White Smoke

[backslash18]

When I start my ranger up in colder weather I get clouds of white smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe. Not the usual cold weather puff of smoke but huge billowing clouds. After the truck warms up (about 10 minutes) the smoke is completely gone. In warmer weather there is no smoke on start up.

I'm no mechanic but from what I've read my truck is burning coolant and(correct me if I'm wrong) it can come from cracked heads, a bad head gasket or a bad lower intake gasket. My questions are...

1. Why does the smoke disappear when the truck is warmed up?
2. How do I determine what needs to be replaced?
3. What are the potential problems to be faced if I don't fix it for 4-5 months? (It's a real pain to work on a truck when it's 30 degrees outside.)

Thanks Guys

 

[fireman1749]

Pull each spark plug out one at a time and see which one has a milky color to it or it wet... this will tell you which one has the leak in it... mine did this a couple months ago and the head gasket was blown, it gradually got worse until it got very bad... is it overheating?

 

[backslash18]

No I haven't had any overheating problems and strangely enough the amount of coolant missing during the cold months is minimal. With the amount of smoke from the tailpipe I would have expected to be dumping coolant in there all the time.