Mitsubishi Delica Owners Club UK™

[L400crazy]

Hi Guys,

Bit of a head scratcher..

I've got a 4m40T 2.8 L400. Now i know white smoke has been talked to death on this forum but I cannot find a singe post that relates to this issue so I'm afraid here's another ... As the weather has started getting colder I've started getting what looks like thin white smoke out the exhaust when idling after driving with the engine warm. During the summer there's no smoke at all. My first though was oh no head gasket but other than this mysterious smoke I'm getting no other symptoms.

- no sweet smell
- no loss of power
- no overheating
- no noticeable fall in coolant levels
- no issue starting
- no smoke on start-up
- oil is fine
- Drives as smooth as you like and idles just fine

i can only see this issue when the ambient air is cold and its too much to ignore. but when i accelerate or rev it in idle the smoke vanishes

any ideas what i should be checking/ looking out for ? i did hold some kitchen roll inline with the exhaust gasses to see if it got wet and it didn't.

any thoughts are much appreciated!!

[Google]

[andyman]

Probably the normal water vapour, product of combustion that every IC engine produces. On warm days, your whole exhaust gets hot enough to ensure the vater vapour is invisible. Like you can't see your breath on a warm day, only when it is very cold. No need to worry!
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Andy C L300 Super Exceed - over 100 smiles per gallon!

[Lewis]

First thing to do is check the coolant level to see how much, if any, coolant is being lost.

A tiny gap in one of the air inlet gaskets can produce wispy white smoke from an exhaust, along with a tiny gap where the hoses connect, so check the hose clips and the gaskets area for potential marks indicating where a leak may be.

A tiny crack on the head gasket could let a small amount of water seep through into a piston, without the normal indicators of a large crack in the head, as could a tiny crack in the head itself, only pressure testing could prove that.


Note the two channels at the bottom of the gasket, which were letting miniscule amounts of coolant to leak.

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[peter_rookie]

white or greyish smoke might also occur when having an air leak in the fuel system. the membrane of the primer pump where the diesel filter is attached to are cracking over time, first only leaking a bit and mostly visible in idle. that can develop to rough idle and bad starting behaviour.
you can simply check by pushing the pump a few times, if it does not immediately build back pressure or pressure gives in then that´s a potential leak. pump costs about 30gbp. easy fix.

I had this on the Delica when I bought it, just as described. also had it on other 4x4s that have such setup. pretty common for old trucks.