Every now and again (this morning being one of those times) my truck will smoke for about a 1/2 mile leaving my house and then its fine the rest of the day. It pours out white/gray smoke like its on fire but just for a few
seconds Anybody know if it sounds like a head gasket or something more serious? i havent adjusted the valves since i bought the truck either, prob. wouldnt hurt. ive also got an exhaust leak i cant get rid of for more than a couple of days. anybody got any ideas? runs good as far as i can tell

 

Yota's tend to due this as the engine ages. I think it's from oil leaking past the valve guides and seeping into the cylinders after it's been sitting. This seems to happen after they get around 80K miles on them.

You case is a little unusual though. Typically, the white smoke only lasts a few seconds right after starting.

 

Sounds like valve seals. Basically, when it sits all night, oil leaks in and then it has to burn it off. I had an old tercel that did this, when I started the car up, it would smoke enough to fill clear across the street with a smoke screen, it was like a portable bermuda triangle, people would get completely lost and turned around in there!

 

so its nothing to get all worried about right now? im in the middle of buying a house and i am BROKE and being this is my only ride i cant afford any repairs right now

 

White smoke is indicative of a coolant leak. Does this cloud smell sweet? Condensation usually only lasts a few seconds. A coolant leak will act like you describe. Check your coolant level, and check to see if you are loosing coolant over a few days or a week.

If you have BLUE smoke, as the others said, this is most commonly a valve seal leak. It will be annoying and get worse, but just watching your oil level and topping off will prevent any major damage. There are mechanic-in-a-can options for reducing this type of leak, but they are worthless in my opinion. You can replace the valve seals yourself with the head in place. Either way, I hope it's something simple. Congrats on the house. It feels great having a place that is your own.

 

^^ Good point, I disregarded the "white" description, haha.

 

Head gasket leak would be my bet. Get it checked out ASAP or it will just get progressively worse.

Ed

 

Heath, you crack me up! I can just envision some poor little old blue-haired lady driving her 82 Lincoln into your cloud of smoke and then finding herself back in her driveway wondering what happened!

 

Glad to be of service!
I had a cop stop and scream at me one morning for it, haha. The funny thing is that once it had run for a while, it passed emissions just fine. I think the cop was just freaked out because he drove in and when he came out he was going in reverse.

 

My guess is you probably burning a little oil on startup from the valve stem seals, and the white smoke is probably condensation being burned out of your muffler and cat converter.

If it was headgasket it would get worse fairly quickly... Just keep an eye on your fluids, but I personally wouldn't worry to much about it, as keeping on eye on fluids is something you should do regularly anyway!