I bought a 1999 4.6 with 145K on it. After my first oil change I started noticing a huge burst of white smoke from the tail pipe at start up. It doesn't smoke that I can see after this until it rests for several hours. It doesn't leak oil that I can determine - none on the ground or on the engine but it losses about 1 qt per 1000 miles. On the recomedation from the Tappet bros, I put about 3/4 qt in the crankcase and the rest mixed in the gas tank. I've put a couple hundred miles on the truck since and the smoke appears to be less but it hasn'e stopped. Not sure about the oil consumption. Is this a terminal condition or is there something I can do to save this engine?

Ford One

 

White smoke is usually more along the lines of antifreeze if i remember correctly. Oil usually makes for more of a blue smoke. If it is antifreeze its probably something like a head gasket or something. The easiest way to check is to do a compression check. The other thing you could do is try to get a whiff of the smoke. And i dont mean take a deep breath right out of your tailpipe. But if the smoke smells sweet its definately antifreeze.

 

Wouldn't a coolant issue smoke more after the engine is warmed up and run for a while??? But yeah, try and get a whiff of the smoke to determine the origin.

 

If it only produces white smoke when you start it cold that's nothing to worry about. It's mostly steam from condensed water in your exhaust system.

If you get white smoke beyond start-up then that indicates your engine is running lean and that is very much something to worry about.

 

What i was kinda thinking is it could just be a small leak or something like that, and because of that it would only be noticable after its sat for a bit and restarted since there wouldnt be enough to notice things after it burnt off. I dont know if it would be steam as it would take your exhaust a few min for the pipes to all get hot enough to turn water to steam. Cause the condensation is usually in the muffler or later on in the system.

But ya, easiest way is to see what the smoke smells like. Its its sweet you probably have a tiny coolant leak in the head gasket or something.

 

Thanks Guys,

I smelled the smoke this morning - it smells like oil. Is the antifreeze smell the same as the smell that you get when you have a small leak in the heater? I've smelled that smell before on several previous vehicles and I don't detect that smell. There is also the issue of a qt of oil used about every 1000 miles.

I'm thinking that oil somehow accumulates in one of the pistons while the engine cools and then explodes out of the tail pipe when I first start the engine. Could it be draining down from the valve train somehow?

Ford One

 

Yes it will probably smell very similar to a heater core leak. If it is oil my guess would probably be something like a valve seal or something. Its letting a bit of oil by when the engine sits for a while and thats what is causeing the smoke. I could be wrong as most of my engine knowledge relates to pushrod V8's and the modulars im still learning.