it's white, which makes me worry it's oil, and i guess i am being optimistic that it is running lean and not burning oil bad.

 

Uh oh. White smoke is water. Sounds like you may have a blown head gasket. Have you checked the coolant level and the condition of the oil? If the oil looks like coffee, your head gasket is blown. Plenty of info on this site regarding the head gasket replacement and parts.

 

well when you say coffee, i assume you mean with cream? yeah, my oil comes out black (how i take MY coffee!). i'm leaning towards maybe more of a problem with the rings, but i don't know.

 

how many miles?

 

Well, the best thing to do is a compression check. If one of the cylinders comes out low, squirt some oil down the plughole and take another reading. If the reading doesn't change, you either have a leaky valve or a bad head gasket.