Turning to the forum, yet again, for some help. 130k on the rover. For quite some time, I've notice white smoke on start up. It would go away in 60 seconds or so when the car idled-down. (I've studied this cause I start her up and then let my dog open up the mighty mist each morning, as I listen to the sounds of the startup and compressor each morning ). Lately, (like last 5k) I'm noticing the smoke tails off, but there is still a constant stream of white smoke coming from the tail pipes even after the car is warmed up.

I'm not losing coolant. I swear.

Is this pretty plain and simple? Am I looking at a head gasket job? Or could there be some other explanation and way to fix this.

Has anyone done the head on this car?

 

If no loss of coolant, then perhaps condensation that has to cook off, but that should be over with and not continue except in very cold weather. Or can be small quantity of coolant leaking into a particular cylinder over night, and burning off. An exam of the plugs may reveal something. You can also put a dye in the coolant and exam the plugs again to be sure. Oil tends to make a blueish smoke. Running rich tends to make a darker gray / black smoke. 130K sounds early for an HG in the more modern LR3 engine.

I'm sure there will be other thoughts posted, but checking for codes, spark plug condition, CAT operation, using an OBDII scanner, all would give more clues.

KSeal would seal up a small leak - for awhile - if it is coolant related.

 

We all fret over the worst case scenario when something goes wrong, but if you're not losing any coolant, I can't imagine that you have a blown head gasket.

How sure are you that the smoke is "white"? The bluish tinged smoke that burning oil produces can be very white in appearance. Sometimes, it's only when seen next to actual white smoke that you notice the blue tint.

The easiest distinction can also be in the smell. Burning coolant will smell sweet. I don't know how else to describe it, but a kind of sickly sweet odor. Burning oil will have a completely different odor and if it's just water vapor/condensation, there should be no smell.

I agree with Savannah Buzz that you should pull the plugs and see what they're telling you if you're really worried that it's not just condensation burning off. See if you have any oily residue on the threads or around the electrode on any particular cylinder(s).

 

What year LR3 and which engine do you have, the 4.0, 4.4 or the diesel?

 

4.4 2006.

Pulled codes p0174 and 0711. Cleaned maf a few weeks back and it totally resolved some idling issues I had. Did I screw it up? I just took it to autozone so the guy was just dropping suggestions. Any ideas of where to start?

Second but not least, p0738- reverse incorrect ratio. So occasionally when I throw her into reverse on a cold morning a get a tranny fault. A big F w a limited gears available warning. This has happened twice in last two months and I previously posted about it. (And didn't get too far).

My Indy replaced my tranny fluid a few months back and as much as I like him, he made me nervous when he did it cause he didn't follow much of the shop manual instructions. He was he'll bent on using rover tranny fluid, but rest of the procedure was a little off(he jacked car up so it wasn't horizontal when he re-filled. How would he get correct level on re-fill this way? He also didn't move through the gears. Let's not even mention the temp of the fluid ).

That said, I'm hoping and praying that I'm low on fluid. Can someone, for the love of god, direct me to the fill hole? I read the directions on cubby and I still can't find the damn thing. Where is it in relation to the transfer case?