The last couple times I've started my car, it blows a good bit of white smoke out the exhaust for maybe 30 seconds, then it goes away. Funny thing is, it didn't do it until after I changed the coolant. From what I've heard, it's coolant leaking past the notorious "coolant O-rings" and a complete tear-down and rebuild is the only solution.



What I would like to know is, where are these O-rings exactly, does their leaking adversely affect my engine's performance significantly, and how long will these things stick around before going completely?



Thanks in advance for all the knowledgeable answers. Nopistons rules!

confirm that it is coolant first, make sure it's sweet smelling... Are you losing coolant? there is a buzzer that will go off.

Yes, I 'm pretty sure it's coolant. Seems to be using a little. Of course, I did just put in a new fuel pump, and actually that's when I first REALLY noticed it. Could it be way rich? I figured that would be black smoke. Guess I'll have to stick my nose up the pipe.... https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

mine does that but never loses coolant

it can take a while to 'burp' the system after flushing and filling also...



best thing to do would be a coolant system pressure test... if you confirm it's not leaking coolant pressure anywyere you can move on to checking if it's oil, running rich, or something else.



also, do you still have the sub zero cold start assist connected?

Yes. The sub-zero thingie is still hooked up. Just haven't gotten to it yet.

If the white smoke only happens on cold days, and goes away in a matter of seconds, I wouldnt be too concerned. Especially if your sub-zero is still working, because it injects coolant (via the bottle on the pass side firewall) into the UIM.

the sub-zero could be empty though... which wouldnt cause the white smoke then...

is this subzero only on 2g's?

I'm pretty sure the subzero is empty.

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the sub-zero starting assist was standard issue on all rotaries up to the second gen. I know my '73 RX-2 had it.

the subzero isnt on the 3g, if I remember correctly there was a TSB for the 2gs to have it disabled.

But let's assume for a minute that it IS coolant. Now, HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, what should I do? https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

if your O rings are leaking best thing to do is stop driving it and overhaul the motor ASAP.



The O rings seal between all the engine housings... actually, I think I typed this once already this week, let me find that thread.

https://www.nopistons.com/forums/index.php?...ST&f=65&t=12905



scroll down to the post from me regarding the O rings and oil control rings, it explains the O rings pretty well.



BTW, there is a search feature on the forum https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png The forum acts more like an archive of technical information than a question/answer platform.. most questions have already been asked and answered so you can usually save yourself time and us trouble by trying to search with some related keywords.... :bigthumg:

:squint:

i like my car. nothing wong with it

Mine has smoked on start up since I got it. But now the smoke on start up seems to more blue than white. However, it only smokes after it sits all day or night, never does it when the engine is warm.