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 Posted: Jun 27, 2017 11:35AM
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It was a sudden onset with my car, but I definitely had an overheating incident. Had it towed home ...

I don't think your spike to 210 from the usual 190 was enough to cause a 'sudden onset', but it's food for thought. If your seals were on the verge of going out, that might have pushed them over the edge ...?

My car would smoke white for 30 seconds or so before getting all of the oil burned out ... Pulled the head and had it re-conditioned ... no more smoke.

Just my experience.

 Posted: Jun 27, 2017 11:03AM
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Is that usually a sudden onset thing? This has never happened before and the amount of smoke / steam that came out on that first time was not a little puff.

Also, not to turn down the help on the smoke / steam issue, but has anyone ever seen a breather filter pop off like that? I'm still wondering whether I need to chase down a different problem as well or simply replace the filter. I've been through all the threads I could find on breathers and learned a lot, but not seen any mention of anything like this.

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Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door
 Posted: Jun 27, 2017 10:23AM
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And I'm with Ian. I had the white smoke and it was stem seals ...

 Posted: Jun 27, 2017 01:37AM
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I'm with mur on this

last time I had those white puffs at startup, it was tiny amount leaking coolant in head gasket.

With hot engine the hot water vapor is unseen going out tailpipe,  with cold engine the startup creates a puff of visible wet steam (white)

As the leak progressively gets worse, it may do so when the engine cools down, thus filling the cylinder with enough liquid water that at startup you get a hydrolock on startup - bam- broken conrod.  Ask me how I know.

 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 10:54PM
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".....and a huge, stinky blast of white smoke came puffing out of the exhaust. It stopped right away, but happened again on the next cold start. Yesterday I ran over to the gas station to fill up and check the oil. Nothing is flat in SF, so I need to go to a a gas station to even be able to accurately check the oil. Surprisingly the oil had dropped maybe 1/4 - 1/2 qt since the previous day when I checked it before setting out for the day...."

White smoke on start up *might* be caused by bad valve stem seals.... Oil runs down the valves into the combustion chamber while the car sits and gets burnt on start up.....

Cheers, Ian

 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 06:15PM
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Ok... now I'm just ashamed I didn't get the joke.  I actually know about the papal election processes, but it was so far out of context I completely missed it.

Today was a day in need of lightening up! Thank you for making my evening.

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Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door
 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 05:22PM
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US
Yes... a new Pope... as in the head of the Roman Catholic Church.  

Link:  CBS News Article on Papal Smoke

Succinctly, when no decision on a new Pope... black smoke from the Vatican.  Once the Pope has been selected... white smoke.

Doug L.
 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 03:25PM
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Thanks for the info—I will have to track down the smoke separately then.

Regarding the heat, I should clarify—the heat (~95F) was starting to catch up to the cooling system's ability to keep up. That never happens in any type of driving conditions in normal SF weather (50-75F). My temperature gauge is incredibly consistent and sits right at 190F once the engine has warmed up. While braving the Nevada City heat, it was creeping up to ~210F when I was in stop and go traffic. Once I was able to get up to speed and get some air moving for about 10 minutes the needle came back down to normal. I haven't gone through the effort to learn the exact calibration of the gauge, but I trust it for consistency.

One question... I'm guessing a typo, but a new pope?
I think it is a sign of either a new pope or coolant getting into the combustion process.

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Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door
 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 12:19PM
mur
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Recently there was a thread about crankcase breathers. There was some good info in there. 

I dont think the white smoke is related to the broken breather. I think it is a sign of either a new pope or coolant getting into the combustion process.

Excessive crankcase pressure will easily be relieved by pushing oil out past any seal, like the driveshaft outputs, front or rear main seal, etc. 

While it may have been very hot outside, driving when it is hot and having the engine get hot are slightly different. It makes sense to use some sort of device to learn the accuracy of your temperature gauge. While often inaccurate, they can be consistent, which makes them a useful tool. You can use a laser pointer thermometer and measure the outside of various points on the car, and also you can use a simple meat thermometer placed into the coolant through the rad cap opening while the car is warming up to see where the gauge reads when the thermostat opens, etc. 

Over the years, many people have gone to great lengths to correct what they thought were high running temperatures that were in fact normal.

 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 11:53AM
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Here's a photo of the broken breather, top and bottom.

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Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door
 Posted: Jun 26, 2017 11:49AM
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On Saturday I made the run from San Francisco to the Nevada City Adventure and back in my Mini. It was lots of fun, but hotter than blazes in Nevada City! I started the car later that evening to take my wife out to dinner and a huge, stinky blast of white smoke came puffing out of the exhaust. It stopped right away, but happened again on the next cold start. Yesterday I ran over to the gas station to fill up and check the oil. Nothing is flat in SF, so I need to go to a a gas station to even be able to accurately check the oil. Surprisingly the oil had dropped maybe 1/4 - 1/2 qt since the previous day when I checked it before setting out for the day.

But the real surprise is that my crank case breather had split in half. I think the previous owner had put on a breather from a VW that is mostly encased in a chrome sleeve with the filter hidden inside. The top of that had popped off and was rattling around in the engine compartment. I've ordered a replacement, but before blindly putting a new one on I wondered whether this is a common failure or something more serious to be concerned about.

Is this potentially an indication that my crank case pressure is too high? Was this just an old breather or did the pressure build until it literally popped the top? I did run the car very hard on Saturday (lots of acceleration, very hot day, extended highway driving at ~60 mph). I also noticed that I have a slight oil leak from the rocker cover that is new. My mechanic had adjusted the valves recently, so that could explain it as well.

Does anyone have any advice they could share on things to look out for / be concerned / not concerned?

Thanks!
Scott

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Scott | 1963 Austin Cooper | 2003 MINI Cooper S | 2018 MINI Cooper 4-door