2000 Expedition XLT 4.6L V8. Noticed white smoke on startup other day. Smoke stopped fast. was thinking head gasket problem. checked oil and looked normal and not milky however was low (bottom of dipstick). I added a quart. Coolant level was at normal line. I did notice where it looks to have been leaking where the metal intake to manifold joint is. It must leak under pressure cause ive never seen it coming out while looking. Could it be leaking internally? Should I be concerned with this? Should I do anything. I haven't noticed any coolant loss from coolant resivoir. i'm a newbie without alot of knowledge Thanks

 

First, welcome to this site. I take it the white smoke you saw was from the tail pipe. How many miles on the truck? I think your discription of where you see coolant leaking or rather signs of it leaking is where the intake manifold mates with the cyl heads. For coolant to leak into the cyl head intake ports there would have to be two gasket sealing beads compromised. One around the coolant passage between the cyl head and the intake manifold and the other bead that surrounds the intake ports. Possible but not likely. How many miles since you changed oil and have checked the oil level? Sometimes a quick puff of smoke on startup can be from a small amount of oil leaking past the valve seals. It can also be from coolant getting past a head gasket into a combustion chamber but usually if thats the case you will overpressurize your cooling system as well and hydrocarbons will be present in the antifreeze.