My friend has been telling me that when he drives behind me he sees greyish smoke at full throttle. I didn't believe him until i was racing a new camaro rs and i see the smoke in my rear view. It only smokes at full throttle. the car is perfect in every other way. What could this be?
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White smoke typically means coolant is getting into a compression chamber. (head gasket)
How many miles are on the engine?
Way to properly diagnose is with compression and/or leak down testing. -
Dark gray to black smoke is unburned fuel (running too rich). Light gray, especially with a blue cast is going to be oil burning. A coolant leak makes very white smoke if the cooling system contains anti-freeze. If only water coolant can make a light gray smoke.The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
Jim Levie, Huntsville, ALComment
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there are 162k miles on the car. The coolant level seem the same from the 2 months I've owned it. I do get crappy fuel mileage so until I can get access to compression tester is there a way to resolve a rich condition? Would a valve adjustment affect anything? I also noticed that I barely passed my smog check when I registered it.Comment
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so many variables..
fwiw - it dosen't sound like w/e HG/coolant leak is terrible at this point. Compression testers are ~$20 from parts stores.
Properly adjusted valves are - of course - better than improperly adjusted valves. (improperly adjusted valves wouldn't cause interior coolant leaks)
Crappy mileage is usually a result of vacuum leaks and old O2 sensors..
Then there's plugs, plug wires, filters, and bla bla bla
I guess with you just getting the car and all - and knowing that it does need some attention - it comes down to you - and how far you want to go to get it back to tip top.
I can tell you that with research, basic tools, and a Bentley manual - there's a lot you can do yourself. The work itself is easy if you take your time and do some reading - and it's the kind of work that can be rewarding/satisfying to do.
Note that I'm making some assumptions based on your questions - and am not familiar with you or your car.Comment
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