Different types of car exhaust smoke colors and their causes

What Exhaust Smoke Colors Tell About Your Car's Health? - World Environment Day

Do you know that emissions from vehicles are among the leading causes of air pollution all over the globe? As per World Health Organization (WHO), the combined effects of ambient air pollution and household air pollution are associated with 6.7 million premature deaths annually. Shocking right? It is the reason why we are here with the blog to help you identify your car’s health with its exhaust smoke color.

Decreased vehicle emissions linked with significant drop in deaths attributable to air pollution – Harvard

Like fever, which is a symptom of a disease or sign of a health condition which may or may not require medical treatment, a car emitting smoke of various colors is also an indicator of its engine’s health. It’s your car’s way of telling you what’s wrong with it and therefore it is very important for you to understand car exhaust smoke colors and their causes and what different color smoke means.

In addition to knowing what each smoke color could mean, it is equally important to know when this smoke comes out of your car – when it is stationary or accelerating. Knowing this bit of information is important as black smoke coming out of your car’s exhaust when it is stationary could mean something else from black smoke coming out of your car when it is accelerating.

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There is some other important information to note as well. For example, how thick the smoke is. Does it evaporate quickly in the air or does it linger on for sometime? Does it smell? If your car is emitting black smoke while stationary, does it leave soot on the road?

However, the most important thing about a car’s health remains the color of the smoke it emits. So, let’s discuss what these colors could say about your car’s health.

Black Smoke

If you have a petrol engine car which is emitting black smoke, it means too much fuel is being burned, which could be because of fuel injector or air filter problem. If a diesel engine car is emitting black smoke, it is probably because of soot build-up or the diesel particulate filter cleaning itself. One way to resolve this problem is by driving the car on the Motorways at high speed so the filter could clean itself.

Grey Smoke

Your car may be emitting grey color smoke because of:

Transmission fluid leakage
A PCV valve failure, or
Excess oil

Blue Smoke

This could be because of:

Burning oil
Worn valve seals, turbochargers or piston rings

If the blue smoke is coming out during acceleration, it could mean piston rings are damaged. However, if the same color smoke is coming out during deceleration, it could mean cylinder heads’ valve guides are damaged.

White Smoke

If there is a lot of white smoke exhaust from your car, it is probably because of head gasket failure. However, this can also be caused by an engine coolant leak. Though it is also because of something minor like steam caused by condensation in the exhaust pipe.

These four colors are the most common color smokes coming out of a car. Remember, just because there is a different color smoke emission from your car’s exhaust pipe doesn’t necessarily mean there is something seriously wrong with your car. However, it could be a cause of concern and an early warning sign which if nipped in the bud could help you save a lot of money in the long run.

If your car requires electrical or mechanical work, look no further than OLX Pakistan’s listings of Car Mechanics in Pakistan.

Air pollution is among the major threats to environment and our health. By reducing air pollution levels, we can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma. So, this World Environment Day, lets get determined to do whatever we can to save environment.

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