Even if you drive a diesel automobile or truck, you should not have heavy black exhaust smoke pouring out of the tailpipe. Anytime you see excess exhaust, this is a sign that you have a problem in your car, truck, or utility vehicle’s engine. Exhaust comes in different colors, and these colors are what help us here at CAR FIX identify the underlying problem. Keep in mind that if your engine is producing excess exhaust, it might not be safe to continue to drive your vehicle. Let’s talk about what the different exhaust colors mean.
Black Exhaust Meaning
If you see black exhaust pouring out of your tailpipe, your engine is burning fuel. You may have a serious fuel leak somewhere in the fuel system, including in the fuel injectors, or there may be a problem with your engine control module. If the engine control module is malfunctioning and sending too much fuel into the combustion chamber, your engine has no choice but to burn this fuel off. Severe cases will include sparks or flames coming out of the tailpipe.
Blue Exhaust Meaning
It’s obviously not safe to continue to drive your car if your engine is burning excess fuel, but it is also dangerous to drive your automobile if you see blue exhaust flowing out of the tailpipe. In fact, your engine will likely seize and shut down within hours if the blue exhaust is thick enough. What this means is that your engine is burning oil. Likely, there is a breach in the main gasket and you have oil mixing with the air and fuel in the cylinders. This will damage your engine severely.
White Exhaust Meaning
Finally, white exhaust is usually caused by a blown head gasket. Once the head gasket cracks, coolant sprays all over the engine and you end up with white exhaust as a result. Depending on how much coolant you are losing, you may also see white smoke coming out from underneath your hood. No matter what, your vehicle will overheat because the engine is hemorrhaging coolant. It’s unsafe to drive an engine that is too hot. Not only can you blow the radiator cap, but you will also damage the engine severely, including possibly cracking the engine block.
CAR FIX is the best auto service shop in Oak Ridge, TN, and we can get to the bottom of why your automobile is spewing black, blue, or white exhaust. Once we find the problem, we’ll let you know what it’s going to take to fix it.
