[doncan]

I have white smoke coming out of the right side exhaust and not the left. Does not matter if bike is on side stand or center stand. What could be causing this to happen? 88 1500 Thanks

 

[Silicon Sam]

Usually when the bike is on the side stand for lengths of time, the smoke appears out of the left muffler, not right.

Does the smoke smell like burning oil or something else, like coolant?

 

[JerryH]

Is the smoke blue, or really white? If it is white like steam, you may have coolant leaking into one or more cylinders on the right side. Most likely cause of that is a bad head gasket. Does it keep doing it, or stop when it warms up? Check your oil for any signs of coolant.

 

[fatwing chris]

+1 on the internal coolant.Most likely a headgasket.
Get up close and personal with your exhaust and see if it smells sweet.Seriously though just hold your hand there and then smell it.It's usually pretty obvious.

 

[doncan]

Thanks guys, it looks white, I will check closer,

 

[cbx4evr]

Sounds like coolant and likely a head gasket. How's your coolant level?

 

[John J]

Have you checked the weep hole on the right muffler? Could be blocked and you are boiling up condensation.

 

[satan]

doncan, As you're diagnosing this, remember that the exhaust output from the engine is combined into a common chamber before it's vented out the two exhaust pipes.

A really easy way to see if the smoke is "sourced" before the chamber is to block the smoking tailpipe, and see if the smoke then comes from the other pipe (this redrects all exhaust out of the non smoking pipe. If the source of smoke is in the chamber or either header, then the smoke will statr to blow from the previously not-smoking tailpipe). If your smoke does not change, then the smoke cause is in the muffler assembly itself (condensation, contamination, etc)...

If the smoke is at/before the chamber, the next easiest diagnosis is to pull the right side header (easiest access to remving the chamber and headers anyway...) to see if the smoke is from the right side or possibly the left and/or chamber. If not from the right side, pull the chamber and left header to get to the smoke source.

 

[psu1]

Have you checked the weep hole on the right muffler? Could be blocked and you are boiling up condensation.

Where exactly is the weep hole? I occasionally get this same problem. It eventually clears up?

I didn't know there was a weep hole. Thanks in advance!!

psu

 

[busdriver]

It would be prudent to pull your spark plugs and check for any discoloration which will tell you which cylinder is affected.
Then you can focus on that bank.

 

[John J]

Where exactly is the weep hole? I occasionally get this same problem. It eventually clears up?


psu

They are on the chrome part of the muffler at the lowest point. The main one each side is about in line with the back edge of the rear footboard. It's only a small hole of about one 8th inch. There is a second hole at the rear of the tail piece as well (mine is a 98 so I'm not sure about the older wings with round tail pieces).
Quite a lot of water can come out of the main weep hole when starting from cold.

 

[psu1]

They are on the chrome part of the muffler at the lowest point. The main one each side is about in line with the back edge of the rear footboard. It's only a small hole of about one 8th inch. There is a second hole at the rear of the tail piece as well (mine is a 98 so I'm not sure about the older wings with round tail pieces).
Quite a lot of water can come out of the main weep hole when starting from cold.

Thank You!