need more specifics on the white smoke

[my1stfc]

ok, after tons of reading on rx7 forums, books, mags, and all the local rotor heads, i'd be foolish to think that white smoke is anything other than coolant. my question is when do i look for the white smoke? i get a little at a cold start, and then when i rev hard but not during warm starts or idle. i've heard that it's normal but i think i'd like a second opinion. i did try to find more specifics on my own so as not to waste anyones time but couldn't find an answer i felt good about. any help would be great, thx

[black rocket]

One sure way to ck your cooling system integrety is to do a pressure test and see if coolant seals are OK.

More of crude way to find out is to open your rad cap and see if you see small bubbles.

[my1stfc]

thx, what has me confused is that if white smoke = coolant leak, then shouldn't i be loosing coolant? my coolant level doesn't seem to be dropping at all and the bubbles are, so far, nonexistant. i guess the real question here is when is a little smoke acceptable and when is it a concern? I don't smoke all the time, just for the cold start and on really hard revs, and the cold start smoke goes away after 15 - 30 seconds.

[black rocket]

Did you have your FC sat for a long time (months) before you started? Other poss. is you may have accumulated condensation in the fuel tank. Hard start, etc.

[DRFTFC3S]

i get some smoke when i start my car in the morning...but thats the only time. ive heard that its to warm up the rotors and direct fuel injection.

[Crisis]

do a pressure test, if thats cool and u still seeing white smoke but ur coolant level is fine, then i dont see anything to worry about. just keep watching you coolant level from time to time

[my1stfc]

ok, pressure is good. i bought the car about a week and a half ago and i think it sat for a while but i don't know how long. ive had trouble starting it 2x now but the fuse trick works. could leaky injectors be the culprit?

[Crisis]

if the injectors where leaky, you would get black smoke when you started up the car. not sure if thats a reason why you had trouble starting it. i say keep watching your coolant level, since pressure is good.

[black rocket]

I'd flushed that old fuel from the tank...before it was started.

And get your injector worked on. If it was sitting for a while rubber has shrunk and it's not seating properly.

And while you're at it, get that coolant flushed. Don't forget to flush and refill tranny fluid as people tends to forget about fluid change every 30K.

Good luck, man!

[my1stfc]

thx rocket, i'll try the flush. thanks to all for your suggestions and help.