What the #$@%! did my mom's car do?

"Nymphicus Hollandicus" (nymhicus-hollandicus) 06/13/2015 at 16:17 • Filed to: Car problem, WTF, Huh?, Stupid car

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The car in question is a 2012 Hyundai Elantra.

About an hour ago I had to drop off my mom at her friend’s house. On the way home something strange happened. I tried to overtake someone and like any car it shifted down a couple of gears for more power. However the transmission may have slipped and it caused the engine to rev to around 5-6k rpm. After that it belched a huge plume of white smoke, nearly causing a pileup behind me. After I made sure nobody crashed I pulled over to the side of the highway to make sure nothing catastrophic occurred. It was however, still spewing white smoke out of its tailpipe. Popped the hood open and didn’t see/smell/hear anything abnormal, so I continued on my way and haven’t had any issues. After I got back, my dad and I checked it out and it was perfectly fine.

TL;DR: My mom’s 2012 Hyundai Elantra had white smoke coming out of it after trying to overtake someone.

So what happened? Did it burn a little oil? That’s what I think, as it recently got an oil change and passed inspection a few weeks ago. I think nothing is wrong since no warning lights came on but we may have it looked at.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 16:20

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check coolant. sounds like the headgasket went bye-bye.

Echo51 > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 06/13/2015 at 16:24

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This is most likely thing. Release the coolant cap, can you hear bubbling when it’s running? is it eating water? Was it hot when you floored it?(sounds like it was up to temp tho)

CaptDale - is secretly British > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t 06/13/2015 at 16:24

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What he said^

Nibby > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 16:27

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RIP head gasket

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 16:29

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My old 2014 Elantra, which was lemon lawed, used to do something similar with the shifting, and revving, but never blew white smoke.

scoob > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 16:38

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Klaus Schmoll > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 16:53

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White smoke indicates that water got into the cylinders, oil would cause black smoke.

shop-teacher > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 17:05

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I hope it’s still under warranty. Sounds like a head gasket to me.

Sweet Trav > Klaus Schmoll 06/13/2015 at 17:07

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Water = white

Blue = oil

black = fuel

Nymphicus Hollandicus > Echo51 06/13/2015 at 17:56

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The engine was running at normal temperature, we checked the coolant and oil and it wasn’t mixed with water or oil.

Nymphicus Hollandicus > m-b-w loves his SUBAROO 06/13/2015 at 17:58

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I hate the transmission in the Elantra.

Nymphicus Hollandicus > shop-teacher 06/13/2015 at 17:59

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Let’s hope not, but as we checked, everything seems okay... We’ll get it checked out to be safe.

m-b-w loves his SUBAROO > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/13/2015 at 20:50

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That was the primary issue with mine.

Echo51 > Nymphicus Hollandicus 06/14/2015 at 02:59

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Blown headgasket doesn’t always mean mixed water/oil, could just be water channel to a cylinder. Thus why the listen the bubbling while running in the water, or see if it eats it if it continues smoking white.