3 Causes Of Smoking Car Engines And What Needs To Be Done To Solve Them

When your car becomes a smoking gun going down the road, the problem likely has something to do with your engine. Sometimes, seals may break and cause fluids to get on the block or your heads may have been damaged due to overheating, or any of a host of other problems that cause smoking. Here are five of the problems that may be the cause of your car becoming a smoke screen on the expressway:

1. Bad Fuel Causing Your Car to Have Smoking Grey Exhaust

Stopping at the gas station to fill up your car is not when you think about problems with smoking engines. The fuel from a bad delivery to the gas station may cause your car's smoking problem. When there is water or other contaminants in the fuel, it causes smoke to come from the exhaust. The common cause of the problem is high moisture content in the gas, which will cause a light grey smoke to come from your exhaust. Have your fuel system flushed and filled with clean, premium fuel to solve the problem before it turns into something worse.

2. Puffing Smoke From Under The Hood Due To Small Oil Leaks

After miles and miles of driving, cars often develop small oil leaks. Sometimes, these leaks are nothing more than a small seal or gasket the needs to be replaced. When the oil leak is near the motor, any oil that gets on the hot engine block will burn off and cause black smoke to come from under the hood of your car when the engine is hot. To fix this problem, find the leak and repair it, then have the engine degreased to remove oil and other gunk from the engine compartment.

3. Bad Heads and Blown Seals Causing Your Car to Become a Moving Smoke Bomb 

There are also problems that are more serious and may have one of both previous symptoms. The heads on your engine block house the valves that pump oil through the motor. When the engine becomes hot, this may cause the heads to become warped, especially if they are made of lighter materials like aluminum. The warped heads cause seals and gaskets to blow, which in turn, causes oil to leak on the engine. In some of the most severe cases, water may mix with the oil and cause your car to have a grey smoke coming from the exhaust.

Problems that cause smoke to come from your car are not always too serious if you catch them and have them repaired in time. Contact an automotive repair shop to have them diagnose the exact cause of your car being the highway smoke screen and have them do the repairs before it gets worse.