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Anonymous Posted on Dec 19, 2017

White smoke is coming out of my coolant tank

I have a 98 saturn and it is blowing white smoke out of where the cap is for the coolant tank, and coolant that is added is almost gone I just added this morning. There is no leak at all anywhere and everything else is running fine just want to know why its blowing the white smoke out the cap of the coolant tank

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Anonymous

  • 248 Answers
  • Posted on Nov 24, 2008

SOURCE: my daughter's 1997 Saturn is leaking coolant and overheating..

Coolant leaks can occur anywhere in the cooling system. Nine out of ten times, coolant leaks are easy to find because the coolant can be seen dripping, spraying, seeping or bubbling from the leaky component. So open the hood and visually inspect the engine and cooling system for any sign of liquid leaking from the engine, radiator or hoses. The color of the coolant may be green, orange or yellow depending on the type of antifreeze in the system. The most common places where coolant may be leaking are:Water pump. A bead shaft seal will allow coolant to dribble out of the vent hole just under the water pump pulley shaft. If the water pump is a two-piece unit with a backing plate, the gasket between the housing and back cover may be leaking. The gasket or o-ring that seals the pump to the engine front cover on cover-mounted water pumps can also leak coolant. Look for stains, discoloration or liquid coolant on the outside of the water pump or engine.Radiator. Radiators can develop leaks around upper or loser hose connections as a result of vibration. The seams where the core is mated to the end tanks is another place where leaks frequently develop, as is the area where the cooling tubes in the core are connected or soldered to the core headers. The core itself is also vulnerable to stone damage. But a major factor in many radiator leaks is internal corrosion that eats away from the inside out. That's why regular coolant flushes and replacing the antifreeze is so important.
oses. Cracks, pinholes or splits in a radiator hose or heater hose will leak coolant. A hose leak will usually send a stream of hot coolant spraying out of the hose. A corroded hose connection or a loose or damaged hose clamp may also allow coolant to leak from the end of a hose. Sometimes the leak may only occur once the hose gets hot and the pinhole or crack opens up. Freeze plugs (casting plugs or expansion plugs in the sides of the engine block and/or cylinder head). The flat steel plugs corroded from the inside out, and eventually eat through allowing coolant to leak from the engine. The plugs may be hard to see because they are behind the exhaust manifold, engine mount or other engine accessories. On V6 and V8 blocks, the plugs are most easily inspected from underneath the vehicle.
Heater Core. The heater core is located inside the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit under the dash. It is out of sight so you can�t see a leak directly. But if the heater core is leaking (or a hose connection to the heater core is leaking), coolant will be seeping out of the bottom of the HVAC unit and dripping on the carpet. Look for stains or wet spots on the bottom of the plastic HVAC case, or on the passenger side floor.
Intake Manifold gasket. The gasket that seals the intake manifold to the cylinder heads may leak and allow coolant to enter the intake port, crankcase or dribble down the outside of the engine. Some engines such as General Motors 3.1L and 3.4L V6 engines as well as 4.3L, 5.0L and 5.7L V8s are notorious for leaky intake manifold gaskets. The intake manifold gaskets on these engines are plastic and often fail at 30,000 to 80,000 miles. Other troublesome applications include the intake manifold gaskets on Buick 3800 V6 and Ford 4.0L V6 engines.
INTERNAL COOLANT LEAKS
There are the worst kind of coolant leaks for two reasons. One is that they are impossible to see because they are hidden inside the engine. The other is that internal coolant leaks can be very expensive to repair.


visit for more info:

http://www.aa1car.com/library/coolant_leaks.htm

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Anonymous

  • 319 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 19, 2009

SOURCE: I have a 1997 Saturn SC2, it has an oil leak and is smoking bad

you have the beginnings of a bad head gasket. It is not a hard job to do because its a over head cam, but if you don't have the skill level just take it in and they can confirm this.

Anonymous

  • 337 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 10, 2010

SOURCE: 2003 saturn ion adding antifreeze every 2 weeks cannot find leak

There should be a radiator cap as it controls what goes into the overfill tank. You might consider replacing it. If there are no leaks in the radiator or hoses, there are only 3 places the coolant can go (water pump leak, blown gasket, or out throught the radiator cap). Hope its the cap because that's the cheapest. Good luck!

Anonymous

  • 16 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 07, 2010

SOURCE: white smoke comes out of tail pipe in morning

its due to the dew or the wet condition prevailing in your area, idle the car for sometime, then you can notice the white smoke disappearing.. :)

Anonymous

  • 214 Answers
  • Posted on Jul 18, 2012

SOURCE: 2008 saturn Aura coolant leak

I have done two of these cars in the past year. Both came in with self diagnosis of bad head gaskets. However, one had just low coolant and the other had a bad reservoir. I replaced the reservoir on both cars because I like the car to look clean when I am done, and that first car needed a coolant flush and service. I replaced the radiator and thermostat as well on the first car. The guy was so happy that his car was fixed he gave me an additional $800.00 tip over the service and repair costs i normally charge just because I saved him a head gasket repair. He figured that since he was prepared to spend so much on the head gasket and didnt have to, he just gave me a nice tip.
So even though your car is newer, I have seen parts on these cars fail. Mostly I believe is because the cars run so hot in the first place, but I'm no engineer and thats just my guess. You will have to go to the dealership to get a new reservoir and I would suggest getting a new cap just to have a new one on your car since the old reservoir broke already, the cap may go next if not replaced. Just a suggestion.

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Hello There

White smoke when first started is normal. If white smoke continues you have an internal coolant leak, i.e., cracked head/blown head gasket.
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You need to check your oil cap for yellow/white gunk on the cap if you have this then this is a sign your head gasket is cracked. Check to see if your radiator coolant level is down this is also another sign.

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