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Car won't idle and white smoke from tailpipe!

13K views 21 replies 13 participants last post by  jhs914 
#1 ·
Help! I have a 2005 Magnum R/T that has provided me with some good times. My problems started about two months ago as I was driving along. I stopped at a stoplight and when I went to take off, a 'lighning bolt' flashed on the dash, the power seemed to cut and then everything was fine in a split second. I drove the vehicle to a buddy of mine who put it on their shops computer, not a code reader, and he found no problems. He even checked the electrical system, again no issues.

The problem happened a week later, and again was just a split second. Last week, the same thing happened, except now the vehicle wouldn't start back up. I had it towed to a shop, and they said it was a crank angle sensor and a camshaft sensor. They replaced the parts and it starts but won't stay running. The shop said that the ECU had to be 'reflashed'. So the vehicle was towed over there and this is where things got even more strange.

The dealer told the shop that the vehicle has some sort of valve issue and now white smoke is coming from the tailpipe!! This never happened before so I am like WTF. I would have taken it to my buddy from the get go, but he only works weekends. I have now been without my car for three weeks, and still noone has given me anything concrete.

Has anyone had the same problems, I need some guidance. Thanks.
 
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#8 ·
Yea , white smoke would indicate anti-freeze being burnt, i have never heard of this in our cars yet. Not sure why the sensors failed? Is the oil level higher than normal? maybe anti-freeze is leaking thru a crack or bad gasket into the crankcase too? as well as into the cylinders were it's burnt as white smoke.
 
#9 ·
Very, very rich will produce black smoke (I know, I have a Mazda turbo). Yep, sounds like blown head gasket. If the exhaust smells like anti-freeze, that would be a sure sign.
 
#10 ·
Is it possible it could be something like an intake manifold gasket? I know on the older GM 3100's they had an issue with intake manifold gaskets leaking and sometimes there would be white smoke coming from the tailpipe, similar to a head gasket issue.

Also, why would that lightning bolt flash as well as the ESP and the car shut off? Again, it runs but seems to have these new issues.
 
#14 ·
Is it possible it could be something like an intake manifold gasket? I know on the older GM 3100's they had an issue with intake manifold gaskets leaking and sometimes there would be white smoke coming from the tailpipe, similar to a head gasket issue.

Also, why would that lightning bolt flash as well as the ESP and the car shut off? Again, it runs but seems to have these new issues.
Now this would make some sense, cause the car wont idle, I have seen them need to be replace on a 5.7 truck before (had a bad idle and the vac was all over the place) but cant remember if the guy had white smoke coming out the exhaust.

But still I would check your antifreeze level and oil level also. and then do a leak down test etc..
 
#17 ·
I appreciate everyone trying to wrack their brains to help me out. I just don't know or not if the dealer is trying to get over on me. I thought it was strange when the dealer told me something about bad valves. First of all, how would they know without pulling te heads. Second, just from past experience with a couple old VW's I know that white smoke usually indicates a headgasket issue. If this were so, why wouldn't the dealer recommend a test to determine this? That is why I am having it towed out of there. Three weeks and two shops and I am still out my car. Should have taken it to my buddy. :(

I will have a leak down test done and see what is the result. Thanks again. I will keep you updated.
 
#19 ·
Heavy white smoke - car very rich. Happened to me yesterday. AFR was dipping to 10 at some point.
Car even started sputtering little.

After some time I got a P0205 code and it turned out that the injector wire got pinched by the intake and caused a short.

Good luck.
 
#20 ·
I had the exact same thing happen on my 05 Magnum. I was getting a bad 02 code that I could not reset. I took it to the dealership and after 2 weeks of trying everything from replacing 02 sensors to trying to find a short with no avail. They actually replaced the ECU on the car. It was still bad and Chrysler told them to replace it again. That time it actually worked. Never had another problem since. I never thought it would be the ECU. Same exact symptoms as yours. White smoke was bellowing out both tailpipes and it wouldn't idle at all. My warranty had expired and I was dreading the bill. Good thing was my car being from Maine actually had CA. emissions. It states in the warranty booklet that the warranty on all CA.emission controls went to 90k and they fully covered it. I actually had to show the service writer the booklet. She was not going to cover it, it payed for me to read the warranty book! Good luck hope this helps.
 
#22 ·
No mass airflow sensor on our Hemi.
 
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