T-100 White Smoke when start/no heat

[camry23]

hey guys i was wondering if anyone's T-100 does this besides mind. my truck is very smoky when i start it and its a very white and watery smoke, and i know that engine smokes when you first start them because of the moisture/cold engin. mind does it no matter what morning, noon, evening it can be 80 degree out and right after i have been driving it still smokes and i know its not burning oil, because that would be a different smoke/color and smell. And also i would hear coolants runing when i step on the gas and i have no heat at all so im wondering if all of this are tie in together.

[BamZipPow]

Have you been refilling the radiator with coolant/water? Pop open the radiator cap (when cool) and check yer levels. How good is yer overflow bottle and tubing? Is the heater valve working? It should be located in the engine bay near the center of the firewall. You should easily see it when you open the hood. Is yer engine coming up to temp? You could have a thermostat that's stuck open plus other issues. How many miles are on the engine? You could do a CO test on the coolant to see if you have a leaking/blown headgasket as well.

[mdemeglio]

That really sounds like coolant is getting into the combustion chamber. White smoke sounds like steam to me. Let us know if the coolant level is going down over the course of a day. If it is you can use a compression tester to verify and determine which cylinder(s) are leaking. Some times you can take the radiator cap off (cold engine only) and start it up, let it run and you'll see air bubbles appear in the coolant when it starts to flow - that's a pretty good sign that combustion gases are getting into the coolant and visa versa.

Good luck.

[tundra dan]

blown head gasket-must be a v6

[camry23]

yea its 97 3.4 V6, so yea i got bubbles in my radiator and its still smoky and i can smell coolant. so yea i got a head gasket problem, im thinking about using a product call "Thermagasket", but there's another product out there call "Heal- A- Seal" so let me know if this is a good idea and if anyone else has used it or anyting like it. out of all the products out there these two sounded the best out of everthing and cost more to.

[mdemeglio]

I'm a little skeptical of these kinds of products myself. They might work or they might not - I'd be concerned that they'll gum up something else (radiator, water pump, small passages) and create more problems down the road even after you've replaced the head gaskets.

If the truck is worth it, the right thing to do is get them replaced. If you're mechanically inclined you could grab a manual and get an idea of what's involved. If you go that route, I'd recommend taking the heads over to a machine shop and have them checked for cracks and make sure they're not warped - they can also check if you need a valve job at the same time. While you're in there you can do the timing belt & water pump at the same time.

Depends if the truck is worth the investment naturally - that's up to you.

Good luck!