White "smoke" from tailpipe morning start up

[alcyon]

Car is a 1980s Carb Mitsubishi lancer as some of you know. Recently noticed white smoke coming out from the exhaust on first startup of the day. A few things changed these past month.
1. I changed the exhaust muffler from a straight flow to S flow. I noticed this white smoke thingy happening since then. Could it be the S shape internally is trapping moisture ?
2. I just change engine oil from Shell Helix Ultra 5W40 to M1 0W40, 2 days ago.
3. The air quality in Malaysia this past week is terrible because of the forest fires in Indonesia. Heavy haze.

This is the pic of the exhaust after I drove the car 30km, parked at work. Upon arriving at work, I checked the tailpipe with the engine on, no smoke at all.
So ..what do you guys think it is. is it burning off condensation or burning oil?
Few observations I made. I park the car on a slightly inclined surface, with the tailpipe facing the lower side. The tailpipe is also pretty close to a painted white wall.The tailpipe itself looks dry just like before I changed the muffler.
I do not see any oil or black residue on the wall, as well as the area near the exhaust tip, as the smoke seems to be slowly floating upwards. There is a strong smell of gasoline, but that should be normal as the autochoke richens the mixture to warm up the engine.
I also noticed this white smoke when I short trip the car last sunday. One morning start, 7km + 7km trip. The evening start, 7km + 7km trip.
I cant see any smoke when I start up at night after work , which is about 10 hours after engine shutdown in the morning.

 

[gregk24]

White smoke is usually coolant, or in the cold months...condensation.

 

[Dyusik]

I had a 93 J30 that would look like a blown head gasket ever winter day. Just condensation.

 

[Brad_C]

Remember a considerable proportion of the exhaust from a properly tuned petrol engine is water (CO2 + H2O). When the exhaust system is cold it cools the gas enough to condense the water and you get steam.

 

[Lubener]

If coolant were present, the exhaust will have an unusual odor to it, you will be adding coolant and likely will see bubbles in the recovery bottle when running.

 

[InfmousCornholio]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
If coolant were present, the exhaust will have an unusual odor to it, you will be adding coolant and likely will see bubbles in the recovery bottle when running.


+1

My Camara in Florida in winter months.. I used to SWEAR that car had a blown Head Gasket. Turns out it was just being a Chevy with a big engine on start-up.

My Blazer does the same thing.. Smoke out told leaves a trail across the street, until it's good and warm. Looks like a Blown HG until it warms.

If the smoke doesn't stop you got an issue. My Honda.. I noticed my friend driving it away one morning, after being driven for a half hour normally, in all speeds. Saw white smoke from tail on acceleration. Even on a cold day smoke STOPS from the tailpipe.. Sure enough, this car has a blown Head Gasket and has had one for some time.

 

[alcyon]

thats the thing, its not that cold here, the lowest temp is 26C in the morning. Noticed my wife's 11 Kia rondo does the same thing but her smoke disappears quicker. I also noticed that the exhaust guy welded the muffler facing up a bit. When it rains, water tends to flow inwards if I park on flat ground, or sloping forwards. I noticed that the smoke stops at 70C on the oil temp gauge. Perplexed about this as the white puff is more pronounced after I changed to M1 0W40.

 

[alcyon]

i think i got this figured out. Bad valve seals. Engine has 11 years time since rebuild, and was ran twice a week for most of the part, hence only accumulated nearly 150,000 km in 11 years. Only starting this year i drove the car everyday.
http://www.ehow.com/list_7448959_bad-valve-seals-symptoms.html
the symptoms match. I found some oil loss on the dipstick and its only been less than week since i changed the oil and top up to the max mark. I checked the dipstick and sure enough the level dropped a bit.
Will schedule a change of valve seals next week.

 

[alcyon]

changed valve seals, and still the same. Strong reason to believe its the Mobil 1 0W-40. Will only know when I switch it out at the next O.C.

 

[Lubener]

Originally Posted By: alcyon
changed valve seals, and still the same. Strong reason to believe its the Mobil 1 0W-40. Will only know when I switch it out at the next O.C.


I would have bet it wouldn't have helped. Oil burining is not white, it usually is a bluesh smoke. Get a whif of the exhaust, anti freeze will smell bad when burned.Don't be surprised if you consume more oil than before. With the improved sealing at the valves, sometimes more oil will now be drawn past older,marginal rings.

 

[zeng]

Originally Posted By: Lubener
Originally Posted By: alcyon
changed valve seals, and still the same. Strong reason to believe its the Mobil 1 0W-40. Will only know when I switch it out at the next O.C.


I would have bet it wouldn't have helped. Oil burining is not white, it usually is a bluesh smoke. Get a whif of the exhaust, anti freeze will smell bad when burned.Don't be surprised if you consume more oil than before. With the improved sealing at the valves, sometimes more oil will now be drawn past older,marginal rings.


Care to further elaborate on this phenomenon ?

I can understand if it's temporary immediately after valve seal change.

 

[zeng]

Originally Posted By: alcyon
changed valve seals, and still the same. Strong reason to believe its the Mobil 1 0W-40. Will only know when I switch it out at the next O.C.


Whitish smoke is probably condensed moisture.

Burning oil would be bluish smoke.

 

[alcyon]

wouldn't worn rings show up on UOA by showing fuel dilution? The last 2 UOA I done show no antifreeze, water, or fuel dilution in the oil. wasn't that long ago too. And I believe if its rings, it should smoke all the time. I noticed this problem only after I changed to M1 0W-40. I cant really tell if the smoke is bluish, perhaps it is. with the Shell Helix 5W-40, I only occasionally have this kind of smoke on startup, and the amount is much less.

On a side note, this is my first time using M1 0W-40. I did use M1 5W-50 2 years ago.
I searched on the internet and found many examples of other cars having blue-white smoke on cold start up with M1 0W-40..leading me to believe it is the oil...hopefully.