170 CI OCCASIONAL WHITE EXAUST SMOKE

[Anonymous]

I have a 1964 Ford Falcon w/ a 170 CI. The car has 69,000 original miles
and I have owned it for about 3 months. I love the car but I have been
experiencing occasional exaust smoke after leaving from a stop, while
in drive. Other than this problem the car runs great, it does not smoke
at idle, in park or at acceleration or highway speed. I was told that it
could be valve guide seals, but a mechanic and myself pulled the valve
cover and the head is extra clean w/ new seals and appears to have been
rebuilt. (Do the seals move up and down w/ the valve stems or should
they fit tightly over the valve guide?) The engine does not seem to be
using any oil. The car was off the road for 4 years before I purchased
it. This engine is equipped w/ a road draft tube rather than the pcv valve. I am new to old Fords and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Joe

 

[Anonymous]

1) The seals do move up and down on the stem. That's normal. However, even new seals won't stop all the oil. The valve guides need to do the rest and it sounds like your valve guides are worn. Idling allows oil to be sucked in through the guides from the high vacuum. When you open the throttle, the incoming air carries that oil from the valve pocket into the chamber and you get your smoke.

2) You should be able to easily pick up another (later model) valve cover, and install it with the PCV valve. Hook it to manifold vacuum.

 

[CobraSix]

white smoke has nothing to do with oil. It means water.

Could be a few things. If you are new to the car, there could be water in the fuel system or carb that settles. Maybe just some water sitting in the exhaust system.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

do a compression check, I know it souds wierd but I had the exact same problem with the 66

it turned out to be two broken compression rings on pistons 3 and 4. which allowed just a little bit of oil to seep up to the top of the pistons when in idle and when taking off the oil would burn but it looked white because of lack of volume.

just my 2cents

mike

 

[Anonymous]

I have replaced the gas tank and carb and the exaust is ok? I am not sure
what is causing the problem. If it is valve guides would a diffrent grade of oil help? I am currently using Pennzoil 10-W30 high mileage vehicle oil.
I was thinking 10-W40 might help?
Joe

 

[Anonymous]

Id be willing to bet you were just running lean on the carburetor, if the smoke was white coming off of the stop that might mean youre car was looking for more gas, and since the problem went away after a carb fix, Id assume that was the problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I still have the problem w/ the new carb. The occasional smoke went away
for about 3 to 4 drives then the last time I drove the car it came back? And it all started again when I backed up a small incline into a driveway.

 

[Anonymous]

white smoke has nothing to do with oil. It means water.

Slade - coolant doesn't smoke... that's steam. White smoke is oil.

jbull - Take Mtpony's advice and do a compression check (one dry, then one wet). That will help you determine if it's the rings. If that looks good, it's the valve guides guides.