White smoke on acceleration, dealer says it is normal

Stercus Accidit

I was looking at a car today and gave it the tests suggested here, one of which was accelerating hard on a straight.

I could see white smoke every time I did this, the dealer says that it is from the car sitting in the car park for over a month and being moved over short periods. The car did recently pass an nct.

It's a volvo 1.8 standard edition non flex fuel as far as I know.

Is this normal?

Thanks

Atlantic Dawn

Could be perhaps moisture in the exhaust but this should be gone after 50-100 miles. What kind of smoke are we talking, would it be like what comes out of a newly started car in cold weather or is it thick white smoke?

Stercus Accidit

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Could be perhaps moisture in the exhaust but this should be gone after 50-100 miles. What kind of smoke are we talking, would it be like what comes out of a newly started car in cold weather or is it thick white smoke?

Sorry this was on a test drive, I am considering buying the car.

It was white but heavy enough to see in the rear view mirror while doing 50kmph, only during acceleration though.

They have suggested I could get an independent inspection of the car.

the_syco

Coolant or water in the combustion chamber?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Stercus Accidit

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

There is a mechanic around the corner from me and the dealer is just down the road, so I may go in and ask them to look at it for me.

Stercus Accidit

the_syco wrote: »

Coolant or water in the combustion chamber?

Is it possible that a lot of cold starts and short uses (dealer car moved overnight) have left a lot of moisture in the exhaust?

9935452

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

I was looking at a car today and gave it the tests suggested here, one of which was accelerating hard on a straight.

I could see white smoke every time I did this, the dealer says that it is from the car sitting in the car park for over a month and being moved over short periods. The car did recently pass an nct.

It's a volvo 1.8 standard edition non flex fuel as far as I know.

Is this normal?

Thanks

A dealer will tell you anything to sell a car.
It could be possible that there is moisture in the system but if you are genuinely interested get a mechanic to have a look and ask to take the car for a weekends test. do a couple hundred miles and see if it clears.
If it is still there afterwards stay clear of it

Red Kev

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Could be perhaps moisture in the exhaust but this should be gone after 50-100 miles. What kind of smoke are we talking, would it be like what comes out of a newly started car in cold weather or is it thick white smoke?

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Is it possible that a lot of cold starts and short uses (dealer car moved overnight) have left a lot of moisture in the exhaust?

If its moisture it should be steam, not smoke.

Any moisture in the exhaust will evaporate once the exhaust warms up which is after a few miles.

Walk away OP. Car sounds like trouble and the dealer doesn't sound too honest. I wouldn't fancy dealing with him if something goes wrong with it later on.

Toyotafanboi

A lot of hysteria in this thread. I wouldn't be too worried about this at all. if the car has been with the dealer a month or two, there could be a good deal of condensation accumilated that could take hundreds of miles to evaporate. This would be exaggerated even worse if you drove it on a cool or damp day.

C.K Dexter Haven

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

A lot of hysteria in this thread. I wouldn't be too worried about this at all. .

It's one of a few signs indicating a potential head gasket problem so I'd be a little hysterical myself if i ended up with that.

Toyotafanboi

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

It's one of a few signs indicating a potential head gasket problem so I'd be a little hysterical myself if i ended up with that.

If the car has head gasket failure to the point where there is thick steam from the exhaust, the car would be running like a dog in most circumstances to the point where a layman could fairly easily tell.

No dealer selling a nearly new car will try and bluff that off, nor would they financially risk their stock by driving it. Sure it's only going to come back under warranty anyway?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Toyotafanboi

Patww79 wrote: »

A dealer not trying to bluff and standing over a warranty?

Believe it or not, despite what it says on here, some dealers are legit

m1ck007

White smoke poured out of my golf one day and then she seized.

Stercus Accidit

I gave the car a longer test drive today and also had a mechanic look at it. Supposedly all is well and I couldn't replicate the smoke/steam at the end of a 20 minute drive when presumably the engine and exhaust system had heated up.
I parked up and revved it to the red-line in neutral and had a look at the exhaust, nothing smokey.

Any thoughts? Thanks so far for all the replies lads

Toyotafanboi

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

I gave the car a longer test drive today and also had a mechanic look at it. Supposedly all is well and I couldn't replicate the smoke/steam at the end of a 20 minute drive when presumably the engine and exhaust system had heated up.
I parked up and revved it to the red-line in neutral and had a look at the exhaust, nothing smokey.

Any thoughts? Thanks so far for all the replies lads

From the things you've said, it sounds absolutely fine. Are you buying from a main dealer?

Stercus Accidit

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

From the things you've said, it sounds absolutely fine. Are you buying from a main dealer?

Independent.

Mush_Flanagan

Iv heard the 1.8 Volvo shares the same engine as mk3 mondeo 1.8 which are known for head gaskets going, and white smoke under acceleration is one of the signs

C.K Dexter Haven

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

If the car has head gasket failure to the point where there is thick steam from the exhaust, the car would be running like a dog in most circumstances to the point where a layman could fairly easily tell.

No dealer selling a nearly new car will try and bluff that off, nor would they financially risk their stock by driving it. Sure it's only going to come back under warranty anyway?

Do you really want to buy a car that's in doubt? leaving aside the hassle of the whole thing, you can't always depend on a dealer, independent or otherwise, to do a good job on the fix.

Stercus Accidit

Mush_Flanagan wrote: »

Iv heard the 1.8 Volvo shares the same engine as mk3 mondeo 1.8 which are known for head gaskets going, and white smoke under acceleration is one of the signs

Yep it's the same engine, would that symptom subside though after a 20 minute or so drive? Would it be burning oil or allowing water in if that were the case?

Thanks

9935452

Stercus Accidit wrote: »

Yep it's the same engine, would that symptom subside though after a 20 minute or so drive? Would it be burning oil or allowing water in if that were the case?

Thanks

It could be using water .letting water into the combustion chamber. Is there bubbles /pressure in the expansion tank . is the temperature running slightly warmer than it should
If the smoke/steam disappeared after she warmed up it would be interesting to see if it does it again from cold.
Engines can do odd things when they warm up. Ive a friend with a landcruiser with a slight crack in the block , she was blowing out an amount of water in the form of steam/white smoke. he threw in a bottle of radweld and its good again for another 6 months. Same thing in 6 months time.

My best advice is walk away if you are not happy with it.

Stercus Accidit

I'll do another test on a clearer day from cold, today was obviously pissing down. If I see the same I may well walk on it. Thanks

Toyotafanboi

C.K Dexter Haven wrote: »

Do you really want to buy a car that's in doubt? leaving aside the hassle of the whole thing, you can't always depend on a dealer, independent or otherwise, to do a good job on the fix.

There isn't much doubt.

A car that has been idle for a long time produced a bit of steam on the test drive, that by the OP's own admission cleared up after a long drive.

i was sweating in work earlier. Sweating is one of the symptoms of ebola... pretty sure i don't have it.

Duke O Smiley

The car does sound absolutely fine, I would hazard a guess that it's been on the dealers forecourt for a little while too given that it's a 1.8 Volvo, so not particularly a car that flies off forecourts on this island.

If all else is good with the car and you're happy with it and the price, I'd go for it

Stercus Accidit

Duke O Smiley wrote: »

The car does sound absolutely fine, I would hazard a guess that it's been on the dealers forecourt for a little while too given that it's a 1.8 Volvo, so not particularly a car that flies off forecourts on this island.

If all else is good with the car and you're happy with it and the price, I'd go for it

6 weeks supposedly.