Hey guys, I'm new to the forums.

I personally don't own a Mini, but my girlfriend does.
It's an 03 Cooper.

She said she noticed white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe when she went into reverse today. She said it happened a few times now. I didn't get a chance to go over and take a look at her car today, so I will probably be taking a look at it tomorrow or Thursday, depending when some free time opens up first.

Anyways, are there any specific things I should take a look at when taking a look at the car? I was reading around and it seems it may be a coolant leak. How can I best determine that?

Thanks in advance

 

Welcome to NAM!
White smoke indicates (possibly) coolant entering the combustion chambers and burning. Usually this is through the head gasket. Check the overflow tank - it's the muddy yellow colored thing in the middle of the firewall. Coopers don't have radiator caps. If the level is low (you'll see ribs on the bottom of the reservoir) add distilled water to the 'full' mark. Then check the following day. Also check the dipstick to see if the oil looks like oil rather than chocolate milk.
White smoke can also just indicate that the car is cold (not likely this time of year, depending where you are!) Good luck!

 

Thanks a bunch! I will make sure to check those things and then post back with any findings!

 

One more thing. It could mean you have water in your fuel, which hopefully is the case. Do what Eric said. If it's not that, put some water remover in the tank.

 

It's been my experience that Anti-Freeze out the tailpipe burns clean but has a distinct sweet smell. (Case in point, my 97 Legacy GT @ 186K miles, 87 Audi 4000s @ 212K miles). The coolant will also become discolored over time if the problem isn't rectified.

I think your just burning excessive oil out the tailpipe. When was the last time Sweet Cheeks had the oil changed? Could be over-fill from the previous oil change, blown head gasket, or a cracked head.

Now, do you really want to see smoke out the tailpipe? pour a bottle of .99 cent auto. trans fluid in your intake hose- you'll really fumagate the neighborhood then! I do that every couple years to burn off the carbon buildup on the valves. Cracks me up when I read about people spending all that money on that "Seafoam stuff".

 

is it only happening on a cold start?

 

+1 to antifreeze entering the combustion chambers. A possible indication you have a blown head gasket. Usually, at cold and at idle, the white smoke is minute. It will get worse when you accelerate hard. If you have one, or know someone that has one, remove the spark plugs and see if you can use a scope to look inside each cylinder. If memory serves, one of the gains of using meth or water injection is it will help break up and clean out the carbon buildup. Look for a very clean piston surface, and that's probably the culprit.

As FatherDeth mentioned, it could be water in the fuel. If that is the case, all of your piston surfaces should look the same.

Keep us posted.