I'm Stumped!

[NotoriousSAD01]

I finally got my 89 SHO back and I was so excited to drive it. WEll I went to start it up and the battery was completly dead. Well I figured that was just normal after sitting so long, so i jump started it. After I jump started it, It started right up and sounded good and healthy but white smoke was PILING out of the exhaust, i let it run for a couple of minutes to see if the smoke would go away but it didnt. So i killed it and checked the oil. And the Oil is overfull with Gas is what it smells like. and the oil is REAlly thin! I figured maybe the smoke would be a blown head gasket cuz it seems like i've been losing for coolant for awhile now. But I'm completely stumped about the gas in the oil pan, and I'm not really sure about the smoke either. O, and I almost forgot, My battery wont stay charged. I have to jump-start it everytime i want to start it! Its really frustrating. Its my only way of transportation and any input is GREATLY appreciated. I need to get it back on the road.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[Randall]

White smoke almost always is water getting into the cylinders, as it is steam. Sounds like you already knew that though, seems like head gasket repair is imminent. Have you changed anything with the intake or heads recently?

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

No, The only thing I've done with it is taken the intake manifold off. But I didnt replace the gaskets b/c I thought I would just replace them if there seemed to be a leak in there, but surely that would have nothing to do with it?

 

[kevingotashotoo]

removing the intake would have nothing to do with smoke,maybe you have a coolant leak,when antifreeze smokes it is white(if im not mistaken)

 

[Shoaz]

If it were me the first thing I'd do is change the oil and try again, depending on what comes out with the oil. Did you have the valve covers off? If so and you spilled anything on or around the heads (even to clean them) it could have made it into the oil pan pretty easily.

 

[PAracer]

Did you have any trouble getting the engine to run? You may have had excess gas wash down the cylinder walls and into the pan.

Is the oil real brown like a chocolate shake, or the antifreeze in the radiator oil slicked? Those are signs of a bad head gasket.

My recomendation is to change the oil and givee it another shot.

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

Well...When my car initially broke down. I did have trouble starting it and it probably did flood it. But since then I have changed the oil. And ran it 2 or 3 times after I had that trouble. I checked the oil to see if it looked chocalety as you said. But it just looks like fresh clean oil, but very thin....and a STRONG smell of gas. I did check the radiator too and It didnt seem to have an oily substance to it either. Any more ideas?

 

[PAracer]

Well, your head gaskets are fine. The fact that the oil and antifreeze look fine is a sign of that.

The only ways for gas to get into the oil is by draining past the piston rings, or by going up through dried out valve stem seals.

Perhaps the gas in the tank has gone bad. Would you be able to do a compression check (both wet and dry)? That would help narrow things down a bit.

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

ok, I take that back. The Coolant does seem to be a bit oily. So I confirmed that the smoke is the head gasket. But what about the gas in the oil pan?

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

Ahh Ok, I never though of that. I'll try to get a compression test done on it.

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

Any ideas on how much a head gasket replacement would run me in a shop?

 

[NoSlo]

You can have a leakdown test performed by a shop, but of course driving the car there would be sketchy - at least change the oil first. The leakdown test pressurizes the cylinder through the spark plug hole and then will test if a cylinder is leaky, and you can see if bubbles come out of the coolant (head gasket), if there is a pressure leak between adjacent cylinders (head gasket), if it is hissing into the intake or exhaust (burnt/bad valve), or if the hissing can be heard/measured through the oil filler cap (bad/broken/stuck ring). Since there are no pushrod passages in our head gaskets, the only cylinder to crankcase oil leak possible in the head gasket would be through the two oil drainback holes, which would be a rare one.

 

[PAracer]

At this point, you could find a 3.2 to swap in. A complete 3.2 should run 4-500, plus a few maintenance items form around $200. You should be out the door for $1500 if you go to a reputable shop. Or try the swap yourself to save a few hundred. How many mile are on the current engine? Please say over 200k...

 

[SASHO91]

**** it better have 500k....

or the PO did some bad bad things with that car....

 

[Dan Werling]

Just an idea

This is just an idea to consider, if maybe its not your headgaskets. From experience at the Ford dealer, your coolant may just be aged, im not sure if you may have recently flushed it or anything, but many many cars I see there with higher mileage just have funky coolant (old) and it smells and usually looks dirty/oily, even on a "healthy engine"--A car that runs normally. One thing you could try is take a small sample of the coolant and put it in a small clear bottle and let it settle out over night or something, by the morning the oil should have settled to the bottom. Also, when you start it and this smoke is coming out of the tail pipes, does it continue to do it for an extended time, or does it eventually go away and the car runs fine? Another thing, next time if you try to start it, try and put your hand behind one of the mufflers, see if you hand gets wet (steam). But dont be mistaken, you will have a little bit of steam at initial start up on most any engine due to condensation build up in the exhaust system, if say the car sets over night or so. But see if the steamy exhaust continues for a while. My old 90 used to smoke like crazy on start up after you would let it sit, and it had bad valve stem seals, gaskets were fine. I hope maybe this gives you some reassurance and another opinion. 1 More thought, somebody correct me if I may be wrong, could a fuel injector possibly be stuck open, causing a fuel washed cylinder and also possibly the battery drain?

Best of luck :wave:

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

You really need to consider what has already been said and change the oil. Its your cheapest first approach.

You said the coolant felt oily. Note, that the coolant has lubricants in it. Oily coolant from a blown HG is loaded with black and is really really gunky. Understand that the SHO Headgaskets are not something that blow often. It usually needs to see some major abuse to blow one.

The gas smell could easily be a non-firing cylinder.

Change the oil and filter then get back to us after you start it back up.

 

[ohfosho]

is it possible that you have any enemy??? and that someone poured gas in your oil fill? deffinetly change the oil and filter before running again...then go from there

 

[NotoriousSAD01]

Ok, I DID already change the oil once. And the same thing happend. I just have really thin oil that smells like gas. And I realy dont think that anyone poured fuel into my oil. And also, I just recently changed the antifreeze, but I didnt flush it. After letting the coolant sit over nite It did seem like there was oil sittin at the bottom of the container but it wasnt very black or gunky. But the coolant has only been in there for 3 min of running time since I've changed it so that could be the explaination of the coolant not being black or gunky. I havent however had the chance to check the exhuast for condensation yet.

 

[DHMag]

oil floats, residuals sink.

im gonna agree with Dan, stuck fuel injector.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

oil floats, residuals sink.

im gonna agree with Dan, stuck fuel injector.

And this is something that is easily checked by starting the car and putting a long screwdriver or mechanics stethiscope on the base of each fuel injector. You can hear each fuel injector clicking in harmony at idle. The one that is stuck or misbehaving will sound way different than the others.