Oh Boy!

[ricksmol]

Started my '89 this morning. I have owned it for 13 years never had a real problem. Looked in the rear view mirror and see white smoke. I figure it is cold . Let it warm up, smoke gets thicker. Tried to drive it around the block, and plumes of white smoke followed the car. Looked like a NASCAR car blowing an engine.

Now the smoke is white and does not smell like oil. I am assuming coolant. The engine runs smooth and nice does not overheat. Liquid drips down from the exhaust tips, also from the mufflers and joints in the pipes.

I am thinking blown head gasket, but checked the the oil and saw no coolant, checked the radiator and see no oil. Plus the engine doesn't miss or feel strange.

Anybody knows if there are some water hoses inside the intake manifold that might have broken or come loose? This could cause the manifold to suck in coolant into the combustion chamber.

I am really sad after 13 years I finally have a problem I babied this one all the way. Only have 88K on it. I will appreciate any ideas or responses. Thanks
Rick frown

<small>[ November 26, 2002, 09:16 PM: Message edited by: ricksmol ]</small>

 

[Rob94]

Blown head gaskets don't necessarily mean contamination of oil or coolant. Without asphyxiating yourself, smell the smoke. Is it sweet smelling?? Check your coolant level. Compression test will tell you for sure. Good luck.

 

[shojuan]

Coolant will destroy your cats. I know this doesn't help but it's something to keep in mind if it turns out your engine is ingesting coolant, you might need to replace the cats when you're done with the repair.

Not sure if the silicate free coolants will destroy the cats but the silicates in the green stuff will for sure.

Good luck, sorry

The other Rick

edit: if the coolant destroys your cats it will destroy your O2 sensors too. frown

<small>[ November 26, 2002, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: shojuan ]</small>

 

[SHOtimer]

My old car an '88 Olds Cutlass..did this...thick white smoke, oil was fine, and coolant was fine, but ran like a charm = blown head gasket. Sorry to be negative, but I have been through this before, only took me 2 weeks to have it up and running properly again (white smoke free), but that was a far far simpler engine than the SHO, hope I'm not right about the head gastket, good luck
Doug

 

[BeatDaSHO]

i highly doubt it's your head gasket. do a leak test and find out. but i doubt it's the head gasket. i have seen only 1 guy on this forum that had to replace his.

Greg

 

[jthomas68]

It does sound like a typical head gasket.They don`t go often,but it is known to happen.Look into it more bofre continuing to drive it.The SHO heads can`t be milled more than.003",so if there is any significant warping,they`ll need to be replaced.

 

[BeatDaSHO]

are you using synthetic oil?

Greg

 

[Lurch]

Out of curiousity, what would synthetic oil have to do with it? I ask because I am debating between synthetic and petrol-based when I change the oil in my 91 SHO, but I don't know what oil is in it now. (I've only had it a month, and got it from a dealer so I don't know what kind is in it now).

 

[jthomas68]

You only really want to run synthetic if you`ev done it since new.If you change now at 75k miles,it`s possible you`ll develop leaks.

 

[BeatDaSHO]

i'm asking because a white/greyish smoke coming from the exhaust can mean that oil is leaking past the rings or valves. synthetic oil is a lot thinner and therefore can get past easier. just a thought.

Greg

 

[ricksmol]

I am not running synthetic oil. To go back to my original question is there any way that coolant could be sucked in from the intake manifold?
Rick

 

[Rob94]

Well, the throttle body has coolant lines running to it to prevent icing in cold weather. I suppose if the throttle body was cracked??? In other words, no.

 

[ricksmol]

Well, what was coming out of the exhaust was not coolant. It was burning oil. Big plumes of it.
I opened her up and took a look at the rear (right head) because I heard a chain noise coming from the driver's side of the engine in that head.

Suprisingly, it all looks good and clean to me. All the sparkplugs are clean, and as I mentioned the motor ran smooth as butter. I did find what at first look seems to be a crack in the casting right under the cam sprocket.

Now I am wondering if oil is not seeping from that crack into what seems to be a EGR/knock sensor/exhaust related assy underneath that area of the casting and going straight thru to the exhaust and burning up in the cat when it gets hot. Because when the car is cold no smoke comes out. Which does not make sense if it was being burnt in the combustion chamber.Also the plugs are really clean.

This gets more and more fun. I might have to go all the way and remove the head.

Question....if it is a crack in the casting can this be fixed with D & B metal epoxy?

I'll try to keep using the collective knowledge of this forum to see if I can figure this one out. And there sure is a lot of knowledge here!
Thanks
Rick

<small>[ November 29, 2002, 07:39 PM: Message edited by: ricksmol ]</small>

 

[jthomas68]

I had a friend whose wife hit the engine of his FZR 1000 with a hammer(they got divorced a few days later ).It craked the block bad enough that oil would pour out.He globbed JB Weld on the crack,and it held for over 4 years,and probably still is.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Just for future reference, another way to tell if the head gasket is bad is to hook up a vacuum gauge to the car. If the gauge jumps rhythmically, but is otherwise steady, it indicates a bad head gasket.