I just bought a 1991 chevy blazer 4.3L and everytime I turn it on, a cloud of white smoke comes out of the tail pipe, what is the problem and what can I do to fix it?
Just a puff of smoke for a couple of seconds? Ignore it. It’s worn out valve guide seals.
A lot of smoke for a minute of two, it’s a bigger problem.
Smokes all the time and the “smoke” smells like maple syrup? Good luck getting your money back.
Hopefully, this vehicle was in the $200-$300 price range…
the puff of smoke is just there for a couple seconds, and its just when i turn it on, if i warm up the car and restart it, no smoke comes out, i really dont know much about cars so do you think it could be another kind of problem? if the problem is the valve guide seal, how hard is that to fix? oh i also want to add that i purchased the vehicle in california and drove it to denver, CO without any problem on the road.
If the car drove fine from Cal. to Colorado don’t worry. If the valve guides or seals are worn, a little oil leaks down into the cylinder overnight and causes the smoke on startup. On a 91 car I don’t think it is worth fixing. I had a 92 minivan that did that for seven years.
Did the coolant level stay exactly the same on your drive to Denver? Has it gone down at all? Monitor it closely. Let’s hope coolant isn’t getting into combustion chambers from a head or head gasket problem.
Your successful trip is a good sign, but you’ll want to keep track of your oil and coolant levels until you know that they’re not being used excessively. This is prudent with any used car.
It’s probably just the valve stem seals as MG and Oldtimer suggested. If so, your fluids should stay clean, your engine running properly, and your sparkplugs pretty normal as they age, perhaps with some gray ash buildup on them. If all of this is true, I agree that it isn’t worth worrying about on a '91.
Worn valve stem seals will often also create some smoke out the tailpie when you decelerate on the highway. The vacuum in the cylinders spikes under that condition, and someone following you may see some smoke. You won’t because it’ll be dispersed before it gets into your rear view mirror’s range. Taht’ll also add to your oil usage. This is normal, and a vehicle can run for years like this. My friend’s has.
thanks for the advice, i did notice today that if the car sits for 15 mins or longer, smoke comes out of the tailpipe on start up. does that mean anything?