<p>Reader Question

My boyfriend is truck illiterate, he has a 2005 Ford Ranger. Yesterday he drove to the store and the truck seemed fine but a couple hours later it wouldn’t start. He said it was trying really hard to turn over but wouldn’t. then about 45 minutes later when I got home it started, but was blowing white smoke.

Do you think it was flooded from him crankin on it or are we lookin at some serious cash like a blown head gasket or worse? Oh oil looked good but he drove it from Colorado last June and has only changed the oil since…which i pointed out wasnt smart.

thank you sooo much
Desiree

Why hello there Desiree,

White smoke usually means antifreeze has entered the combustion chambers of the engine, which it is not suppose to be in. This usually happens because of extreme engine overheating, so I would definitely get a cooling system pressure test done at your local mechanic just to be sure you dont have a blown head gasket or engine damage.

This is a simple and cheap test that can be done while you wait. It would give me peace of mind that there was no real serious internal engine problems.

But since you did not mention anything about overheating….there could be a chance that there was too much fuel inside the engine from him cranking on it for a long time…..but I would have expected that smoke to clear up pretty quickly after the engine was started.

Keep me posted
Austin Davis