My 3.4L just started having some white smoke at cold start up, but not everytime. Maybe every two to three days and only in the morning. The engine will really shake. Almost as if I have a missing blade on the fan. The idle will run really high for the first 20 seconds then everything goes back to normal. This will not happen the rest of the day unless the truck cools down for hours.

I have'nt noticed coolant loss and white smoke lingers for a while so it's not just a steam.

I think I'm losing fuel pressure if it sits. (thoughts?)

It has set my CEL on twice. Code is a misfire in cylinder 1 and the second time was cylinder 5.

At first I thought the problem was electrical so I replaced the battery, plugs, wires & coil packs. She's running great after the initial tantrum. She is getting up there in age ('96 with 240,500 miles) so maybe she's just cranky in the morning (kidding).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Bill

Same problem. 1996 v6. Cold start up = White smoke once a week. I just had my engine rebuilt a year ago. No CEL. Only 155k

I would send a used oil sample to blackstone labs and see if you have any coolant in the oil.(head gasket) If not then check MAF and engine temp sensors.

Blackstone Labs

usually works like this:

White smoke: Caused by anti-freeze/water in the combustion cycle. This almost always means a head gasket leak.

Blue: Oil. Seals are gone and an excessive amount of oil is entering the combustion cycle.

Black: To much fuel. Meaning your carb or EFI is set wrong.


The reason why you can get WHITE and it goes away is the car blows out the antifreeze that has seeped in. No idea to tell how bad..but it will require a breakdown. Anti-freeze will mess up the internal bits of your truck.

Fix it sooner, rather than later.

DC, I unfortunately am familiar with what anti-freeze in your cylinders can do. I had a Ford Bronco II that took it upon itself to spike the punch bowl of oil with some tasty anti-freeze. BAD BRONCO!!

When the engine started misfiring I mistook it as an electrical problem. Now that I think about it, the nasty engine vibration that goes away after about 10-15 seconds is probably the moisture in the cylinder burning off. That would make sense. Well maybe it's time for a new head gasket and a timing belt while we're in there. Thanks all!

It can't be a head gasket in my case, like a said, it's only been a year since I replaced my head gasket. And I've only put 1,000 miles on it since then!

It only happens in the morning after about a week of sitting. (4 Cars, 1 Driver). I fill up coolant once a week and then it's gone after a day. But the car does just sit in the sun 300 days of the year in sunny San Diego. I don't have a high idle or anything else, just white smoke for about 15-20 seconds.

Wait. You fill up coolant 1 a week? It sits for long periods. Yea, their is a leak somewhere that is allowing coolant into the cylinders.

Did you redo your head gasket after an overheat? If so, you might have warped your head and as a result, your gasket seal isn't tight.

I mean. I am just saying; serious white smoke is coolant/water in the engine. That usually means head gasket.

And yes, I too know from experience. I had a 2nd gen with the horrid 3.0 that was prone to head gasket failure...