Hello everyone, my name is brian, this is my first post on this forumn. Just found it after serching the net for answer. Today I made a big mistake, I think, I washed the car an did all those minor things to it, the big one, check the coolant an forgot to put the cap back on. Then I notice on the highway that my truck was overheating. She was blowing white smoke out of the tailpipe or the engine, couldn'tt tell due to moving. Pulled over, let her rest an put new fluids in her an started back up, now shes pumping out white smoke from the tailpipe all the time. I know this is not good. Is it bad vavle sealS? ANy info would be appreciated very much. How many hours of work are we talking about? IT's a 1994 toyota 4cyc. If you need any info I will be checking back all night due to nerves an can provide any info neeeded. Thank you very much,
brian c

Brian,

If you are blowing White smoke I don't think it's out of your tail pipe. It's probable still coming off of your engine. The coolant will continue to evaporate and create white smoke.

After you top-up your radiator (and put the cap on), start your truck and let it warm up to operating temperature. Just watch to make sure it doesn't overheat.

You can leave the cap off to check the coolant level but only for a couple of minutes. As you come up to temp, you need pressure on the system which means the cap must be on.

If for some reason you have blown a head-gasket, then you will be leaking coolant into your engine, and then yes...this is serious work and you will be blowing white smoke.

Check your oil dip stick and see if there are any foreign bubbles. This is more evidence that your head gasket is blown and coolant is leaking into your oil.

Hi Brian! I´m sorry for your troubles! I hope yu feel better now! And I am glad to know that not only women are the ones considered to make those kinds of mistakes! LOL!! I have no idea about mechanics, but our friend Pongo here, seems to know pretty much about everything. So, I hope you can fix it. Oh, and by the way, that NEVER happened to me...

Oh, it sure has happened to me! Thank goodness, I caught the temperature rising before any damage was done. Good luck with your truck, Brian. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/57.gif)

Brian, I hate to suggest this but what often happens when you overheat an engine is that you may end up with either a cracked water passage, a blown head-gasket or a warped (or cracked) head.

If you're seeing an abnormal amount of 'smoke' (steam) coming out of the tailpipe it's probably a result of coolant getting into the combustion chamber and vaporizing when the fuel ignites.

Keep a very close eye on your coolant level. If it goes down again - you might want to take it to a mechanic and ask him to perform a pressure leak-down test on the radiator. That will show whether there's a visible leak or if the coolant is going someplace you can't see (like into the combustion chamber).

Wow... now this sound more serious than just a little mistake. Brian I hope your car is better now and you found a way to repair it and not have that smoke anymore. I think that this will never happen again to you, but if it happens to someone else, you'll be able to teach from your experiece. Look at it on the positive side! And thank you Tom for explaining too... Is good to know there are people around that actually know a little about cars!