White smoke fron exhaust manifold?

[BamaKaren]

Recently there has been some white smoke coming from my friend's 2000 pickup under the exhaust heat manifold. What do you think the issue is? Coolant levels have been steady over the last thousand miles, the spark plugs are good, and the oil is fine. My shop guy said he saw no problem, and to drive it until something happened, but I would rather solve it first if I can.

 

[Samtucky]

There may be leakage between the engine and the exhaust manifold which means that you need a new manifold gasket. However if oil is coming out where the valve cover connects to the head, and it's smoking when it hits the hot exhaust manifold, you don't have a dangerous condition, you just have to keep adding oil. But you surely won't pass your next emissions test if the oil is burning during combustion, but driving the vehicle for many miles under that condition should not be an issue.

 

[SharkRider]

Did you find any leakage? Or is it some other problem? Let us know so we can help.