White Smoke

[K3HJP]

Hello all,
I have a 2.2D 2006 estate and have covered 121K. I change the oil twice a year covering 12K a year and she is serviced annually.
I have noticed on starting a cold engine she emits white smoke for a few seconds. Should i be worried, what can i do to stop this. I love the car but I am unsure about spending more on the car if it is on its way out. I really want to keep the car.

[J44EAG]

Blue smoke implies an excess of oil. Black smoke is over rich fueling and white smoke is water vapour.

What I think you may be seeing is purely condenstion from within the exhaust. It is not unusual to see this occur during cold winter conditions. However, that said, do check your coolant level to ensure it is at a normal level. If not, then have the car checked in case you have head gasket failure. From what you say though, I`d have thought that unlikely.

Mike K

[K3HJP]

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am sure it is white smoke, so I will see it through the winter and see what happens.
Once again thank you.
Howard

[BrianG]

White smoke from a diesel on start up may indicate that one of your glow plugs is not working. The cylinder at fault will eventually run but takes a while to get going and the fuel does not burn properly for a few seconds as a result. I had this problem when I had a XJ6 2.7TDVi.

[J44EAG]

Good point, Brian. Nicely presented and very valid. I forgot about glow plug issues. I see a fair bit of that type of issue during start up cycles of marine blown air diesel fired cabin heating systems. When cold, those units can generate white smoke until the unit gets up to working temperature.

I think it is important to distiguish whether the start up "smoke" is indeed true smoke or just humble condensation vapour.

Mike

[BrianG]

I see a fair bit of that type of issue during start up cycles of marine blown air diesel fired cabin heating systems. When cold, those units can generate white smoke until the unit gets up to working temperature.

Yep, had that problem too in cold weather with the fuel fired booster heater on the 2.7 TDVi. People thought I was on fire! I was glad to get rid of it and go back to a proper pertrol XJ.