[Non Corsa] Astra mk4 thick white smoke.

[Corsa_prem]

My miss was driving back from Chelmsford today in her Astra mk4 1.4 16v.

Now I get a call saying there is thick white somke coming from the exhaust, so I got her to open the bonnet and check the coolant and oil levels whilst she was parked in a layby. She told me the Coolant level was fine but had hardly any oil in it (she knows a bit about cars).

She got it recovered back home by a family member. I've had a look myself and can confirm the coolant level is fine however the oil level was very low like there was no oil in it. No mayo on the oil cap either.

Also shes told me that the oil warning light came on as well as the eml light. Going to put it on op-com in the morning to see what codes are coming up.

Am I right in thinking this maybe the head gasket?

[Taurus]

From the information given it doesn't sound like a HG problem, it sounds more like the oil is being burnt which makes a blue/white smoke. If the coolant is fine and it isn't overheating then I'd be more inclined to suspect a ring/bore/piston problem. Possibly a valve seal - depends how thick the smoke is and how much oil it is going through. I'd refill it with oil and check the cooling system, see if it pressurises when cold.

[Corsa_prem]

It's quite thick white smoke coming out. Will refill with oil and check to see if the coolant system pressurises from cold.

I thought if it was a ring/bore/piston problem it would be blue or black. Would it be worth doing a compression test?

[Taurus]

Black smoke is too rich a fuel mix. Coolant produces a lot of steam in the exhaust, but that clears quickly in the air. Thick smoke is usually oil. People describe oil smoke as blue, but when it is in volume it tends to be more white than blue. eg - leaking valve seals which is just a bit of oil gives a distinctly blue smoke, but watch a car with knackered rings and you'll see a plume of very white/grey smoke.

A compression test is worth doing, and do it dry then wet. But an oil control ring can go and you still get good compression, so it's not conclusive. Check the state of the plugs and the exhaust tailpipe. Look for signs of oily residue there.

Check your crankcase venting as well - it's possible for that to block and crankcase pressure can force oil past the control rings.

[Corsa_prem]

Thanks Taurus. Will check the exhaust tailpipe, all four plugs and the crankcase venting.

[Corsa_prem]

Well I had a look at this today, now I looked under the car first and saw a small amount of oil on the drive. I took all four plugs out and they were all black, I also looked down the holes holes once I pulled all the plugs and it looks like there is oil at the bottom. Exhaust is a bit black but not a lot. It's differently just thick white smoke which has an oily smell to it. no blue smoke at all.





I've also got oil around the throttle body.

[Taurus]

Those plugs are oiled. The fact that the TB is oily suggests oil is being forced through the breather system. It would be worth doing a compression test to see what readings you get. Two of those plugs look different to the other two - so check those cylinders.

[Corsa_prem]

Will do a compression test tomorrow. All four cylinders have oil at the bottom although the forth one doesn't look as bad as the other three.

[Taurus]

Don't forget to check the crankcase ventilation as well.

[Corsa_prem]

Am I right in thinking that one is at the front of the engine between the block and rad? And the other one on top going from the cylinder head into the air intake pipe?

[Corsa_prem]

Had another good look at this today. Now I've found out why I've got oil around the throttle body as I removed the oil breather pipe going onto the air in take, went to start it and I got a load of oil piss out of it.

Tried doing a compression test and I'm only getting 50psi (4 bar) pressure on all four cylinders this was from cold and a dry test.

[Taurus]

Doesn't sound good, did you try a wet test?

[Hardcore]

Is the gauge ect. all working ok?
50psi is a really low reading.

Try a wet test if you can when it's cold as well to see what results it brings up but if it's really 50psi on each one and it's spitting oil out the breather pipe it sounds like piston rings to me.

[Corsa_prem]

Doesn't sound good, did you try a wet test?

Ran out of time so will try a wet test tomorrow.

Is the gauge ect. all working ok?
50psi is a really low reading.

Try a wet test if you can when it's cold as well to see what results it brings up but if it's really 50psi on each one and it's spitting oil out the breather pipe it sounds like piston rings to me.

As far as I know it's working fine. Bought it brand new 4 months ago and this is the first time I've used it.

[Corsa_prem]

Just done a wet compression test and I'm getting just over 50psi.