White smoke and water coming from exhaust

elaine373

Hello all, Sorry in advance if i am posting in the wrong thread but i need advice. I have a Toyota Lucida that is billowing white smoke from the exhaust. To cut a long story short it has been in the garage for 3 weeks now and they changed the turbo as they thought that was what was causing the white smoke. (My husband witnessed that the turbo had a leak/broken seal) Anyway after doing that its still letting out lots of white smoke and some water from the exhaust. They now say its either the head gasket or the cylinder head. Trouble is, its not showing the usual obvious signs of a head gasket going. Its not overheating.(yet) does a car always over heat when the head gasket is faulty? My worry is that i will do one and it will be the other. Is there an easy way to telll which it is? Any advice gratefully received.

kaya

White smoke is an indication of water in the oil usually caused by- head gasket, cylinder head or cracked engine block, you have to have the cylinder head removed to do the gasket , heads can warp and sometimes be skimmed, usually its the head gasket thats at fault, you need a good mechanic, not sure about your car but head removal and replacement could be 10hrs+ labour plus parts

xzibit

Also, turbo cars do smoke alot in the cold weather. I had a turbo, and in the winter you'd think the head gasket had gone, even after a 10 minute drive, but nothing was wrong. It's just the way the turbo can divert gases etc.

It would be worth taking it to a garage with experience of turbo engines, as they are quite different to normally aspirated engines.