If you see a lot of exhaust behind your car, truck, or C/SUV, drive straight to Hightech Automotive. Excessive exhaust is a sign that you have a serious problem in the engine. The color of the exhaust helps us to pinpoint the problem. We are going to talk about exhaust colors below and what they mean. In all cases, it’s really better to have your automobile towed to us instead of driving it. This helps to protect your engine and also helps you avoid the potential of a dangerous situation.
Black
If you see a lot of black exhaust behind your car, the engine is burning excess fuel. This can be caused by leaking fuel injectors, a problem with the fuel pump, or leaking fuel hoses among other problems. You never want to see black exhaust flowing out of the tailpipe because you may end up with an engine fire if the fuel leak is severe. If your car is releasing black exhaust, pull over and turn off the engine. This will prevent the fuel from igniting if it gets too hot.
Blue
If you see a lot of blue exhaust behind your car, the engine is burning excess oil. The most common reason why this happens is that your head gasket cracks and releases oil into the cylinder block. Air and fuel are also located in the cylinder block, specifically, in each cylinder. As the spark plugs ignite the air and fuel in each cylinder, the motor oil burns. This is what causes the blue exhaust that you see behind your car. Driving your car can damage the engine because you have little to no oil in it. Rather, the oil is leaking through the cracked head gasket.
White
Another thing that can leak out of a cracked head gasket is coolant, and leaking coolant produces white exhaust. Aside from the exhaust you see behind your car, your engine will also start to overheat as the coolant level reduces in the cooling system. As such, it’s important that you pull over and cut the engine. Again, call for a tow to our shop.
Clear
Finally, all is likely well if you don’t see any exhaust behind your car. This means that the exhaust flowing out of the tailpipe is clear. This is a sign that you don’t have any fluid leaks in the engine and that the catalytic converter has removed the hydrocarbons from the exhaust.
Call Hightech Automotive in Forest City, NC, today to set up a service appointment if you see a ton of exhaust behind your car.