97 Volvo 850 T5 Smoke from Exhaust

jinglebuddy · Post by **jinglebuddy** » 11 Feb 2009, 07:40

Hi all,
I'm brand spanking new owner of 97 Volvo 850 T5 with 145k miles, just switched from my beloved 240 station wagon (I still think 240s are better cars than 850s). Anyhow, I noticed on my 850, there seems to be quite a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust. It doesn't seem like oil smoke, but more like heavy moist air, which if normal probably in this cold weather. It just seems that there's a lot more of it than other cars on the road, even after the engine is completely warmed up. It doesn't seem like there's any coolant leaking into the engine although I saw a very little whitish brown on the filler cap, no sign of the same stuff on the dip stick. Coolant level is good and steady, the engine runs fine and smooth, though there's occasional "puff" of blue smoke from exhaust when I floor the thing. What do you think? Am I just worried too much about this, or do you think there's something drastically wrong with the car (yeah, it was super cheap, and I guess you get what you pay for). Any input will be much much appreciated!

Post by **MadeInJapan** » 11 Feb 2009, 20:42

I'm thinking you may have blow-by through your piston rings...you're getting the blue smoke. Do you burn some oil? Are you losing oil between changes? You might do an engine compression test to be sure. Once condensation burning off stops in the cold weather, you shouldn't have any smoke out of your exhaust.

jinglebuddy · Post by **jinglebuddy** » 12 Feb 2009, 09:40

Hello! Thanks for the info.
It's a bit difficult to say, the exhaust gas is pretty wet, but I just can't detect the familiar oil smell from it at all. And so far I haven't detected any major oil loss, but I'll keep an eye on it. I know there is a small oil leak from the turbo's drain pipe, and only real blue (oil) smoke I detected so far is only when I floor it, and it's a 'puff.' Either ways I should have it looked at, huh?
Thanks so much for the input, much appreciated!

jaluhn · Post by **jaluhn** » 12 Feb 2009, 11:13

If it was burning that much antifreeze you should be able to smell the oder of burnt antifreeze fairly clearly in the smoke. I'd also expect to see a definite loss of coolant / pressure in the cooling system, and almost certainly coolant in the oil. Burning enough coolant to make that much smoke is only really seen when the head gasket is well and truly blown.

My advise would be to just keep an eye on the coolant and oil levels and just drive it. Odd as it seems, my guess would be that the car just makes more condensation than you're expecting for some reason. Maybe due to the turbo pulling more heat out of the exhaust than a non turbo car? Either way, no worries unless you see other problems.
~John

jinglebuddy · Post by **jinglebuddy** » 13 Feb 2009, 12:51

Hello!!
Thanks for reply. Turned out that my 850 for some reason collected more condensation than others during the cold spell. Now I don't see any of the same smoke. I still have the blue puff, but I will post that on new topic. Thanks so much everyone!

GregK · Post by **GregK** » 13 Feb 2009, 16:58

It's been that kind of spring. (I hope.) I noticed much more white exhaust this past two weeks as well. Non turbo 1997 850, Ontario, Canada. It's cold, then hot, then cold, rain, fog.