White smoke

[Stuey8862]

Hi having recently purchases a 1968 model I notice plumes of white smoke from the exhaust. I have checked the oil which seems to be a normal colour so what else could the problem be or is the oil not an indicator of head gasket problems. Is there any other way of checking to see what the problem is??
Thanks

[chesney]

Yes - Compression test!!

[mike.perry]

Is it smoke or water vapour? Does it linger or disappear? Does it smell?

[bmcecosse]

Brake fluid burns with white smoke........does it have a silly servo fitted???? If so - check the fluid level urgently.

[beero]

If it has been used for a lot of short runs you could have a build up of moisture in the exhaust which is coming out as steam.
A good long run will get rid of it (hopefully)

[IslipMinor]

When does the smoke appear? On start-up, warm-up, hot, cold, accelerating etc.?

[rayofleamington]

Oil smoke will be grey/blue - either most following over run (top end) or hard accell / high revs (rings/bores) or just all the time.

Excess fuel will give grey/black smoke - most likely on hard accelleration. Can be seen as 'general smoke' if it's over fuelling at idle.

White - it's water. Could be head gasket (worst case), but at this time of year it's very likely to be condensation that's drying out from the exhaust and re-forming condensation when gaining its freedom back out in the cold air .

General undefined smoke can also be old fuel! If the fuel in the tank is many years old it won't burn properly (sometimes not at all!).

headgasket - This can give oil into the water, but certainly not always. Water into cylinder and/or compression loss between #2 and #3 is more common an the A-series.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Indeed we need more facts! Any modifications to the car? How does it drive, is it easy to start hot or cold etc.

Unless engines are used for long periods and at moderate speeds, especially in this weather, then yes there will be problems with condensation and increased general wear.