What does white smoke coming randomly from the exhaust mean?

Question

The car seems to produce white smoke from the exhaust at random (as in not every time I drive). It seems to happen mainly when I suddenly give more gas or I go up a notable incline (in reverse sometimes too).

Sometimes I can go uphill/increase speed without any smoke at all, but other days there's lots of smoke. Why is this???

Answer 1

Sometimes "White" smoke is actually "Blue" smoke and it is as a result of your engine burning gas and oil at the same time.  I would have a competent mechanic do a compression check on the engine while cold and hot to see which cylinder is having problems with it's rings.  This might entail a complete ring job on the engine, but it's better to do this that to be given tickets for polluting the air before your engine goes out all together.  

Answer 2

its water vapor, nothing to worry about. black smoke, now that's something to worry about.

Answer 3

If your cars a turbo, it could be oilfrom a turbo going bad, otherwise it could be a crack in the cylinder head,

Answer 4

Its probably not random. I would be willing to bet its anytime you accelerate heavily.

There are two different indicators as far as oil smoke goes. Some smoke under heavy acceleration and some on deceleration.

When it smokes under acceleration, you are getting blow-by past the rings on your piston. Not good. It usually means something is worn out. Just piston rings if your lucky (which is still very expensive to get to), or the bore of the cylinder is out of service limits, worn out.

When it smokes on deceleration, your valve seals could be failing, sucking in oil from the top of you cylinder head. Not nearly the bummer of a spent block but still expensive.

It could be moisture from a bad gasket too. Check your oil and see if its frothy. Also, Oil smoke has a distinctively different smell than antifreeze or cooling system smoke.

It also could just be condensation burning off. That will usually go away after 10 minutes or so.

Random tips..

Sometimes if its bad gasket, an excessive amount of water will drip from your tail pipe. ...and if its a blown head gasket, sometimes going up a steep hill will quickly drive the temperature up.

Answer 5

white smoke means water in the exhaust could be a blown head gasket