Have you had some trouble in the past with your vehicle smoking?  If so, it is a pretty scary sight when you have no idea what is happening or what triggered it to happen.  Vehicle smoke is pretty common but some smoke is more common and better to have than others.  So what kind of smoke, what color and how did it happen are all questions that will be answered if you continue reading below.

White smoke – Have you seen a cloud of white smoke coming for your car before?  If so, it is caused by having water and antifreeze entering the car’s cylinder and engine trying to burn it with the fuel.  The white smoke is nothing but steam coming from your vehicle. 

If you do see that white smoke is coming from your vehicle check to see if there is a proper amount of antifreeze in the radiator and the overflow bottle.  You will also want to check and see if your engine oil is contaminated.  Don’t worry this is done very easily, take out your dip stick and check if your engine oil is contaminated with antifreeze.  How can you tell if it is contaminated?  It will be a chocolate milk color.  If it is contaminated do not start your engine because you may receive an internal engine damage. 

Blue smoke – Have you had blue smoke coming from your vehicle before?  If so, you may be wondering why it happened.  It is rather simple, it is caused byengine oil entering the cylinder and then it is being burned with the fuel air mixture.   Like white smoke, blue smoke needs just a drop of oil leaking into the cylinder to produce a blue smoke coming from the tailpipe.

This is common in higher mileage and older cars than it is now or with newer vehicles.  How can it  be avoided?  Try using a thicker engine oil or an oil additive designed to reduce oil leaks.  This may help by reducing the amount of leaks into your vehicle’s cylinder which will help avoid that nasty blue smoke from reappearing.

Black smoke – Black smoke is another problem that we see when our vehicle is having trouble.  Black smoke is caused byexcess fuel that has entered the cylinder area which can’t be burned entirely.  Poor fuel mileage is another common reason when black smoke is coming out the tailpipe.  Excess fuel will usually effect the engines performance, produce a smelly fuel odor and will reduce fuel economy.  

If your vehicle has black smoke coming from it check to see if your fuel is contaminated.  If you are smelling a strong odor of fuel while your vehicle is smoking do not start your engine.  Instead, call a mechanic for further guidance.