ok, it's VERY light, just goes past the tip of the exhaust, it's not like it's really smoking, and i get a lot of condensation on warm up... and my coolant seems to be going somewhere as i keep filling it up.. i am personally thinking intake gasket, we reused the old one and i'm not sure it sealed very well because of it. I'm going to change it tonight. i've heard horror stories of cracked blocks, and bad head gaskets, BUT... the engine runs FINE no problems at all other than this little white puff like maybe an inch past the exhaust tip... someone posted a thread here that had a picture of his.. it was kind of billowing out.. i could take pictures and a video of this if anyone wanted me to ... but you'd probably never see it on camera, i might try.. i got a new intake gasket already.. and i'm planning on putting it in tonight.. what's the best way to tell if i have a cracked block? i know i'm not leaking oil or anything ... engine runs strong as hell.. any ideas?
If you're losing coolant and have white smoke on one side...I would suspect a small head gasket leak on that side. There is a kit you can buy to check for exhasut gases in your coolant from eastwood tool, I don't know where else you could get one, but they are out there. A pro shop should have something similar but I am quite down on the run of the mill pro mechanic and would suggest that you only take the car to someone who understands old cars and respects your car as well if you go that route. You could also have a small leak in a hose or somesuch that evaporates as you drive so no drip shows up, and coincidentally your carb is rich on one side. A UV trace could tell you about the cracked block- dye goes in the oil or coolant and a blacklight is shined on the engine. Jim W. had some great pics of that setup a while ago. I doubt your block is cracked though.
I had a bad head gasket with smoke on one side... Here's a pic That was at its worst. I have a feeling it started pretty light, since it had been doing it for a while, judging by the look of the cylinder when I pulled the head. Try the intake gasket. If you can see where it was leaking, then you probably have your culprit. If not,......:gt:
oh, forgot to tell why i really thought the intake gasket was to blame.. one of the bolts came loose, and coolant leaked into one of the valleys on the top of the intake between the left side back 2 runners... we tightened it but i am highly doubting it sealed right to begin with... hopefully it's not the head gasket as that could be a whole lot of fun to replace while the engine is in the car... *sigh* i'll figure it out and post some pictures before and after to hopefully help anyone else who has this problem..
ok, here's some pictures of the smoke... the best i could get ... it's so faint like i said, the camera couldn't pick it up as it only comes about an inch out of the tailpipe... i have some video that shows it better, besides, you can hear just how the exhaust sounds on my car.. it's pretty nice, i like it. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/unlogikal/ExhaustSmoke/ if you click and it opens a page full of empty garbage, go back, and right click, save file as and save it somewhere... the one video with talking is me telling my mom to step on it a little lol, my dad would help me but he's on a trip in a uhaul to arizona moving my grandma ... either way, as you can see it's not THAT bad, but other people have commented on it as i drive down the road in front of them at rolling cruises... so.. i'd say something is up...
It looks like its coming from both sides.... Which I would lean towards the intake gasket, since the exhaust gases cross over each side in the intake to heat the choke. But it does look worse on the right side. Is this where the suspected intake gasket leak is?
ya, as odd as this sounds, the leak was on the driver side... and tonight it was worse yet... argh... i still haven't ripped the intake off as my mom thought it would be good to clean my garage just before i started.. instead of simply moving a few things, she had to move EVERYTHING... so i just gave up and said screw it i'll do it later... but ya, it was the left side doing it.. but now it's both... starting to really kinda piss me off... it was only running for about 4 or 5 minutes though when i took those last shots
Have you changed the head gaskets before? Or are they still 1970 vintage?:gt: If you have changed them, then I would not concentrate on head gaskets. Intake is easy to change. Start there! Also check the vacuum modulator on the Transmission as it might be spitting tranny fluid into the intake and causing the smoke. Also check the heater control valve vacuum hose. It may be leaking coolant into the vacuum system. Those are the 2 easiest things to check. Otherwise, you're gonna have to tear into the motor one way or another. At least you don't have to pull heads to swap the intake... I hated that job. I swear those things weigh 80lbs a piece...try lifting those out of the car with no leverage. My back hurts just thinking about it:shock:
the engine was rebuilt, and they're new gaskets, about a year old... should be fine i hope... like i said, she runs great, aside from the smoke... it just seemed like it was running really rich tonight too... you could smell it... where are those hoses located? and the modulator for the tranny? i'm unfamiliar with them...
The vacuum modulator is a bulbus looking thing sticking out of the transmission on the right side. It has a metal line running to the intake manifold behind the carb. It's $10 at the parts store. If you're lucky, they'll be able to tell you how to install it. It basically just slips in. The heater control valve is in-line of the heater hoses coming out of the heater core in the firewall. The control valve is usually located next to the AC compressor and looks like a circle-deal thing with the heater hose going into the intake manifold and the firewall. Let me see if I can dig up a picture. On the control valve, there is a small vacuum hose attached to it going to the vacuum block onthe firewall. If you find coolant in this line, then replace the heater control valve.
Here;'s a pic of my car... The heater control valve is the brass looking thing above the AC compressor. HTH
no coolant in the heater control valve... pulled it off and nothin.. just a lot of air being released...
