Originally Posted by
mcst
As a rule white smoke/steam is typically headgasket related. If it was burning oil it would be blue and would be something like valve stem seals but i've seen even really tired zetecs to be smoke free.
If its white and producing that much on startup i would have a guess at it maybe being something like its leaking water into the cylinders and its burning off but you should notice it using water.
Not thought to check water. Would it not smoke all the time if it was that? It's not running hot either - mind you I guess it is blooming cold so even with no water it might not overheat. I'll check it though. Thank you.