White smoke coming from exhaust at startup of 458

My 458 gives out a thick plume of white smoke on startup, this happens once in every 5 times that I start the car, the smoke subsides after 3 to 4 minutes, any ideas ?

 

Head gasket.

 

is it smoke, or vapor?

the 458 can collect condensation in the exhaust, which manifests itself as steam when it's started; it's one of the reasons that the center exhaust on our cars always seems to have a persistent, dirty soot. If you run the car and let it sit for a bit, the condensation can form, drip into moisture and then become steam.

another potential cause is overfilling of the oil, which eventually gets burned off and actually is oil smoke. Oil can gradually pool where you don't want it (again, if the car sits) and then burns when it starts.

last, it could be an indicator of a completely different problem (eg. head gasket), though that would be a much lower probability...

 

Don't pretend to know the 458 specifically but I've seen my share of blown head gaskets and I've yet to see one that would be symptomatic only 20% of the time.

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Does it have a smell?

 

check the oil; if it's foamy, it's serious. check the coolant; if it has oil in it, it's serious.

first determine if it's smoke (not good) or vapor (normal)

 

Also, are you loosing coolant? Thats almost a sure sign of burning coolant with white smoke....

 

Cars with dry sumps when not driven often has gas that leaks down and the little gas that is there causes the white smoke. This is a very common with Porsches not only because they have a dry sump but also because the engine is a flat 6. All my dry sump Porsches from time to time will give off white smoke. So there is most likely nothing wrong. If it is not new it could be a head gasket but doubtful.

 

My 512TR will do the same every third time or so, white smoke at start up. Typical of flat 12s, oil gets through the valve stem seals and down the valve guide after shut down. Partly due to poor design/quality in the valve seals but also typical of the flat engine design as Arnie said. Seems unusual for a new technology V8, but it could be a valve stem seal problem. My thoughts are based on the intermittent smoke at start up. A compression/leak down test could tell you if it were a head gasket could be wrong but it doesn't seem likely that would be the problem as was said above.

 

Scare the bejayzus out of the newbie why don't ya?

 

Thick plume of white smoke out of the car for 3-4 minutes.......

 

What is the temperature when this happens?

 

Seen this many times on several cars. Usually it happens when the car is started, moved a few feet, then shut off and let sit for a few days. Check your oil level. The engine needs to be fully up to temp which means the oil dipstick is hot enough to burn your hand. Engine idling, anywhere between the marks is ok but if the oil is aerated it means there is too much. The oil level will be difficult to pin down and it will appear several quarts overfilled.

And don't worry, your headgaskets should be fine.

 

Completely WRONG.

It's condensation in the tail pipe. It's common with the 458 and also the California.

It's not smoke. Its water vapor.

IF it were a head gasket (and it's NOT), you'd find sludge or a gooey brown stuff in the oil tank.

If you're really concerned, call the dealer. There is no harm in that. But, they are going to tell you what I just told you.

 

Nice post.

 

Is it really 3 to 4 minutes...

Mine have done that when sitting under the right conditions....fire up to lots of white smoke (fog). condensation is my bet as well, if something else was wrong you'd see blue smoke at some point.

 

I was gonna say something too-my 430 has done this once or twice, but only for 30-60 seconds, and I would not have described it as thick......

 

Any correlation between how long the car was driven last time and when you see the white vapor when you start it this time?
If you don't drive a car long enough to completely dry out the condensation that forms in the exhaust system during the initial running it will sit in there and blow out as steam the next time you start it.

Burned oil has a bluish cast to it as well as a distinctive smell.