Volvo: 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo occasional smoking, volvo dealerships, occasional smoking

Question
I'm driving a 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo with 135,000 miles. I purchased it with 125,000 miles on it 4 months ago. I would say this car is in good to excellent shape. The Car Facts report showed that it was serviced at Volvo Dealerships/No Accidents. Just recently it has begun to smoke when I'm idling(ex: stopped at a traffic light). The smoke is white and smells like oil burning. It does not smoke when I'm accellerating and driving down the road. And the "idle smoke" is only occasional. What is causing the smoke? Is it caused by the valves malfunctioning or the Turbo? I do have to add a quart of oil every 1000 miles when driving locally. I've drivrn it on longer trips 500 miles and it doesn't burn oil on the long trips. It is not leaking oil that I can see. There are no oil spots where I park.

Answer
Wayne,
White smoke is usually coolant. How is the coolant? Blue is usually oil. That most times is the valve guide seals. Sometimes the ring wear out, that should show if you do a compression and cylinder leakage test. Maybe what you see is smoke that is mostly white and has just a little blue to it. There is a test that will tell if combustion is in the coolant. That may help to eleminate the head gasket.