Diagnosing white smoke on startup

[etc86]

I had a massive issue with moisture getting in my fuel due to an old seal on the fuel sender. It was white smoke city on every start. I have a diesel in it so it was a nightmare, it would stall out once or twice until the lines cleared but I don’t think you’d get the stalling issue on a standard petrol/gas motor. Might be worth checking, at least then you’ll know how your seal looks, also might be worth pulling the sender out to see how your filter looks.

 

[TotalyHucked]

As others have said, valve seals are the likely culprit. However, you said *white* smoke, which normally would indicate coolant. It still could be oil but that normally has a pretty discernable blue tint to it. You could also pull the plugs and throw a bore-scope into the cylinders to see what the tops look like. If any of them are steam cleaned on top, that'd be your culprit and is likely coolant seeping in past an intake gasket or head gasket.