My 2.2 E-tec is smoking from the exhaust manifold on the drivers side. It seems to happen more when it's cold out and stop as the engine reaches operating temperature, indicating a valve cover gasket. The older engines had this problem, but I don't know about mine. You can see oil stains on the heat shield and valve cover on the drivers side. The car has just over 31,000 miles on it with oil changes every 3,000 miles.
When the car smokes it comes through the vent system and creates a hazard, besides the foul smell. I also occasionally smell hot coolant when I have the heater on. Any ideas?
If the valve cover gasket is leaking, replace it. 30k miles or 300k miles, they don't last forever, you just got un-lucky.
Yeah coolant smell inside the cab is baaad... when the heater is on defrost does it fog up the front windshield (or cause a film to start to accumulate after a while)? If it does you have more bad luck (heater core...). Is your car low on coolant? This would also point to a leak somewhere.
Sometimes the guys at jiffy lube just miss and spill oil/coolant everywhere after an oil change...
22 miles per gallon and dropping fast...
Can't say i've seen this before on an eco.
All i can recommed is clean the engine bay, make sure all fluid levels are good, and their caps are tight.
if anything else, this is a free bump.
I have to agree with the statement about the valve cover leaking. Also you could have a leaking heater core with the coolant smell. Do you have a wet spot on the passenger floor?
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Thanks for the input.
The coolant level is fine, the passenger floorboard is dry and defog works as advertised. Maybe it's possesed. I had this problem on my Dakota. Turns out the coolant was following the firewall and pooling under the mat. I have the worst luck with used cars.
As for the oil smoke I'll power wash it this week and follow any trails that pop up. What can I expect to pay for a new OEM gasket?
Lawrence Mapps wrote:Thanks for the input.
The coolant level is fine, the passenger floorboard is dry and defog works as advertised. Maybe it's possesed. I had this problem on my Dakota. Turns out the coolant was following the firewall and pooling under the mat. I have the worst luck with used cars.
As for the oil smoke I'll power wash it this week and follow any trails that pop up. What can I expect to pay for a new OEM gasket?
$4-8 bucks if that. There very cheep.
My car--->
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2569452
My 04 has had that since new to. Not all the time, once in a blue moon a faint smell of coolant from the vents. I pressure tested it, and it is holding pressure though.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
***UPDATE***
I bought the kit from GM. Depending upon your VIN you may be able to get a kit that replaces the valve cover and spark plug gaskets. My cost was about $25 plus $10 for GM gasket sealer. Unfortunately, I now think the smoke is coming from either a loose or cracked exhaust manifold or worn manifold gasket. Either way, after reading the posts on this topic, I'm glad I spent the money now on the VC gasket set. I'll search the topics but am wondering if anyone has run into this, also? If so, how hard was it to access the manifold?
the manifold on the eco is a pain in the butt. We put a header on my buddies 2.2eco and it took forever to get it in. Then again all you have to do is slide the manifold back and get the gasket off and then the new one on. Much easier than taking the whole thing out and a new one in like we did!
