Swapped in a new motor and finally got around to starting it. The battery was beyond dead so i jumped it and it started. I let it idle for a minute or 2 and then i notice smoke coming from engine bay. Its white smoke and doesn't really smell like anything. I shut the car off and can't really find a source. I filled the fluids about a month ago so I'm not sure if there is any still sitting on the headers or something. Also the smoke is coming from the front of the motor passenger side.

When i filled up the coolant it took less than required so i may have over filled it. I filled it up to where you can still see it when you open the cap. There is also no overflow tank which i thought was odd. Could this be the cause?

Also I heard a story of a whose alternator went bad and started to have white smoke. Cause after letting it run for a few minutes i tried to start it again and the battery was still super dead. Not even enough juice to unlock it with the key fob. Is that possible either?

 

First, you should post what kind of motor you're installing in your post. A used VQ35DE? How many miles, or is this a freshly rebuilt engine?

White smoke is always a sign of water being burned somewhere. If there's no overflow tank, there should be. On a Z, the radiator neck has a small overflow spout on the neck and your smoke could be radiator fluid spilling out onto the the RS headers.

 

ok found it the power steering line hadn't been tightened completely because i didn't have the right size. but now when i drive it it wants to die in the lower rpms. it has no exhaust on it. its right off the headers could the lack of back pressure cause that?