Smoke out of exhaust HELP!

On these cold winter nights i notice most cars sport a bit of smoke out of the exhaust pipe but lately my alfa 1.8 ts seems to be the smokiest, i have heard rumours that it is the first sign of a head gasket about to go and the thought of it sent a shiver down my spine, has anyone else noticed the same problem and what am i best off doing??

Thanks in Advance

Could just be condensation burning off. Most cars do this in the cold weather and it's not always a sig of something nasty.

If the head gasket has gone you will get other symptons and loss of coolent.

You can tell mate, by the smell. A burnt petrol/sweet smell is OK, oily greasy smoke is something awful. If it is only when cold and greyish and no other symptoms then it is just water and fuel vapour.

Mine creates clouds when it is sitting idling waiting to warm on a really frozen day. Don't panic at what may be nothing. If the gasket is gone, oil & coolant mix and if it is a compression leak the coolant will bubble like a volcano.

Mine's the same. seems a bit steamier than most other cars when its warming up, but it's okay when warm.

I've been told this might be 'cos I do lots of short journeys and apperently the exhaust can tend to collect condensation whilst cold (generally not just alfa), which can collect and hang around in the back box for while until it gets burned off on a longer run, hence chuffing plenty of vapour whilst warming up.

Don't know how true this is, but it seems to make sense to me, and I haven't seen any other signs of expensive issues.

Ours are like Ivor the Engine on cold days so don't worry. Choo choo is what we say

Originally Posted by James76

Mine creates clouds when it is sitting idling waiting to warm on a really frozen day.

Better always to warm it up by driving.
Water vapour is a product of combustion, hydrogen plus oxygen = water. It will condense in a cold exhaust system.

hehe yep mine smokes like cheech n chong in the cold when idle