[2low4me]

Been so busy I forgot to ask about this.

My 84 with a 360 was blowing white smoke before I put it into storage. Seemed to be running fine with decent power.

It seemed to be worse right after I started it and slowly goes away, but not totally, as it warms up.

It also smells like it was running a little rich, you could smell a little gas odor at the tailpipes.

So I was dreading a bad head gasket, but the white smoke was coming equally out of each tailpipe, and its got true duals. I'd be pretty pissed if I had two bad head gaskets!

I don't recall any coolant in the oil, I did an oil change and don't remember seeing any seperation.

There is a tiny external coolant leak that I haven't tracked down. I stored my truck on a sheet of plastic and there is a tiny pool under it. Never even noticed it when it was parked on pavement.

So anywho, any ideas on the white smoke? There's not much I can do now because the truck is in storage, but looking for ideas.

 

[acton mike]

a cracked head allowing coolant into the intake manifold would see coolant finding its way into both banks of cylinders

 

[w100 360ci]

does it only do it when you start it and when its cold and warm...it could be the valve guides

 

[NeDodgeguy]

I had bad valve seals and it would blow blue smoke out of my old Diplomat. Replaced all 16 of them and it fixed that. But I'd think valve seals or guides as w100 stated would be more of a blue than white.

White usually is coolant related.

 

[77Utiline]

If the head gasket is leaking into the exhaust manifolds etc. it will sometimes do the same thing. Basically what happens is the coolant or H2O pools in the down pipes of the exhaust after seeping past the manifold gaskets when you fire it up the hot exhaust vaporizes the liquid and creates steam. Or the manifold mounting studs leaking into the exhaust is another possibility. A good "rule of thumb" is water is just like electricity in how it flows it will ALWAYS find the path of least resistance. Also as far as smoke goes: WHITE = WATER
BLUE = OIL
BLACK = RAW FUEL
PINK (yes it happens) = AUTO TRANSMISSION FLUID (but not with MOPARS)

 

[2low4me]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

There's not much I can do with the truck in storage for now. It's real cramped in the garage and no electricity.

What kind of test can I do for a cracked head or bad head gasket?

Would a compression test tell me anything?

Is there anyway the little pool on the ground could be from the head/head gasket, or is that a little overboard? I'm pretty sure none of the hoses are leaking, its definetely dry up on the intake manifold. Could be the water pump or outboard header bolts too I suppose.

 

[77Utiline]

Pressurizing your cooling system will show leaks if they're external. There is a very handy little gadget you can purchase from most tool houses. Basically its kind of like CSI. You pop the radiator cap and place this little "sniffer" in the throat of your radiator. There are a couple of chemicals you add into the checker and the fluid changes colors to let you know if there is any CO in your cooling system. There are also test strips that do the same thing.

 

[Dodgevanman]

Does the white smoke have a "sweet" smell to it? Are you loosing coolant out of the radiator?

You say that it slowly goes away as it warms up. This kinda tells me that it's steam being emitted from the tailpipes in cooler weather. This is totally normal.

 

[acton mike]

antifreeze/coolant is a mixture of water and ethylene glycol.

when ethylene glycol burns in the combustion chamber, it creates huge amounts of white smoke; much thicker and denser that the white steam or condensation that comes from the tail pipe of an engine in cold weather

and, it has a sweet smell; what I call a maple bacon smell - very easy to detect

A cylinder leak down test is a good way to detect a head gasket leak or a cracked cylinder head

 

[2low4me]

Does the white smoke have a "sweet" smell to it? Are you loosing coolant out of the radiator?

You say that it slowly goes away as it warms up. This kinda tells me that it's steam being emitted from the tailpipes in cooler weather. This is totally normal.

I don't remember it having a sweet smell, and now that I really think about it, it might not have been white smoke.

Perhaps it was just steam. It sounds whacky, but it was either a tiny bit of white smoke or a decent amount of steam. I definetely don't remember white smoke drifting through the air. It would vanish pretty quick.

And it's hard to tell if I was loosing coolant out of the radiator because I took the header off to put in a new starter and lost some coolant, then added some, and then put in a new thermostat. So the level was changing as I added some after changing parts. Def have a small external leak though.

I'll have to check the level this weekend (truck isn't at my house).

Thank a bunch for the help guys! I realize it's hard to diagnos this stuff with the truck off the road.

 

[Speed Dragon]

Sounds like normal condensation smoke.