zachariahZ28

Hey everone, I'm in serious need of some help. I recently bought a 1984 camaro h.o that's been sitting for 10yrs and I've been wanting to get her up and running. I recently changed the oil, full tank of full gas with some b12 additive. Okay now my problem, when I first started her she was fine but the next day the motor would shake uncontrollably, and white smoke keep coming from the exhaust. I thought if I took it on the loop and try and run whatever I had in it out, but didn't work instead it started to loose power going up hill. The next day I changed the plugs and she started right up, but still the white some continuous. And it'll start off thin and non noticeable, but if I take it around the block the smoke will get thicker I honestly hope I don't have to rebuild the engine, and maybe it's something simple but if anyone can shed some light on this situation I would really appreciate it

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Moine sat for a good 8 years in a drive way….you're already more lucky than I was since yours will turn over and start. Mine was locked up.

White smoke, at least on the surface would seem to indicate you are getting water somewhere in the cylinder. Check your oil…if it looks like a milkshake, don't run it anymore. Could be as simple as a leaking intake gasket or as bad as a blown head gasket.

The fact that it gets worse as you drive it would make sense as the water warms up and you start building pressure on the cooling system.

If the oil is OK, you could be running super rich on fuel…regardless it needs to be dealt with.

zachariahZ28

Okay thanks, the first thing I'll do is check the gaskets and hopefully it just needs replacing but thanks on your input, any ideas help at this point

James Sutton

iTrader: (2)

Does your engine have World headers? This has bolt holes that go into the water jacket, on driver's side only. If you have this set up, it may be leaking. If so, you'll have coolant around #1 push rod. The rear bolt, over #7 piston, can be replaced with a stud, but the front can't, as this would prevent other parts from being mounted. The front bolt can be fixed by wrapping bolt tape around it.

blp226

I had the exact issue that your having. 7 years ago I bought a 84 Z/28 H.O. It has been setting for around a decade because the trans was bad. I dropped the tank, and replaced it with a new one, also new fuel pump, new fuel filter, flushed the fuel lines, changed the oil and radiator fluid and a new battery, and fixed the original problem by swapping in another 700R4. To my surprise it fired right up. Less than 30 minutes after actually driving it did the same thing, lots of white smoke! The end result was that I had a blown head gasket...... so I bought a 350 block from a local machine shop and built a 383. LOL Even if your head gasket is blown it's not the end of the world. You can find good running 305s and 350s all day long for not much cash. I just checked craigslist just for my area and there is 8 of them for sale all under 500 bucks. Don't stress.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

It doesn't take but a few minutes to determine if your oil is full of water...or if it smells like gasoline.

If this is an HO car, most likely any replacement 305 you find will be the lower compression type without the 416 heads. Not that the HO is a big powerhouse, but 195HP is more than 150HP like the older LG4 engine has. But you're not to the point of engine replacement yet...until you see what's going on with your existing engine. If it did turn out this engine isn't worth the $$ to fix, then I'd turn to a 350 myself no matter what...

You said you changed the spark plugs...what did the old ones look like? They can tell you a lot sometimes...

jrhaus76

As said, white smoke is water. Blue smoke is oil. And never try to run a car hard to fix a shaking, smoking engine. SMH!

My guess is blown head gasket.

zachariahZ28

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zachariahZ28

Thanks! Glad to hear I'm not the only one, but that's the first thing I'm gonna do is change the head gasket and hopefully that'll be the end of it lol

zachariahZ28

The plugs were pretty black and had a lot of carbon,

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Don't just rip into the thing and change the head gasket!

That's a lot of work if it turned out to be a leaking intake gasket….or a crack in the block…let's hope not, but it's possible.

I'd do a compression check on all cylinders…wouldn't hurt to do a leak-down check too. You also have a pressure check for your radiator. - See what kind of condition this engine is really in before you possibly waste your time and $$.

The plugs being black isn't all that abnormal…not optimal, but by your claim, it's been sitting like….forever. I don't know how cold it gets where you are, but if it didn't have enough anti-freeze in it…you get the idea…

blp226 - Funny…Like yours, my car was parked supposedly due to a bad trans. Only thing that I found wrong with it was the internal linkage was jammed in the trans….it was really fine the whole time. Go figure!

zachariahZ28

Surprisingly when I first got it I popped open the radiator car and it was full of antifreeze, and the coldest its ever really gotten was like 25 degrees so I personally doubt anything is cracked, but what do I know lol. So if the compression is good, you think new gaskets all the way around will do the trick?

zachariahZ28

And the reason mine sat was cause the guy I bought it from had a daughter who couldn't drive standard so they just parked it -.-

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

If the compression is within 10% of one another on all cylinders, I'd look elsewhere....

If you have a blown head gasket, you'll most likely have two adjacent cylinders reading low.

Not sure what you mean by gaskets all around. I just replace leaky ones myself.

Pull the dipstick out of the car and see what the oil looks like already!!

zachariahZ28

Okay I got you, sorry if I'm not making sense I'm only 19 and doing my best to explain lol
But I understand what your trying to get at, thank you for your input everything helps at this point.

Sandbagger52

Any update on this one? It would be interesting to hear what you found...

zachariahZ28

Yea she's running strong now, turns out 2 push rods were broke inside the engine and 2 more rocker arms weren't even getting contact with the rods. Anyhow I took off the manifold a found the rods broken inside, I clean it nice and replaced all the push rods. But one of the rocker arm studs kept coming out of the water jacket, I ended up drilling threw the jacket and stud and stuck a pin in it and it's stayed till this day. After words I slapped everything back on and re timed it, but I had put a clear fuel filter on before it gets to the carb and the gas was rusty and brown. After that I replaced the gas tank and ran like 2 cycles of Sea Foam and it ran great!