Have you ever been sitting in traffic and noticed a stinky white/blue smoke coming out of the exhaust from the car in front of you? This is a cry for help from your car to get it checked out ASAP.
What exactly causes this hazy blue smoke to exit your exhaust? The most common problem is that your car is actually burning oil. This can be due to a multitude of things and is a sign you are going too long in-between oil changes. Do yourself a favor and pray that this the problem.
Sadly, if you do scheduled oil changes on-time there may be something terribly wrong with your engine. The blueish hazy smoke may actually be metal burning. The metal is burning due to your engines pistons rings or valve seals being completely worn out. This causes the oil to leak and burn with the fuel – which creates a blue smoke.
On the other hand, if your exhaust is emitting a white smoke, that is actually harmless especially if you live in a cold climate. As long the white smoke stops once the engine is warm then you have nothing to worry about. However, if you live in a warm climate then this may signify your car is leaking coolant – which may be due to a cracked cylinder head or engine block.
Regardless, if you own a high mileage or older vehicle, I would strongly recommend watching your car idle once a month to make sure such smoke does not appear. This way if it does start to occur, you can have a trusted mechanic eliminate the problem before it gets worse
P.S. – If there is black smoke, your car is definitely on fire. Call the fire department.
