white smoke coming from exhaust

sebas54

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
334
HI, I have a 1987 gm 4.3l v6 I/O alpha 1. Today I noticed that there was alot of white smoke coming from the exhaust when going slow and at idle. It seems to run fine with enough power and oil pressure is good. I changed the oil and it still smokes.


What is wrong with it?


Thanks
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
71,089
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

Ayuh,... Are you sure it's not Steam,.?.?. It's been pretty Cool out....
 

arks

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Messages
1,936
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

What is wrong with it?

Probably nothing.
As Bond-o eluded, the colder water will cause steam to form at the exhaust.
Perfectly normal this time of year.
 

sebas54

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
334
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

Thanks for the reply. I failed to mentioned that I moved far away to the FL Keys. So I am pretty sure that it is not steam. It smells like gas to me. I guess it could be steam because the smoke is not real thick. Not sure.
 

Philster

Captain
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,344
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

Is it odorless?

Odorless = I vote for steam.

What type of cooling system do you have? Raw water?

Tell us: How long have you owned the boat? What was the air temp and water temp when you noticed this?
 

sebas54

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
334
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

It sort of smells like gasoline. It is raw water cooled. The air temp was around 85 and the water temp was around 80. I have owned this boat for around three years. THis is the first time it has ever smoked. (Not sure if this means anything but I put some additives into the engine oil)
 

sebas54

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 17, 2007
Messages
334
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

Is it a bad idea to use the boat like this. Well I am going out now wish me luck.
 

arks

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Messages
1,936
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

Thanks for the reply. I failed to mentioned that I moved far away to the FL Keys. So I am pretty sure that it is not steam. It smells like gas to me. I guess it could be steam because the smoke is not real thick. Not sure.

You need to update your personal info- it says you're in NY.
 

Philster

Captain
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,344
Re: white smoke coming from exhaust

It has a gasoline smell?

:cool:

It might be oil, which burns whitish blue and has a petroleum smell to it.

Maybe you have a bad piston ring. Wouldn't cause you to break down, but will affect performance a little and lead to loss of oil.
 
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