better.

Tavel · Feb 6th, 2005, 10:36 AM

soooooo...you've gone over 9 months without an oil change? yeah...

as for fuel sytem cleaners, Techron (made by chevron) is my favorite. safe for 02 sensors and does a great job, noticable improvement with one quart.

Catman · Feb 6th, 2005, 05:17 PM

I bet some unburned fuel has made that oil very nice by now.

It would be good to let the car run a long time so the oil is good and warm before you change it. Also, I have heard most wear happens at start-up. Once everything is warmed up, and things are getting better lubrication, then wear is reduced. Your oil may be thinning out by now if unburned gas gets past the rings. So, an oil change is a good idea.

B13Sentra2DR · Feb 7th, 2005, 05:24 AM

i just meant that it was not burning or leaking, i changed the oil once, gimme a break!!

I'm tired of my usernamee · Feb 7th, 2005, 08:18 AM

well its obvious that its in definate need of a tune up and checking the rings for compression and blow by is usually something you should do anyways.......just try the easy stuff first and see what happens before you go and get the headgasket replaced or whatnot.

Catman · Feb 7th, 2005, 09:00 AM

Sorry, I did not mean the changing the oil suggestion in a bad way. I flooded my car and a lot of gas got into the crankcase. The oil got so thin that the oil pressure light was coming on. With the symptoms you are having, your gas may not be burning completely. What is left over may be working into the crankcase. It is not so much the time, but the current problems/smoke that made me a little concerned your oil may be loosing it ability to lubricate properly. Just didn't want damage to occur because of lack of lubrication. Hope it works out for you!

sunnysentra · Feb 9th, 2005, 12:16 PM

I am going to say head gasket because of this:

If you ever overheated at any time or you have not flushed the system at any time or had the proper mixture, then you can overheat and not really know it. The temp guage in Nissans varies 40-60 degrees or more, the needle points in the middle, but its not really reliable unless its pegging hot. Also, the water jackets can corrode, you can get hot spots in the head and block that will warp the head or gasket. This is why its inportant to flush that system at least 30,000 miles or 2 years. Rust and corrosion can plug up those tiny orifices that flow water and if blocked, spells disaster.

Look for the Head gasket, do a cylinder leakdown and radiator leakdown for proper testing.

Chris 92 classic

HATEnFATE · Feb 9th, 2005, 07:38 PM

How long did you let your car run when you ran it? There shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary that went wrong, as long as you let it get fully warm.

Quote:

or that its just really cold out

You said it's cold, are you 100% sure that it's not just a LOT of crap because your car is cold? If you just run your car but never move it then your exhaust doesn't get fully hot either. you might just be seeing a LOT of hot air coming from your cold ass exhaust pipe.
Smell your exhaust and make 100% sure it's smoke and not just steam beause it's sitting there running and not moving. You'll know the smoke smell. In the winter my car will pump out white steam until I DRIVE it for at least 10 minutes and then even sometimes it wont go away. depends on how cold it is.

Thats what it sounds like to me.