Smoke / Exhaust Leak After Rod Bearings (Video)

[JRA2000TL]

Finished up rod bearings on the 89 today...sort of. I had an issue with the portion of the Y-pipe toward the front of the car. I could not get the ****** holes to line up with the studs. I got the rears ok, connected it, and reconnected the spring bolts on the back portion. As a result, the car sounds like it has no exhaust still. I'm going to have to deal with this another day or drive it up to a shop and have them fix that real quick; I'm spent for today.

I cranked it up to make sure all was ok bearing wise. Engine seems ok, but there's smoke coming from the rear VC area. I am aware that both VCGs are leaking heavily and need to be replaced; however, why all this smoke on a cold start? Am I burning up a piston b/c I don't have the exhaust fully connected? Am I burning oil somehow b/c the car is still on jackstands and the oil would be tilted more that direction in the pan? Dumb ?s, I know.

Also, would it hurt the car to drive like that 2 miles to the exhaust shop and have them line up the ****** and screw the nuts on the studs? None are broken. One stud looks a bit crooked; not sure what the deal is.

Here's the video

http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n10/jasarisi/?action=view&current=SHOexhaust.mp4

 

[-DVP-]

drop y pipe. Try again.

Also remember you have oil and shit all over from handling it.

 

[SHOVNST]

Difficult to determine from the video's sound but a large exhaust leak is my first guess.....

 

[JRA2000TL]

Someone just told me the smoke is b/c I caked the studs with anti-seize. Didn't think about that. I don't wanna drop that Y pipe again, but I guess I have to.....another day. Sore, and beat the **** up from working on this thing. Hands are all cut up and I smashed the shit out of my right index finger.

 

[St Louis SHO]

loosen all 4 bolts while its running, re adjust the pipe and tighten...

 

[K-Dawg]

When I put the Y-pipe back on, I get all the nuts on all the studs and leave everything loose. Then slowly go around tightening things while making sure things stay lined up correctly.

With the car running, feel around the exhaust connections for the leak. Try to do it before it gets too hot.

 

[JRA2000TL]

When I put the Y-pipe back on, I get all the nuts on all the studs and leave everything loose. Then slowly go around tightening things while making sure things stay lined up correctly.

With the car running, feel around the exhaust connections for the leak. Try to do it before it gets too hot.

It was all on the very front side near the oil filter...one of the studs looked a little crooked, so it wouldn't line up with the ****** hole. The rears were on tight as well as the rear spring bolts. Just having a **** of a time with one of those front studs lining up. I'm leery to try to bend it so it goes through the hole--don't want to snap it. Then again, it came off ok so it's gotta go back on.

I'll remove the 2 back studs and try to re-line it up sometime this week. Car runs fine, but I found a small oil pan leak somewhere above the starter. :cuss: I'll deal with that later on; just a drop here and there....I'll pull the starter and cake some RTV around the area later on. Just wanna be done with it for now.

 

[SHOhopefull]

Don't feel bad Jeremy, I had no leaks till I had to take the pan back off LOL now the front leaks a bit.

 

[SHOtimer]

When I put the Y-pipe back on, I get all the nuts on all the studs and leave everything loose. Then slowly go around tightening things while making sure things stay lined up correctly.

With the car running, feel around the exhaust connections for the leak. Try to do it before it gets too hot.

This.

Doug

 

[itwonder]

When I put the Y-pipe back on, I get all the nuts on all the studs and leave everything loose.

x2. Loosen everything up, then try to get flanges one the studs. Don't tighten anything until after all are started.

 

[JRA2000TL]

I'm going to have to pry on the ****** or gently tap one of the studs so it goes through the hole. It just needs to move about 2-3mm and it will clear it..can't figure out why it won't line up though.

 

[K-Dawg]

So you only have one bolt on the front? No wonder you have a leak.

One of the rear studs was bent on my green car. Stick the nut on the end of the stud so you don't damage the threads, and beat it back into place. I might have also used the closed end of a wrench as leverage to pull it back into place.

 

[JRA2000TL]

So you only have one bolt on the front? No wonder you have a leak.

One of the rear studs was bent on my green car. Stick the nut on the end of the stud so you don't damage the threads, and beat it back into place. I might have also used the closed end of a wrench as leverage to pull it back into place.

This is the exact problem I have and I will try this method.

Here's my long story of **** I've had with this job (issues I didn't have on the 95). First, whomever changed the starter before didn't remove that worthless bracket, but instead, bent it out of the way and left it bolted on. Well, even with my air ratchet, the bolt holding it on was stuck. I had to bend it so I could remove the exhaust, then had **** putting the starter back in because it was in the way, yet again, so I had to beat the snot out of it and bend it once more. If I had an air chisel or a sawzall, I'd have cut that bastard off. Starter re-install was where I almost took my finger off.

Then, for some reason, my motor mount was in the way of the oil pan slightly. I had to remove the long bolt out of it and use a pry bar and pry the ears of it back to get the pan loose. Then the long bolt (bottom bolt) wouldn't go back in because the mount was slightly bent. Still had the 2 nuts on it toward the front..and it's reinforced and bolted to the frame--**** it's not going anywhere, screw it. Left that 1 bolt out. Had to pry on the mount a bit to get the oil pan to clear it and fit back into place.

Third was the exhaust issue combined with a slight oil pan leak.

Oh yeah, fourth....got the oil pan on and found that the gasket on the front of the engine side bowed out and didn't seat correctly. No way I was ripping that pan off again. I cut the gasket and RTV'd the snot out of it; no leaks noticed thus far. :cuss: Nothing is easy when I work on these cars.

 

[K-Dawg]

Then, for some reason, my motor mount was in the way of the oil pan slightly. I had to remove the long bolt out of it and use a pry bar and pry the ears of it back to get the pan loose. Then the long bolt (bottom bolt) wouldn't go back in because the mount was slightly bent. Still had the 2 nuts on it toward the front..and it's reinforced and bolted to the frame--**** it's not going anywhere, screw it. Left that 1 bolt out. Had to pry on the mount a bit to get the oil pan to clear it and fit back into place.

Third was the exhaust issue combined with a slight oil pan leak.

Oh yeah, fourth....got the oil pan on and found that the gasket on the front of the engine side bowed out and didn't seat correctly. No way I was ripping that pan off again. I cut the gasket and RTV'd the snot out of it; no leaks noticed thus far. :cuss: Nothing is easy when I work on these cars.

I'm not sure I understand the motor mount issue. I thought it was the cast iron motor mount bracket that overhangs the oil pan lip slightly. You just have to maneuver the pan around it. I'm not sure what bolt you couldn't get back in, but all of them are there for a reason. I would make sure you can get all of them back in.

As for the oil pan gasket, since you are going be under there messing with the Y-pipe anyway, I would fix it right. That crap is going to leak. I use a little RTV to hold the gaskets up in their grooves on the bottom of the engine while I install the pan.

 

[turbo79]

Someone just told me the smoke is b/c I caked the studs with anti-seize. Didn't think about that. I don't wanna drop that Y pipe again, but I guess I have to.....another day. Sore, and beat the **** up from working on this thing. Hands are all cut up and I smashed the shit out of my right index finger.

Sounds like you need one of those t-shirts from SHOSource that read:

I gave blood today: I worked on my SHO...

 

[JRA2000TL]

I'm not sure I understand the motor mount issue. I thought it was the cast iron motor mount bracket that overhangs the oil pan lip slightly. You just have to maneuver the pan around it. I'm not sure what bolt you couldn't get back in, but all of them are there for a reason. I would make sure you can get all of them back in.

As for the oil pan gasket, since you are going be under there messing with the Y-pipe anyway, I would fix it right. That crap is going to leak. I use a little RTV to hold the gaskets up in their grooves on the bottom of the engine while I install the pan.

I couldn't get the pan to maneuver around the mount bracket without prying it back a bit. After I pried on it, the bracket was slightly bent causing the bolt holes to be a little out of alignment. I'm sure I could take awhile and try to bend it back, but I didn't.

Ironically, it's not leaking where I cut part of the new gasket off and RTV'd it. It's leaking where the pan meets the block dead center above the starter (of course, where you can't get to it w/o pulling the starter again). Seems like I should just be able to RTV around the leak area (since that area isn't covered by a "pan gasket" anyway).

I got lazy toward the end after being sore, cut up, smashed finger, and filthy. Guess I will be crawling under there again this week to do a little patch up work.