smoke

[krgoodman]

Help please! last week I got in my '85 cranked her up and i thought i heard a "crack". I took off down the road and noticed white smoke pouring from the exhaust. I looked at my temp.(250) i shut the car down, let it cool down some it's never ran hot before. i suspect a cracked head (cast-iron). a guy at a local garage said it could be something minor. should i tow it or buy new heads (130,000mi.)?!
thanks, kevin

 

[C4Tom]

Probably more likely a gasket than the head. Did you check to see if there was coolant in the block? Check the dipstick for foam, high oil level, or water.

If you do get new head gaskets installed... go ahead and get the heads milled flat. It'll increase the compression a bit and make the new gasket last longer if the head is warped. Iron heads don't warp like aluminum heads but it does occur.

 

[krgoodman]

Probably more likely a gasket than the head. Did you check to see if there was coolant in the block? Check the dipstick for foam, high oil level, or water.

If you do get new head gaskets installed... go ahead and get the heads milled flat. It'll increase the compression a bit and make the new gasket last longer if the head is warped. Iron heads don't warp like aluminum heads but it does occur.

oil level is good, i noticed coolant under the car last nite on the driveway near my drivers side head.
no foam no apparrant water in the oil, i'm gonna drain some oil into a jar and inspect it.
i hope you are right and i need a gasket only....i'll replace both.
thanks very much for your quick response. i'm all ears. lord help me get the vettester goin' again...amen

 

[Moonunit 451]

If you feel comfortable, tear into it and find the problem. You can always have it towed if you need to. Can you tell where it's leaking from? may only be a hose or a water punp or something if there's no coolant in the oil.

I would pressurize the system with a pump if you can't readily detect the souce of the leak and go from there. You'll find it. You don't really want to leave the coolant in the cylinders too long, and with that many miles be happy it isn't in the lower end.

 

[C4Tom]

After reading Moonunit's post... made me think.

Hearing the 'crack' could have been a hose busting and blowing coolant on the exhaust manifold. Or... could be a freeze plug in the head 'popped' out. Before spending the $$$, try tracking down the leak yourself. At least you should have it narrowed down to an area with the coolant on the floor.

 

[WhalePirot]

Hearing the 'crack' could have been a hose busting and blowing coolant on the exhaust manifold. Or... could be a freeze plug in the head 'popped' out. Before spending the $$$, try tracking down the leak yourself. At least you should have it narrowed down to an area with the coolant on the floor.

Grape minds....

Add water and look for leaks, first w/o the engine running, then, and only after careful inspection; maybe a crank/no start, I'd have someone start it and be ready to shut it off immediately, while I was looking again. I'd prefer to pull the plugs and check for coolant, first, if the tailpipes were wet or if U R sure the white 'smoke' was coming from the exhaust.

Did this event occur right after starting, or did it take a while?

 

[Lninety8]

You might want to perfrom a radiator pressure test. You can get the kit at any auto parts. Attatch to your radiator and manually pump, this will build up water pressure and you should be able to see where any leaks may be coming from. Probably a good 1st step.

Good Luck!

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah we did that with my brothers car, to find the manifold gasket leak. I would definetly do that, before running the car anymore. Coolant can mess many things up in the motor. Definetly get it fixed asap. I have had bad experiences with coolant, and bearings...