Mitsubishi Repair: White smoke from exaust, head gasket, white smoke


Question
QUESTION: i have a 2003 model mitsubhishi fto gr tiptronic. i had a problem(2 to 3gear suddenly engaging ,jerking) with the gear some weeks back, then i read it some forums that, disconnecting the battery terminals for sometime will reset the ecu and that could solve my problem with the gear, as it works on invecs technology. i did this and to my surprise it did work and got it fixed. but i noticed  now that i have a little more xtra power and the fuel compsumption has risen and i found that it does emit thin white smoke when accelerated in idle to 2-3 thousand rpm. please help me.

ANSWER: Nadeem: I would take your car in and have it coded. Just to check to see if you might need a sensors replaced. Well that will rule out any problem with your computer as you did reset the computer. But the white smoke is a sign the head gasket on your engine is getting weak. You need to get that replaced before it lets go. Because you will then have to have it replaced, often when they go well they mess up the engine. Such a water mixing with the oil in the engine. So get that checked out, please. Hope this helps and good luck! Linda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello linda, how do i get my car coded, this car is in maldives, and we have very little support of this type of engines. and also i ve again checked it yesterday and i couldnt see the white smoke, what could it be.

Answer
Nadeem: I still think it is a sensor if you could fix part of the problem with unhooking the battery cable and resetting the computer. So that is the reason for more use of fuel and power. But then hey, if you are getting more power then you would use more fuel. As for the coding, you can buy a meter and code the car yourself. Other wise try to find a shop that might do this. I hope the head gasket though weak, maybe sealed its self. But you could have a pressure check done on the engine if you can find a shop to do the coding maybe you could get them to pressure check the engine. Other wise I would keep checking for the white smoke and if none is found. Put up with fuel compsumption as well as more power. White smoke is the sign that water is getting into the oil of the engine. As the engine burns this oil it puts out that white smoke. You could also tell about all this; if your car starts to heat or is loosing water. So keep an eye on that. Sometimes you can see the water floating in the oil when you check the engine oil. If the car starts to loose a lot of water or is heating; then you need to find a way to get your's car engine pressure checked. And that will show you if the head gasket has got weak. But again if the car is not heating, loosing water or you can not see any drops of water floating in the oil. Then just keep an eye on it all and drive the car. Hope this helps and good luck! Linda