My engine pissed itself and now has taken up smoking...help
Two days ago i started street parking since winter's over. Last night i come home from work, park, and car's been running no problem. No leaks, all good in the hood.
I come down this morning and there's a puddle of coolant under the car near the very front of the engine.
I start it up just fine but there's white-ish smoke coming from the exhaust that takes maybe 15 minutes to reduce to barely any. I can't remember if that was the normal amount. (it was between 30 and 35 F outside (-1-2 C)).
My immediate thought was: Shit. Headgasket. However, i'm not so sure.
Here are the symptoms:
-coolant puddle near very front of engine in the morning
-coolant needed to be topped up (obviously).
-When i opened the expansion tank even after the car sat for a while, it fizzed more than i would have expected.
-NO coolant or liquids on the sides of the block near the head (i think)
-oil is fine (10W40), NOT milky
-morning startup: white-ish smoke coming from the exhaust. Not excessively puffy, but very noticeable nonetheless. Wayy more than should be visible for that temperature. Takes maybe 10-15 mins to reduce to almost none.
-lunchtime (now) startup (temperatures warmer). Starts up fine, same lower amount of white smoke as the later morning. I can't remember if this is the normal amount i've been seeing for months, or if it's just exhaust. I want to say it's less white and more "exhaust-y" now, but i'm not sure.
-I can sort of see coolant over the front of the engine, but it's blocked a little by hoses and i can't rip everything apart in the office parking lot.
-Smells of burning coolant a little but that may be it burning off from touching hot components in the bay.
-it's been running rich lately (maybe related?)
So. Could it be my water pump and gasket failing? I noticed the temp jumped up to over half from just below half after a 2 minute drive during lunch. that's started up from almost cold though so it may just be an e30 gauge anomaly...
It's just weird since it seems to have come out of nowhere overnight.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks! :(
I come down this morning and there's a puddle of coolant under the car near the very front of the engine.
I start it up just fine but there's white-ish smoke coming from the exhaust that takes maybe 15 minutes to reduce to barely any. I can't remember if that was the normal amount. (it was between 30 and 35 F outside (-1-2 C)).
My immediate thought was: Shit. Headgasket. However, i'm not so sure.
Here are the symptoms:
-coolant puddle near very front of engine in the morning
-coolant needed to be topped up (obviously).
-When i opened the expansion tank even after the car sat for a while, it fizzed more than i would have expected.
-NO coolant or liquids on the sides of the block near the head (i think)
-oil is fine (10W40), NOT milky
-morning startup: white-ish smoke coming from the exhaust. Not excessively puffy, but very noticeable nonetheless. Wayy more than should be visible for that temperature. Takes maybe 10-15 mins to reduce to almost none.
-lunchtime (now) startup (temperatures warmer). Starts up fine, same lower amount of white smoke as the later morning. I can't remember if this is the normal amount i've been seeing for months, or if it's just exhaust. I want to say it's less white and more "exhaust-y" now, but i'm not sure.
-I can sort of see coolant over the front of the engine, but it's blocked a little by hoses and i can't rip everything apart in the office parking lot.
-Smells of burning coolant a little but that may be it burning off from touching hot components in the bay.
-it's been running rich lately (maybe related?)
So. Could it be my water pump and gasket failing? I noticed the temp jumped up to over half from just below half after a 2 minute drive during lunch. that's started up from almost cold though so it may just be an e30 gauge anomaly...
It's just weird since it seems to have come out of nowhere overnight.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks! :(
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