S40 2000 White Smoke Exhaust

[sissy]

Hi, I have a 2000 S40 with approx 130, miles. white smoke coming from exhaust.

Here is a summary of events:

Approximately 1 week prior to the white smoke, oil change service reps could not get the oil pan off and syphoned the oil
and replaced it. Drove the vehicle about 100 miles after that no problem.

Drove about 45 miles, stopped in street to talk to friend for about 20 minutes, drove one block to home- white smoke
coming out of exhaust. Not overheating, no white smoke while idling on the road just before.

To be safe had it towed to import mechanic who replaced a sensor, had it for about 5 weeks and could not figure out where the smoke is coming from . Last week the mechanic called me saying he could not figure out what is wrong, checked every where for oil where it should not be and even called Volvo but cannot figure out why the car runs great but the white smoke still is in the exhaust. (he is only charging for the sensor and labor)

I asked the mechanic what I could tell the next mechanic so they are not wasting their time checking things previously checked he said just to have them call him.

I realize not giving a lot of information but wondering if there is anything I could suggest to the mechanic prior to picking it up to make sure he checked out? We live in a rural area and the other Volvo repair shops are about 80 miles away.

Forgot to add it has Turbo and has had no other problems in the past two years.

Thanks in advance.

[billofdurham]

Welcome to Matthew's Volvo Site.

How much smoke is coming out? Is it smoke or is it just the normal vapour that comes out on cold days as the exhaust system heats up?

As a worst case scenario white smoke is caused by water and or antifreeze entering the cylinder, and the engine trying to burn it with the fuel. The white smoke is steam. There are special gaskets (head gaskets are the primary gaskets) that keep the antifreeze from entering the cylinder area. The cylinder is where the fuel and air mixture are being compressed and burned. Any amount of antifreeze that enters this area will produce a white steam that will be present at the tailpipe area.

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.

I would think that a good mechanic would have already checked this but you need to ask him. He can perform several tests which would indicate if the head gasket has gone.

Bill.

[sissy]

Thank you for your response and such a complete explanation of what may be happening.

The white smoke is all the time and not just the usual upon start up. I too hope he checked for a cracked head as he has test driven it each time he thinks he has found the issue.

After reading through similar posts on this site the questions I plan to ask him are:

1. Checked for a cracked head?
2. Checked PCV/Turbo? (oil in hose, etc)

I'm fairly certain he checked the head first because that is what I thought it was originally, he does a brisk business locally so also sure that he is a competent mechanic.(small town word gets around quickly) He did say he checked everywhere for OIL and could not find any where it should not be.

I was unable to get through to him today but will keep trying and advise.

Thanks again,

[sissy]

Well guess I had it all wrong, mechanic says it's blue smoke not white, states the heads looked fine, checked the turbo/hoses some oil but cleaned it out and still blue smoke. He recommends having it towed to the next repair place which means another towing bill.

Any suggestions what to check for blue smoke? I will search this site for posts with "blue smoke" now.