I have noticed every so often, mainly while on hills which is old my car is letting out white smoke. I notice that it is not happening while I am driving just in traffic. I recently had the car decated but have not had it tuned it yet, could it be running too rich. Should I take it to be looked at?

Any ideas would be great

 

By decated you mean you have a full decat exhaust on - but have not had it mapped.
If so then the answer to your question is too definately get it mapped.

White smoke - turbo oil seals? Head gasket? You need to give way more information if someone on here is going to be able to help you

Cheers
Steve

 

I have had the main cat and back box changed, I was under the impression that it wasnt enough work to have to get mapped.

Dont know what other information to give. The car drives fine, boost well, oil level is fine, no over heating, no mayo under the filler cap.

Not sure what else to test

 

Just keep an eye on your water levels... white smoke = water/moisture in the exhaust - Blue smoke = oil in the exhaust... on cold damp days this can happen as there is moisture in the air, but if it happens on warm days like today with no moisture in the air, it could be something like head gasket or something like that....

But as you say its not happening all the time, i dont think its too much to worry about at the moment.

 

I will check the water level in a minute. Are there 2 places to put the water and is there an obvious place to check the water level?

 

There is only one place to put water and thats in the header tank and thats where you check it to.

 

Well there could also be water in the water bottle in the arch, but only ever water in here if there's a problem somewhere

 

water bottle in the arch?

 

Just added a little bit of water. How can the be such a small leway between too little and too much coolent? there is only 2cm between the two points

 

no smoke on the whole journey to work until I park up and then it comes out. dam it

 

Just spoke to the garage, it didn't smoke for them I have been qouted £1000 to £1500 for the work if I want it. Is that too expensive?

 

Depends what they are proposing to do?

 

Changing both gaskets, that's it really

 

So dose that sound reasonable?

 

dude take it to a suabru garge i.e a tunning company that deals with scoobys and not a subaru dealership and have them check it over before you go doing any thing to much as it may be somthing simple

 

The garage are pitty sure that the gasket has gone were it meets the exhaust and it is leaking on to the exhaust causing the smoke and why its not getting the engine.

I had my main cat removed about 6 months ago. Could that have damaged the gasket?

Also my friend has suggested trying radweld to see if that sorts the problem first

 

Right drove it for a couple of hours today with no smoke but I have noticed a bit of oil near the large pully at the front. Could this have produced the white smoke?

 

Let be sure here. Is the smoke coming from the engine bay? or from the exhaust exit at the rear of the car?

If its engine bay when your sitting in traffic then its probably a rocker cover seal leaking oil onto the up-pipe. Its an hrs work and should cost no more than £100ish to get replaced.

 

no the smoke is coming fron the back of the car, just noticed the oil leak when I topped up my coolent

 

On Imprezas HG usually fail due to excess boost or overheating caused by water loss,not a de-cat, and the oil leak will be the front crank oil seal also nothing to do with the HG.
OK the garage who quoted to do the job how did they decide the HG had failed? if they did leak test then they'll know for sure, if they didn't do the test then they are taking the p##s and guessing based on what you've told them.
At the moment I'd be tempted to leave it, it's not overheating, there's no water in the oil and it's running OK the only thing is a slight amount of white smoke at idle mine does this, more s when it's cold but sometimes I've noticed it on warm days know I'm not talking about it blowing out clouds of white smoke, a just a bit of vapour.
If you keep an eye on the levels and temp gauge and it is the HG you'll soon notice it taking water, if it isn't allowed to overheat it won't do any more damage than as already been caused, it's just a matter of keeping a very close eye on it.

Should you still be worried take it to a reputable garage( pref one that's familiar with Imprezas) and ask them to do a leak test this this will show up any exhaust gases in the cooling system and prove one way or the other whether te HG is at fault. If it is then expect to pay much less than previously quoted around £800 in nearer the mark.

 

I dont think they did a leak test. I would like to find a garage in london that will only charge £800 for both gaskets. I spoke to a tuning company that did the exhaust work on my car after the first quote i recieved and they thought the price of over a grand was about right. They also informed me that they would prob need to have my car for 2 weeks to get the parts scimmed.

 

Been from 'oop North' I couldn't comment on prices in the smoke but Eclipse Performances' advertised price (ad in Total Impreza) is 'Impreza headgaskets from £700' OK Eclipse will be to far north for you in Sunderland but I think £600>£800 is about the going rate.
The thing to do is to get it diagnosed properly, you could end up forking out for work that isn't necessary.It is possible that the heads may need skimming but that's only required if the heads are warped, no way to tell this untill they get them off and put a steel across them, most decent garages use one machine shop who can usually turn round a simple head skim in a couple of days.
Given you car hasn't suffered from overheating a skim probably won't be necessary, but it's often done as a precaution.

 

The car is still smoking every so often when stuck in traffic and I top the coolent up by about 1/4 of a ltr every other day. Can any garage do a leak test and what does it involve?

 

Right time for the update.

I had stopped needing to fill the coolent for a while and the smoking had stopped.

3 weeks later the I have to top the water after each trip to work, about 14 miles. There is no white smoke and no mayo I can see when I take out the dipstick or open the oil cap.

My friend says something about a leak test but if it is going into the engine how can I tell?

Is it worth paying around £1500 (London prices) to get it fixed and not have the car for a while on a car that cost £3500?

 

It needs to be tested properly to find the cause of the problem before any money is spent, Theres no point doing head gaskets if the faults some where else.

Start with a sniffer test,leakdown test and coolant system pressure test.

 

I know how to do the coolent sytem pressure test. If I try that wont it just push more water into the engine if it is a head gasket problem?
What is the sniffer test?

 

I had this problem.. oil on the exhaust causing white smoke. Its the front crank oil seal. Got mine fixed for under £100 and that solved it.

 

My front crank seal is leaking but doesn't explain the loss of water

 

Will I need a pressure test as when I have driven the car and parked up I can see if it is leaking then?

 

triton motorsports will do both head for 750. vat and so will veysport.com and both are in bornemouth, but you do need to get this tested to be sure