Q: Hello, i had my head gasket repaired and after 8 months it has started making white smoke come from exhaust again and I can smell
I had my head gasket repaired Oct 2016 and everything seemed fine. Then, in the past two weeks, my car has started smoking again. It smokes heavy from the first start of the morning, generally about 30 minutes of smelling water burning from exhaust until I cant take the smell anymore or it starts creeping in thru the screen door. (I have to turn the car off then back on to make the white smoke thin out, as it never stops smoking until the car is turned off then back on) then throughout the day, the smoke dissipates rather quickly but the burning coolant smell is always fresh outside the windows and inside the car. I do keep the windows down. I'm wondering if the repair was successful; the white smoke did stop a few weeks after the head gasket repair and I never smelled coolant burning until two weeks ago. The head gasket was changed in Tennessee and I live in Texas so taking the car back unless it sounds like they stole my money is really not an option. Thank you greatly for your help.
My car has 101000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hello, thank you for writing in. With white smoke coming from the exhaust, the smell of coolant, and the (very likely although unmentioned) lowering of the coolant level, it is quite apparent that the coolant is making its way passed the head gasket and into the combustion chambers. Unless you have a cracked head, engine, or other serious damage, the head gasket is very likely the issue. Make sure you are adding coolant to compensate for the loss. Low coolant levels will not give you accurate temperature readings on your dashboard, as the sensor is located at the top and needs to be submerged in liquid to give you an accurate reading. As far as repairing the issue, replace the gasket again, and in the process inspect the old gasket for signs of failure or indications on what caused the leak the second time. If replacing the head gasket again does not solve the problem, you know you have a larger issue with the engine and can take further diagnostics from there. For more help from our technicians, contact our service department to schedule an appointment.
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