i get a lot of white smoke when my car is cold. and even after a good 20 miles people still tell me i have white smoke coming out the muffler. i idled my car for about 5 mins this morning, and around the car i smell a lot of gas.

could it mean im running a little rich? what can i do about it? i have a gauge on my fuel filter that reads about 43 if that helps.

 

is that with the vac line on or off the fpr ? what motor is this ? should read guage with vac line off or pinched.

 

is it smoke or steam? if it's smoke, it will linger for a long time. if it's steam, it puffs, but doesnt linger for much more than seconds when you're moving.

easiest way to tell is to simply wave your hand thru it and feel if it's wet.

if it's not wet, it's oil burning. rich fuel settings will result in black smoke.

excessive steam and the odor of coolant is the result of a blown headgasket.

 

i guess the reading is with the vac lines in tact. this is for a 99 b18b with 54k.

the white "stuff" comes out when the car is stopped. once the car is moving, it goes away. i dont smell coolant, but do smell gasoline.

i will try to see if its steam. if its steam, it shouldnt be a problem right?

 

if its steam its perfectly normal, especially when its cold and warming up. You say its only when its stopped so it sounds like steam to me.....

 

also, do you smell gasoline inside the car when you are stopped or down by the muffler?

 

i dont smell gas inside of the car. but the last time i idled for about 5 mins in my parking lot, i smelled gasoline around it.

 

Will, you're not running an adjustable FPR, are you? The reason I ask is because 43psi of fuel pressure with vac seems a bit high. That would equate to about 50-52psi off vac. I'm not sure what stock B18B fuel pressure is, but I know that B16A2 stock fuel pressure is between 40-47psi OFF vac. If you ahve an adjustable FPR, try lowering your static fuel pressure a little. If not, then I don't see any reason why you should be running rich, if your fuel system is stock, unless maybe your O2 sensor is fouled. I would guess that white smoke is just condensation, since running rich usually puts out black smoke.

 

yea i am. i looked again and it was at about 39-40psi with the hose on. when i slowly took the hose off, it rose pass 50 and the car started stuttering.

how should i go about lowering the static pressure?

 

The stuttering when you pull the vac hose off isn't really abnormal, since you're essentially giving the engine the amount of fuel it uses at WOT while it's trying to idle. Do you have an adjustable FPR? I would double-check and see what the stock fuel pressure for a B18B is supposed to be first. If it's 40-47 off vac like B16A2's, I would adjust the FPR down a bit. If you have a stock FPR, then I wouldn't worry about it. Your stock FPR might be going out, but that's not very likely with your mileage.