2003 Focus ... Possible Blown Head Gasket ?

[RobbS]

Hello,
Please help me trouble shoot this.
-2003 Ford Focus 156K miles.
Driving home from work yesterday, driving 60 mph, and a HUGE white/gray plume of smoke started leaving my tailpipe. The engine did not overheat, ran normal, just smoked ALOT for about 60 long seconds. After a minute of smoking, it just stopped smoking.
When I got home, I checked the antifreeze which was normal, oil level was full and looked fresh. I checked all my fluids for the heck of it and they were all full.
Very strange. No particulate smell to the exhaust. Tail pipe was dry and free of carbon.
What do you think about that? Thank you in advance.

 

[CarlB]

Use a headgasket leak tester + test fluid to rule out headgasket.

 

[Trav]

Another possibility is you had a sticking open fuel injector.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Check your coolant level now that the engine has cooled down. If a bit low, I'd be pulling plugs.
But first, Does this (Mazda L or Duratec 2.0?) use a water heated throttle body?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Another possibility is you had a sticking open fuel injector.

Or maybe one of his plugs is a bit loose, and it finally sucked in all that oil puddling in the spark plug tube

 

[Ride_Red]

When I had a head gasket problem, it leaked coolant into the cylinder. I could smell a sweet odor in the exhaust. In the cool mornings, it had a larger than normal steam cloud coming out of the exhaust pipe.

 

[Mechanician]

Check your coolant level now that the engine has cooled down. If a bit low, I'd be pulling plugs.

^This would be a good way to check - with home tools.^
With a bad head gasket, a plug that looks like it has been steam cleaned may be found.

 

[IndyIan]

Which engine is this? HG is pretty rare for Duratec, but I can't really think of anything else that would do that and still have normal looking fluids?
Ran over a can of brake cleaner? PCV system loading up and then pushing through a bunch of stuff at once?

 

[bdcardinal]

Which 2.0l? There was SOHC, DOHC, and DOHC SVT that year.

 

[zzyzzx]

Check the overflow tank with the engine running.

 

[RobbS]

Which 2.0l? There was SOHC, DOHC, and DOHC SVT that year.

2.0 SOHC

 

[RobbS]

Check the overflow tank with the engine running.

What do I check while it's running?

 

[RobbS]

Or maybe one of his plugs is a bit loose, and it finally sucked in all that oil puddling in the spark plug tube

Hmmm,... I DO have oil filled spark plug wells, for sure.

 

[zzyzzx]

What do I check while it's running?

Are bubbles coming up through the coolant? Normally you would remove the cap and stare down into the reservoir.

 

[RobbS]

Another possibility is you had a sticking open fuel injector.

I DID put fuel treatment with PEA in the gastank the day before....

 

[RobbS]

Are bubbles coming up through the coolant? Normally you would remove the cap and stare down into the reservoir.

I will check. I've checked it every time it has stopped and coolant level is exactly the same, full. I will start it up and inspect for bubbles. Stand by, I'll update the post. Thanks

 

[RobbS]

Check your coolant level now that the engine has cooled down. If a bit low, I'd be pulling plugs.
But first, Does this (Mazda L or Duratec 2.0?) use a water heated throttle body?

I put over 100 miles a day on it. I checked every time it was off and the fluid level is the same, full.

 

[RobbS]

Another possibility is you had a sticking open fuel injector.

Yeah, might of been, who knows? I did just add gas treatment with PEA in the car when I filled the tank.

 

[TCL]

Did you look underneath and see if you hit any sort of debris that would have melted off the exhaust?

 

[RobbS]

Use a headgasket leak tester + test fluid to rule out headgasket.

I am willing to get one of those coolant testers to know for sure. Ive driven it another 150 miles and nothing has happened again. I drove it home from work yesterday when the smoke incident happened. I later on took it on a test trip up the mountain. It climbed the mountain no problem, the temperature gauge never rose, car ran normally all day today.
The smoking was a strange event, one that no one wants to see in their rearview mirror.