indy results...
 

took the queen's car (88 560sel) into the local indy and here are the results...

had the accumulators changed for the sls
minor other fixes
had them inspect the head gasket which they said no leaks or damage...

problem is my girl keeps telling me of sitting at a long light idling and throwing white smoke.....

suggestions if its not the head gasket....

lyle

Lyle you live in a warm / hot climate don't you? So perhaps this isn't helpful - but if you only do short runs you could just be burning off moisture...

army....
 

yeah the car is in san antonio/austin...and the majority of the complaints are on her way to work...5 min run


so i think i would agree that its condensation.....just that as smart as the queen is (icu nurse) she knows nothing about cars....therefore, when she brings up the slightest issue....i have to take serious.

we all have to keep the queens happy.

lyle in austin, tx

Ah ha an international problem indeed!

Give it a long run and see if you have the same problem (the car that is not the Queen).

the smoking issue
 

i want to run it 400 miles to marfa, tx where i work.....thats probably what i will do

thanks as always.....

lyle

How much smoke was it actually putting out? If the car is never getting to operating temperature the condensation burning off theory is certainly plausible.

is the car using water?

using water....
 

by using water you mean the level of coolant right? or am i missing something

lyle

I think that most European cars are built to run....and run fast and hard. Doing short drives is not good, stop and go traffic, etc...not good.
If you are not losing/using coolant...then no leaks I would say. Get a cooling system pressure tester from Snap-on or other and test it yourself. A cooling system pressure tester is a good investment and can be used on any car. Once you pressurize the system....you will find a leak if any.
When ever I buy a car, I always test the cooling system. Bad sellers pull tricks and change the coolant and oil, etc..

leaking vacuum modulator on transmission?