4mula_J87

Hey CL member

I got a problem with my '93 es300, the problem is that my car smokes sometimes. When I look at the thermostat, the temperature is at its normal range. Then I check the engine coolant and it be low. I just put a half a bottle in it two days ago, it started to smoke again, and the tank was empty again.I think its a leak but i don't know where to start looking. Its crazy because a bottle of antifreeze costs $10 here in Baltimore. I already spend $50 all on engine coolant. Please help, any opinion or advice is greatly appreciated.

llcoolpass

umm, you think the coolant is expensive, imagine how much the headgasket job is going to be.....
[somewhere between $1100 to $1500 ]

naturally, you might have a different problem. I'll let my buddies continue my line of questioning since you haven't told us anything and yet think we can help you with your nonquestion. haha anyway, what kind of smoke?

4mula_J87

its like a white smoke, it only happens when I start to drive or let my car warm up. I checked underneath the car and saw a few wet drops on the ground. I hope its not my head gasket. What do you recommend it is?

buci

Check the oil.pull the dipstik and the oil cap out.Evey other colour exept black or brown is a bad colour,especially green or white.

mmatheny

Yeah, sounds like you are getting coolant into the cylinders. Not good. If the oil is like runny caramel, water's in the oil too, could be either a blown head gasket, or warped head.

4mula_J87

but won't a blown head gasket cause the thermostat needle to reach hot? I looked under the hood and the smoke comes from up at the top( like behind the engine), I cant pinpoint exactly where its coming from. It only smokes a little, but i'm trying to nip this in the bud now before it worsens. I will post pictures.

llcoolpass

you're out of your league, do some research, we can't teach you everything you need to know, and we can't diagnose the headgasket from our computer.... if you have a specific question, shoot, but otherwise, we can't help you much... but we can wish you good luck

BoostedE21

Blown head gasket probably wouldn't make the engine temp increase at all until you run out of coolant. So the smoke isn't coming from the exhaust, it's coming from the side of the engine closest to the firewall?

Drain your oil. Coolant is lighter than oil, so it will float - look for coolant in the oil. Also, smell your exhaust while it's smoking and see if it smells sweet. If it does, you've got coolant in your combustion chamber which means you either have a faulty head gasket or a warped head. Both are bad situations.

If you had a lot of mechanical experience, replacing the head gasket and machining the head wouldn't be a big deal - but since you don't, it would probably be easier to just find a wrecked ES300 and swap the whole engine. Engine swaps take a matter of hours and require much less skilled labor than milling the old head.

llcoolpass

"Blown head gasket probably wouldn't make the engine temp increase at all until you run out of coolant. So the smoke isn't coming from the exhaust, it's coming from the side of the engine closest to the firewall?" not necessarily, but you weren't being concrete, so i can't fault you. second thing also confuses me like you. that's why I get short fused on here.

"Drain your oil. Coolant is lighter than oil, so it will float - look for coolant in the oil. Also, smell your exhaust while it's smoking and see if it smells sweet. If it does, you've got coolant in your combustion chamber which means you either have a faulty head gasket or a warped head. Both are bad situations." wrong, oil is lighter than coolant, and it would kinda mix aroudn after having the engine run, but after yo uturn it off, it will seperate.... if this is the case, draining out the oil pan you will see the coolant fly out first, then the oil.... also note, your lubriaction system is now pumping ACID [coolant + motor oil = acidic compounds] throughout the engine, increasing clearences and burning the bearings as part of the acid + metal reactions. the exhaust should definetely smell totally different, kinda sweet, especially if you see it white smoke clouds... then it will smell horrible kinda 'sweet' like you're saying for sure. there is one other possibility besides bad HG and Wwarped head [which would indicate new HG , too], which is the intake manifold gasket [ or even IM warping somehow] leaking coolant into one of the end-cylinders.

"If you had a lot of mechanical experience, replacing the head gasket and machining the head wouldn't be a big deal - but since you don't, it would probably be easier to just find a wrecked ES300 and swap the whole engine. Engine swaps take a matter of hours and require much less skilled labor than milling the old head."
Precisely right. OF course, if you know [or hope] your engine is prettty good [like in my case] and taking a shot its just a failed HG , then you can just do it. replacing the engine is much more costly. much much more. machining the head is not even very possible on these cars if there is severe head warpage, there tolerance so low... if you can find a low mileage engine, and time and money are no concern, then that would be best. if you need to get it on the road and the head is not warped, then just changing the HQ is best. doing a HG job, strangely, as you said, probably takes a little bit longer to do on this car then changing the engine [incl procurement and changing other fluids and stuff you do when doing a Engine R&R].

head gasket failure can be: exhaust having coolant.... coolant and oil mixing .... exhaust having oil .... coolant receiving exhaust ..... oil receiving exhaust.... or mixtures of ANY of those........

Key thing is, find out what's wrong, and do research [as opposed to asking people so many Q's that have been answered], then if you have a clear question that is model specfic, you should ask us a question. That's my advice if you want expert assistance on here. Of course, I'm kinda a jerk, but I can be very helpful hahahahahaag

buci

In few words,check your oil,most of the times on internal leaks you will have coolant there if the head is blown.Good luck.

GEORGE_JET

With a half bottle in a couple days, you should either see some coolant on the ground, in the oil, or it's going out the exhaust. On the ground should be easy, look to see where it is leaking. In the oil will be obvious, it will look like a milkshake, the oil will be very ugly, there will be not doubt that you have a problem. Make sure to look at the transmission dip stick ( if you have a automatic). Or it is going out the exhaust.

On the ground could be a easy fix. If it is going into transmission, it is probably a bad transmission cooler (you will need a new radiator). If it is going into the engine oil, or out the exhaust, it is probably the head gasket, or the head.

You could run a compression check. All cylinders should be around 5% of each other. If one is very low, or two adjacent cylinders are very low. You are going to have to pull the heads. Then you will need to decide if you are going to replace the engine or repair.

Keep in mind that you can buy a low mileage engine from one of several vendors on ebay, delivered to you door for under $1000. japanese emmision laws require them to replace the engine at around 40~60,000 miles. There are several companies that ship these engines to the USA for re-sale. I have replaced several, and have yet to have any issues.

mmatheny

"If it does, you've got coolant in your combustion chamber which means you either have a faulty head gasket or a warped head. Both are bad situations." wrong, oil is lighter than coolant, and it would kinda mix aroudn after having the engine run, but after yo uturn it off, it will seperate"

llcoolpass - hate to butt heads with you here, but the Altima I had that had a warped head, the oil/water/coolant STAYED mixed into a thin caramel liquid - at least when you pulled the dipstick for a look!

llcoolpass

yeah it can stay mixed for a while, but it will seperate with time bro

llcoolpass

where do japanese people drive? so, in other words, if the car gets in an accident, the miles will not be high.

4mula_J87

My problem is fixed it needed a new water pump.