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White smoke occasionally coming out of my Altima tail pipes.
Houston, Texas, USA:Nissan Altima 2007 2.5S. I bought this car a few months back, showing 59,000 miles then. After having driven it for 4,000 miles, I now notice white smoke coming out of the tail pipes when the engine is started, for about 30 seconds, then the smoke stops while the engine is still running, and I drive away. The smoke smells like it has oil in it.
A day or so passes with no smoke, then again one or two times during the day the smoke comes out. Car still drives great.
This started a week back, and I've also noticed that the engine oil level went down, which I had to top up today.
Can someone help and suggest any reason and solution?
Re: White smoke occasionally coming out of my Altima tail...
I have been researching this problem all day. My 2008 Altima coupe does the same thing. It only smokes at startup occasionally, but runs fine and doesn't get hot. After the initial startup the smoke dissipates and that's it. Does have a little oil smell, but not bad. I've read valve cover gasket, pistons, rings, valve stem gaskets, etc. but no one seems to know for sure. Just check your oil regularly because when my car started to smoke, I noticed significant oil loss.
Re: White smoke occasionally coming out of my Altima tail...
If there is no loss of Coolant, which is a sign of Head gasket failure to the combustion area, which generates white smoke, I would recommend after 4000 miles of your mileage alone, a complete Service of Engine Oil and filter, AIR filter and Fuel filter.
An inexpensive way to find a recurring combustion problem, At 60k miles, the Spark plugs should still be good, but pull them anyway, just to confirm.
Regards,DT
that a hard one to answer. its depends on were you take it. prises very from state to state.like were i work hr labbor rate is 55.00 hr thats in maine . ill say if you take it to a dealer you may pay $300.00 to $400.00 in part and labor.a louco garge would proubly charge $150.00 to $250.00 .but byeing parts for nissan can cost a lot. ask people around you for a good mec. ok have a good day
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What color is the smoke? White smoke is moisture/steam - which can indicate coolant is leaking into the engine (head gasket going bad).
Have you noticed your coolant level going down? Check the level in the overflow tank and the radiator each day (after the car has sat for several hours) and see if it slowly goes down.
White smoke is caused by water and or antifreeze entering the cylinder...If white smoke is present, check to see if the proper amount of antifreeze is inside the radiator and the overflow bottle. Also check to see if antifreeze has contaminated the engine oil. You can look at the engine oil dipstick, or look at the under side of the engine oil filler cap. If the oil is contaminated with antifreeze, it will have the appearance of a chocolate milkshake. Do not start the engine if the oil is contaminated with antifreeze, as serious internal engine damage can result. Good luck..i hope this helps.... please rate me a fixya
When you say: "the inside of her car", I'm going to assume you meant the engine compartment. It sounds like she filled the air cleaner housing with water, probably the distributor cap as well. Check and dry both out thoroughly, change the oil. This should fix it up.
White smoke is caused by coolant or water coming out the tail pipe. There is a chance that the white smoke was caused by water splashing up from a puddle onto the exhaust pipe. Keep an eye on the coolant level in the radiator in any event.
Let us know how it goes or if the problem persists. We're looking forward to how things go for you.
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