why do i have so much white smoke?? ty

SON240sx Automotive
1

hey guys,
probably a noob question for you guys, but iam not a mechanic and my oldman never knew about cars either, my car has a shitload of white smoke coming from the exhaust when iam on the gas, u guys know why and how i can fix it?

thanks, i appreciate it

2

You’re burning coolant.

3

so i should get my radiator flushed??

4

no you should get your head gasket changed

5

is it expensive??

6

I’d say get it looked at by a good shop and/or someone who you’d trust and give them as much info as possible.

If it is the head gasket, the part is relatively cheap (ranging maybe $30-60) but the labour will be significantly more - so yeah somewhat expensive.

7

Change the motor, its cheaper to get a new motor then it is to replace the gasket on the old one.

Here is why:

  1. Headgaskets generally go on most cars for 1 of 2 reasons. 1 the engine was overheated, or 2 high compression factors (mostly from boost) blow out a section of the gasket.

  2. When overheated, the gasket tends to “warp” and conform to the newly warped cylinder head. Aluminum is a fragile metal in a relative sense. When exposed to excessive heat it tends to either change shape (ie warp) or crack. And guess what, your cylinder head is aluminum.

  3. So just changing the gasket wont do that much good. You will need to have the head checked for cracks and most likeley plained to even out the heads mating surface. All this means its gonna cost you big bucks.

Cost Breakdown:

  1. Head Gasket: They cost alot more then $30 - $60 as was previously stated. List price on a headgasket for a KA24DE is around $100 + the cost of new head studs. New studs are recommended, but not always required, it all depends on it the bolts have streched or not.

  2. Cost to check/plain cylinder head. It costs roughly $200 to get the head checked (includes hottank to test for cracks, seal test for valves & checking deck surface) plus another $100 if it needs to be plained down. If the head has any cracks in it at all you need a new cylinder head. Best bet is to get a wrecker head for anywhere from $300-$600.

  3. Labour to do the job. Ministry regulated labour time on those cylinder heads is 6.8 Hours. My shops labour rate for example is $75.00 per hour, at that labour rate your looking at around $510 plus taxes aswell as additional materials such as engine coolant, engine oil & filter change, and anything else that may be required along the way. Remember if you overheated, you did so for a reason, maybe you need a new waterpump or a thermostat or something. All that stuff adds up.

  4. So at the end of the day, to have your headgasket properly changed it could cost anywhere from 12-1800. Is it worth it? at the end of the day its more cost effective to get a new motor.

Now lets look at the cost of a new motor:

For example, I have a couple motors at my shop, so i will list the prices for the engines I have accordingly.

KA24E - $200
KA24DE - $300
SR20DET - $700

$500 to Remove & replace the old engine

$100 for fluids, oil & filter change

So at the end of the day to get back running with a new engine (professionally installed w/ labour warranty) is gonna cost roughly $1000.00

8

matt thanks bro appreciate the time u took to write all that stuff down.
anyone have a second opinion before i go ahead and replace my motor?
thanks

9

what condition is your sr20det motor in matt?

10

its an s13 sr20det motor?

11

id just change the gasket if your low on cash. i did mine for like 7 bucks, bought the gasket from good ol son and then did it myself was easy. get the head machined if you want, not realy that nessisary tho, if your worryed about head warp then machine it if your like me and check it for warp then ur good, head gaskets will mold to a warped head if its not that bad i forget the actual amount tho…