1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Clay,
How much smoke? How dense? Smells?
A modest amount (garage-filling) of moderatly dense (mostly opaque in the sun, fairly transparent in the shade) white smoke without any noticeable smell might be the result of pure-water induction. (Rain. For this thread, I assume your cooling system is filled with a normal mixture of anitfreeze)
Recalling my experience, I literally shut down any safe passage through my alley (even a pedestrian would be at risk in that cloud) of truly solid white clouds that had an obviously sickly-sweet odor of antifreeze. I'd guess that this god-awful mess was the result of a pint to a quart of coolant collected in the exhaust system when the head gasket failed. (If I forgot to mention it, this was on an 89 Suzuki Samurai with a 1.5l carburetted engine)
If your Saab produced a noticeable cloud once only, then I'd say watch the coolant level for the next week, and take it really easy on it. If still no coolant loss, I think you're safe.
If you KEEP seeing clouds on every cold start (first start of the day), or under heavy loads even when the engine's hot, or you notice the coolant's dropping every day/week, THEN you have a problem.
Check for clouds during the next few cold-starts. If you see an obvious one out the rear view mirror, note it. (If the wind's up, you'll need to get out and look) DO a drive around the nighborhood test, and try some modest throttle efforts, and if all's clear, I think it's safe.
But if you're in doubt on any part of this, better safe than sorry: seek professional help. Coolant in the combustion chambers is never a good thing. And antifreeze clouds are rather bad for your health.
Ben
posted by 64.81.14...
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