Buying a car in the secondary market requires the utmost care from the buyer. Otherwise, you can buy a car with a malfunctioning gasoline engine. This will entail significant costs from the first day of owning a vehicle. If you know why white smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe, you can understand whether such a car is worth considering for purchase and what repairs it may need.

What does the smoke from the chimney say?

Quick diagnostics of the vehicle does not require its disassembly and visits to a specialized service station. The appearance of smoke from the exhaust pipe allows you to accurately determine the causes of a car malfunction.

The most obvious sign for diagnosing a problem is the exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine.

Exit

Clubs of white smoke

blue lop

blue smoke

The appearance of smoke of this color during warming up indicates oil entering the combustion chamber and mixing lubricant with fuel.

The cause may be worn valve stem seals or piston rings. Because of this, oil enters the engine cylinders. Due to the mixing of liquids, blue smoke is produced during combustion.

This leads to an increased consumption of fuels and lubricants, and the engine is not able to develop its full power.

White exhaust

Clubs of white smoke

If white smoke comes out of the exhaust system, this indicates a malfunction of the combustion chamber. At this point, the coolant is mixed with the fuel. The causes of white smoke can be very different:

breakdown of the cylinder head gasket;
the occurrence of cracks in the cylinder head;
head corrosion.

In any case, a thorough inspection of the cylinder head is necessary. If the gasket is the problem, it must be replaced with a new one. If the cause of the malfunction lies in the cylinder head defect, it must be repaired or completely replaced.

Complete replacement of the cylinder head is a very expensive procedure.

Black exhaust

Black smoke

Many motorists wonder why black smoke comes out of the exhaust pipe. Most often, black smoke can be found on cars with diesel engines. This indicates dirty injectors.

Gasoline or diesel fuel contains a variety of impurities, which cause clogging of the fuel system. This entails a number of negative consequences:

increased fuel consumption;
difficult starting of the engine;
drop in the power of the power unit.

The problem is solved quite simply – it is necessary to flush the entire fuel system, replace filters and blow out the nozzles.

brown stains

brown soot

As with black smoke, these effects indicate high engine oil consumption. In this case, it is necessary to replace the rings, valve stem seals or overhaul the entire motor.

We determine the condition of the engine by candles

In the event of a malfunction in the fuel system, it is imperative to look at the spark plugs. This is one of the easiest ways to diagnose an engine. Thanks to a visual inspection of the spark plugs after a long engine run, you can understand what is wrong with the car.

You need to unscrew the candles when the engine has completely cooled down.

Carbon deposits and deposits are completely absent

Clean candles

The insulating skirt on the center electrode is clean and light brown in color. There are also no traces of oil.

This means that the car's engine is fully operational and consumes the optimal amount of fuel. There is no need to add oil frequently.

Velvety black soot

The appearance of such deposits on the center electrode indicates that the carburetor is not adjusted correctly or the injector is working intermittently.

This could be caused by a clogged air filter. It must be replaced and as soon as possible.

Plaque light gray or white

White-toned soot

The formation of a coating of this color indicates that the engine is running on a lean mixture of fuel and air. The consequences can be the most unfavorable.

Due to the high load, not only the spark plugs overheat, but also the combustion chambers. If timely measures are not taken to eliminate this malfunction, the exhaust valves may burn out. This will entail costly engine repairs.

Spray red

Reddish coating on candles

A coating of this shade indicates the presence in the fuel used of a mass of additives, including metal. After a while, such a coating can form a conductive layer with a resistance lower than that of the electrode. This hello to the fact that the spark plug will fail.

If you neglect and do not eliminate the defect in a timely manner, get ready for the failure of the catalyst or oxygen sensor.

The presence of traces of oil on the candle or threaded part

Oil on thread

The reason lies in the unsatisfactory condition of the valve stem seals. Because of this, the motor will troit during the start and until it is fully warmed up.

This malfunction in parallel leads to the appearance of white-blue smoke from the pipe. The valve seals will have to be replaced, otherwise the oil overrun will not be overcome.

Lack of ceramic skirt and destruction of the central electrode

Destroyed ceramic skirt

This may indicate both the installation of a defective spark plug, and the use of fuel that has a low octane rating. It turns out that the engine has been operating for a long time in the wrong conditions. This leads to detonation.

Alternatively, the electrode could have fallen under the exhaust valve. If it popped out, the owner can avoid having to disassemble and repair the engine. Otherwise, he will have to spend a lot of money.

Results

It is far from always necessary to carry out complex diagnostics of a car in order to understand what condition its engine is in. Quite often, you can get by with an examination of spark plugs and an inspection of exhaust system smoke. This or that plaque on the candles or the color of the exhaust gases will make it possible to understand what is happening with the car's engine, what repairs it may need at present or in the near future.