white or grey exhaust

[Anonymous]

Hadent fired up the old 200 in over a year, had the car under heavy construction and had removed the gas tank. I got exhaust on it and got it running this week and it is letting out this whiteish, mabye light grey, but more white, exhaust. Anyone know what could be going wrong?

 

[CobraSix]

Bad gas...water in the system somewhere. Is the gas a year old too?

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

no, the gas is new

 

[Anonymous]

headgasket dried out?

I thought white smoke was indicative of head gasket problems...

 

[CobraSix]

White smoke in general is indicative of water in the system, either from bad gas, bad fuel lines, blown head gasket, etc.

did you drain the carb over the last year? It could just be in the bowl and will work out.

Head gaskets don't usually dry out.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

White smoke generally means oil. Water usually makes steam.... never seen water make smoke... If the car was sitting, the valve seals have probably dried up.

 

[CobraSix]

No...Oil is usually blueish blackish. Steam is white and is usually mistaken for white smoke...

Slade

 

[Junk-Falcon]

if theres

 

[PLP6400]

I have the same smoking problem with my 65 Ranchero. At first I thought it was a problem with the Head, being I bought it because it looked like a fresh rebuild on it. I pulled the head, took it to a machine shop and was told everything was fine. Just to be safe I replace the valves and seals and had the seats ground. The short block had been rebuilt about four years ago, but no miles put on it. Being the head checked out OK, I pulled the pistons and put new rings on them. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the rings I replaced. I don't have it running yet, but if it still smokes! I will probably give up on sixes and put a small block V-8 in the car.

 

[Anonymous]

it smells alot like gas....like its running realy rich, I just dont know where to start looking to solve the problem.

Just changed the oil and valve cover gasket, it's new gas. I'm just not sure where I should start to fix this

 

[BIGREDRASA]

The ole rule of thumb was: white smoke=water; blue=oil; and black is excess gas (rich). Are you losing any coolant? You need to pull the plugs and see if one looks super clean. You could have a crack in a cylinder wall.

 

[Anonymous]

start basics check oil.....milky? check water......low? plugs.....what color.....clean? dirty? rebuild carb. new fluids all around. lot of potential problems from just sitting.

 

[Anonymous]

I've seen tens... hundreds of cars "burning" oil - including my own. It's white. And it's smoke.

YES oil may burn blue or black, and if you have a ring seal problem - it may do just that coming out the tailpipe.

Now, think about what actually happens with a leaky valve seal or guide. The oil never actually BURNS in the combustion chamber. It gets into the exhaust ports and it smolders. Don't believe me? Go pour some oil on something around 500* F and watch what happens - ta-dah!!! WHITE SMOKE.....

But... chase the wrong problem if you want.

 

[CobraSix]

I'm trained at firefighting...and will tell you that oil WILL burn very easily...and when it does, it gives you blueish blackish smoke. Classic class Bravo fire.

Ever see a car with a blown head gasket? WHITE smoke (or steam...or whatever you want to call it). Meaning water is making it into the combustion chamber. Trust me...I've seen this some many times form 40HP engines to 8000HP marine deisels to 30000HP gas turbines. All the same. Everytime there is white smoke...water in the system somewhere. Black/blue smoke, oil entering where and in quantities it should not be in.

If you pour water through your carb (not much...plus keep your revs up when you do thie experiment so you don't stall the engine) and you will see WHITE smoke come out.

Simply pouring oil on a hot surface...that smoldering...different then burning.

Otherwise...I think we will have to agree to disagree. To me and all I've know and learned...I'm right. To you...you're right...

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

Slade - I clean engines with water often... I usually see nothing out the back - maybe some steam or suity carbon - certainly not white smoke.

I'll agree to disagree if we must but since you have connections in the firefighting business, if you could find me something that states the ignition point of engine oil, that would be great. I know it's up around 500* which usually is about the hottest an exhaust port would get.

My final point is this: Leaky guides and seals will put raw oil into the exhaust port. At those temps, it will will not ignite, but it will smolder and produce a significant amount white smoke....

 

[PLP6400]

When I saw the white smoke coming out of my tail pipe, I thought it was water getting in the combustion chamber also. I even tried block sealer. When I pulled the head. I had oil in the cylinders and behind the valves. So I assumed the valve seals or guides were bad. So from personal experiance my white somke was oil burning. I just hope with new valves, seals and piston rings my problem goes away.

 

[CobraSix]

John,

I understand what you are saying and agree to a point.

But...I've seen 9000HP diesels try to run with water in the fuel lines...and it is a lot of white smoke.

I've seen those same diesels belch out so much black smoke it I couldn't see the back half of a ship because of a broken ring and it burned some serious oil in the process.

Flash point for most 10W30 oils is between 430-500*F. Remember, that's the point where it emits enough vapor to flash off at sea level. Now you put oil in a combustion chamber which is much hotter and higher pressure, it will burn. Flame point is slightly higher and is the point that it can sustain continued fire without a continous source of ignition.

Smoldering hot oil, will emit greyish smoke. burning oil will emit black smoke.

Slade

 

[Anonymous]

When I saw the white smoke coming out of my tail pipe, I thought it was water getting in the combustion chamber also. I even tried block sealer. When I pulled the head. I had oil in the cylinders and behind the valves. So I assumed the valve seals or guides were bad. So from personal experiance my white somke was oil burning. I just hope with new valves, seals and piston rings my problem goes away.

i'll bet your white smoke was grayish....valve stem seals.,..that fixed me

 

[godheadcustoms]

Before you tear your motor apart, exactly how much smoke are we talking about? You may have answered your own question- if it has been sitting for a year or more I would expect it to blow SOME smoke, leaves, rat turds, and small runaway children out of your tailpipes, however this should clear up in 5-10 minutes of running at a fast idle or a trip or two around the block.If there is ALOT of smoke or it doesn't seem to taper off after a bit of time, then start looking into possibilities. If the engine ran good when it was parked , it's still probably good now. There can be alot of water condensation built up in the engine, carb, fuel lines, etc...Look at new cars on your morning drive tomorrow, most of them will be kicking out quite a bit of white "smoke" in the morning, just burning off condensation from a chilly night.

 

[CobraSix]

Zac hits a good point.

Mine engine runs like a champ. But every 2-3 weeks (remember, I daily drive it, so it isn't related to sitting too long) it will smoke like a son of a #@$$# for 3-4 minutes and clear up. Usually greyish blue smoke, so I know I have oil seeping by somewhere where it just happens to be the position engine stopped in.

Slade

Slade