95 2.2 petrol rxe smoking

[rummins]

hi my head gasket went so i replaced it but no when it gets warm it still smokes like steam no smell of oil or petrol its not using any water or overheating but it hasnt done a lot of miles yet i was woundering if it could just be old water burning off in the exhaust any ideas please ?

[Anders Dinsen]

Hi Rummings,

Are there any signs of oil in the coolant? Or coolant in the oil?
Is compression ok on all four cylinders?
Have you checked the spark plugs? How do they look?

Petrol and oxygen reacts to CO2 and H2O - i.e. water. So there will always be steam coming out of an exhaust. It is quite visible in cold weather, as you have probably noticed on many occasions.

If you had lots of water entering the exhaust, there could still be some moisture trapped in the silencers, but as the exhaust system becomes very hot, I would think that it would boil off after a few hours drive. How much has it done?

Cheers,
Anders

[rummins]

hi its only been started up and let reach temp a couple of times as its not taxed but before i taxed it i want to be sure isnt a problem theres just a bit of oil scum in the header bottle but thats from last time the water under the scum is clear i need to flush it once more theres also no pressure in the header tank thats why i was hoping it is just in the exhaust system as the hotter the engine gets and i rev it then it it really kicks out the steam ?

[Anders Dinsen]

hi its only been started up and let reach temp a couple of times as its not taxed but before i taxed it i want to be sure isnt a problem theres just a bit of oil scum in the header bottle but thats from last time the water under the scum is clear i need to flush it once more theres also no pressure in the header tank thats why i was hoping it is just in the exhaust system as the hotter the engine gets and i rev it then it it really kicks out the steam ?

There's no pressure in the header tank? Even when the engine is hot? That's definitely not right and could indicate a leak in the system.

I suggest you let it run for an hour or so in idle WATCHING IT CAREFULLY as it sounds like something is not quite right. You could also disconnect the front exhaust pipe between the manifold and cat after running to see if it's wet in there.

- Anders