John Rodgers wrote:
> White = possibly water/coolant getting into cylinder. But other symptom
> would be present.- like missing.

Also, white smoke when the engine is first started, especially on cold
days, is normal.  It's caused by the water vapor normally created when
gasoline is combusted, the additional water vapor created in the
catalytic converter, and condensation in the exhaust.

If you have water getting into the cylinders you'd see white smoke all
the time.  You might also have foamy oil (from the coolant getting into
it) and the spark plug on the affected cylinder might look unusually
clean ('cause it's getting steam-cleaned!)  And you might have an oil
slick floating on your coolant.

It's perfectly possible, though, for an engine to blow a small amount of
combustion gas into the coolant without a noticable amount going the
other way.  I think you should have the cooling system pressure tested.
  If that doesn't turn up any problems, test for combustion gases in the
coolant.  There was a recent case on the list where someone had a
combustion gas leak to the water jacket, but it only opened under
combustion pressure and didn't show up on a leakdown test.

--

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 VW Diesel Westfalia
'94 Honda Civic Si -- For Sale
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon