There is white smoke from the exhaust pipe: the reasons for doing that

Probably, all car owners saw, as there is a white smoke from an exhaust pipe. This is a very popular phenomenon, especially in winter. Beginners are often frightened - they think that the car broke down. This phenomenon can be seen at a time when the engine just started, and he began to warm up. In such a situation, white smoke is quite acceptable. He tells the owner that a lot of moisture has accumulated in the exhaust system. You can say that it's not even smoke, but rather steam. Therefore it is important to warm up the car qualitatively until all the moisture evaporates completely. The presence of moisture can be determined by drop of water. They will accumulate on the edges of the silencer pipe. After all the systems and in particular the exhaust are completely warmed up, the steam disappears completely. Let's take a closer look at where the white smoke from the exhaust pipe comes from, we will analyze the causes of this phenomenon, because the matter here can be not only in high humidity.

When is the problem

In winter, when the engine warms up, the steam from the car's exhaust pipe is the norm. However, if it comes from the pipe in the summer, and even with the engine warmed up, this is already a cause for concern.

Perhaps the blame for the cylinders. They can get moisture, and therefore steam will form. Another option is the punched head of the cylinder block. Here it is necessary to examine the technical part more deeply. The destruction of the cylinder head sometimes happens due to the water contained in the cooling liquid. When the fuel burns, the water simply does not have time to completely evaporate. Therefore, there is white smoke from the exhaust pipe. It should be noted that the color and hue of the steam may not be entirely white. It depends on many factors, including the type of coolant, air temperature and humidity level. Sometimes, in poor lighting, white smoke from the exhaust pipe at the start was confused with the smoke from burning oil. But here it is easy to draw conclusions on the residual indicators. Oil pairs have one interesting property - they hang in the air. And the steam evaporates instantly. You can distinguish between the types of smoke and these features.

What is the exhaust?

If the engine of the car and all the rest of the equipment is working properly and in its normal mode, then the exhaust is a vapor connection. Also in gases contains nitrogen and carbon dioxide. These substances are almost completely discolored.

From the tube goes an eye invisible to the eye. The catalyst, in which harmful substances are neutralized, is involved in the purification. Let us consider in more detail the white smoke from the exhaust pipe, the causes of this phenomenon and the ways of solving this problem.

Condensate evaporation

If the driver suddenly noticed that during the warm-up or during the acceleration at low speed from the pipe there is a white exhaust, then, as mentioned above, it is not necessary to panic. This is a frequent and innocuous phenomenon. The reason is that after a last trip in the combustion chambers, as well as in the resonator and the muffler, due to cooling, a lot of condensate formed. When the engine is started, the water is defrosted and boils. As a result, the "white" smoke from the exhaust pipe goes to the cold. Then, after a while, all the condensate boils away, and the steam no longer goes.

Antifreeze in the exhaust manifold

If the street is warm, and white smoke is pouring from the pipe and is not going anywhere after warming up, this indicates problems in the engine.

Coolant enters the combustion chambers. Antifreeze during the combustion of the fuel evaporates, and at the output of the silencer, a thick white smoke forms. But the color, as already noted, can depend on the type of antifreeze.

Diagnosis: water or antifreeze?

To fully verify that the pipe is steam, and not evaporating antifreeze, you can make a little experiment. To the exhaust close with the engine wound up, bring a piece of thick paper. It should not leave greasy spots. If so, then it is water vapor. If the stains remain, then this is the cooling liquid. Further conduct additional actions, which will allow a more accurate diagnosis.

Unscrew the cork of the expansion tank, then start the motor. Now you need to spot oil spots on the surface of the coolant. It is recommended to check the smell of antifreeze - it can smell of exhaust gases. If a characteristic oil film is visible on the surface of the coolant and the antifreeze smells of the exhaust gases, this indicates a broken gasket under the cylinder head. Also, a crack in the cylinder is possible. If this is the case, the coolant level in the reservoir will rise. The pressure will increase due to the ingress of exhaust gas into the cooling system. As a result, there is white smoke from the exhaust pipe, but "on the hot". After each trip on such an engine, you can see how quickly coolant decreases. Leakage of the antifreeze and its subsequent entry into the cooling system or into the drip tray leads to the mixing of antifreeze and oil. You can diagnose by the color of the grease. On the probe, it will have a milky color. To use such an oil is already unsuitable. Lubricating properties it completely lost.

Other reasons

If there is white smoke from the exhaust pipe, the reasons may be in the burnt gasket. However, the problem is not only in the gasket itself, but also in the head, or rather in its plane. This defect is often expressed when the motor overheats. However, at a stage when the violation of the CBC plane is not so pronounced, it is not noticed. In this case, you should observe the combustion chamber - there is a probability of detecting a crack.

You can identify it when checking the tightness. Perform such a test is easy. The piston is lowered to the bottom dead center and it is determined whether there is a liquid inside. It can be found quite rarely, but mindfulness in this matter will not be superfluous. Often, white smoke from the exhaust pipe (VAZ-2170 including) can be seen when a low-quality gasket of the intake manifold was used at the maintenance. In this case, moisture enters the combustion chambers through the intake system. This option is the worst, since it is very difficult to diagnose the problem. In the cooling system there is always a normal pressure, there are no smells of exhaust gases. But in the oil sump, an emulsion is still formed, and the level of the coolant drops. The probe should be checked every two weeks. вас от преждевременной поломки и проблем с силовым агрегатом. This will protect you from premature failure and problems with the power unit.

And what about diesel engines?

The injection of a fuel mixture in a diesel engine is feeding it into combustion chambers under high pressure through injectors. When the mixture passes through the nozzle, a torch is formed, so that the mixture in the cylinder is divided into small droplets.

Then these particles are heated inside the chamber and actively evaporate. Completely serviceable motor in any operating modes receives an effective sprayed portion of the mixture strictly at the right moment of the compression stroke. Then the mixture is ignited by heating. Further, the combination of diesel fuel and air burns, giving off energy. White smoke from the exhaust pipe of the diesel engine goes, in spite of the difference with the gasoline engine, for the same reasons - it is a high moisture content in the exhaust system, incomplete combustion of the fuel mixture, cooling fluid in the combustion chambers. And if everything is clear about the condensate, then about the incompletely combustible mixture needs to be explained in more detail.

Incomplete combustion of diesel fuel

White smoke from the exhaust pipe of a diesel engine during its warm-up occurs if ignition is not timely. This color indicates the gases that were supposed to give up the energy of the piston. This phenomenon is typical even for a working motor.

In the first case, the mixture enters the combustion chambers, then evaporates, but does not completely burn out, since the supply is carried out at a fixed angle. This happens due to insufficient heat inside the cylinders. If the diesel engine emits white smoke, it reports that the nozzles spray the mixture normally. And untimely outbreak leads to a decrease in temperature, reduces the rate of combustion, uniformity. Possible problems with glow plugs, reduced compression, excessive injection pressure, with plunger pairs of a high-pressure fuel pump.

Conclusion

Thick white smoke from the exhaust pipe, if it is not related to the condensate, indicates certain problems in the engine. You should immediately pay attention to this and troubleshoot.

So, we found out the reasons for the appearance of smoke from the exhaust pipe.