GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello all! About 3 months ago I had a nasty white smoke coming from the exaughst when starting the car. Happens once in a while and got seriously worried.

No mixing fluids, oil and coolant not mixing, no bubbles in coolant or frothing. Car starts fine and doesn’t throw any error messages and coolant is level.

Any advice or similar events here? I’m checking google / AI sourced stuff but wanted to know if anyone had any issues similar or fixes << more importantly.

Peace and ty in advance.

I tend to think that white smoke is water/coolant and blue/gray smoke is oil, but if your oil and coolant levels aren't dropping then I don't know what to say. Maybe check the spark plugs, there are lots of sites online that show pics of spark plugs and what causes different deposits, might offer a clue.

can you identify any particular pattern as to when the nasty white smoke happens? After the car has not been run for days, or when the car is started when the engine is warm, or only after getting gas at a certain station, or anything else that might be a factor?

How does the smoke smell? Hydrocarbon vs antifreeze? Could it be more vapor than smoke?