Justin93

like the title says, Whenever i turn my vehicle on white smoke comes out, no its not blue its WHITE.
Its more common to occur during the first startup of the day.

This is what happened,
Ex-Gf and Ex-Bf(former 5 years prior to incident) decided to fu** with my car and they poured Lighter fluid and god knows what into my gas tank.
It could easily be just lighter fluid as thats what what they left next to my car.


Anyways, im concerned of the smoke at startup and its the only damage they did that still exists with the vehicle.

I was going to put in a crate motor, new trans, new rear end+baer brakes, and new Borla Exhaust (trying to get a true dual X pipe setup).
Current its the 305 HO 5.0 4 speed automatic w/OD, 10 bolt 2.73 on drums.
Stock Iron cast Manifolds, Y-Pipe to Single Flowmaster40 to dual turn downs.
Definetly either rocking the turn downs or getting the exhaust set before/after my axle (suggestions?)

This question may be out of place but its something thats been bugging me, at this rate i as might as well get them together in a garage and smoke em out with the crap they put into my baby.

BUT before any of that happens i am still unsure of how to diagnose this issue and fix it and its crucial as the smoke enters the cabin every startup !

If anyone can chime in it would be very appreciated!

Thanks

Z28/ZR1

Generally, smoke at start up means that your valve guide seals are worn. Smoke from worn guide seals may appear white, but it's oil burning. When the seals are worn, oil gets past them and runs down the valves and drips on top of the piston. As soon as you start the car, that oil is burnt. Reason why it's more common at first start up, is because enough oil has had enough time to run down the valves. When I say enough oil, I mean just a couple of drops if even that. More then just a couple of drops would create a huge smoke cloud.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Dont worry about some lighter fluid in the gas tank. Top off with premium and you will be fine. I ran an old honda 125 fourwheeler 4 miles one time on coleman lantern fuel to get me back to the house, lol.

I agree that it is just the normal valve seal smoke.

naf

iTrader: (7)

White smoke at start up is usually water vapor. Water, a natural byproduct of combustion, will condense within the exhaust system. As the system heats up this water begins to vaporize and appear as white 'smoke'. To check it you can hold your hand in the smoke and feel the moisture.

It is not normal for it to produce copious amounts of vapor at every start up but it can exacerbated by environmental conditions (temperature/humidity) or failure to bring the motor and exhaust system to full operating temperature before shut down.

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

I also think if it's white smoke, it's likely water vapor from somewhere. In summer time, I wouldn't expect you would see much from condensation in the exhaust system. It would be much more likely in the winter time. What does the smoke smell like? Water vapor from the exhaust won't have much of a smell to it other than the normal slightly rich startup exhaust smell. If your getting coolant or oil into the cylinders, you should be able to tell by the smell of ether burning anti-freeze or oil.

Z28/ZR1

There's a tool you can use in order to eliminate water/coolant as the source from an internal leak, by pressurizing the system.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Yes, there's tool for that...a radiator pressure tester...basically a tool that screws onto where the radiator cap goes with a pressure gage on it. You pump pressure into your rad and cooling system to about where the lift pressure on printed on your rad cap...15 or 18 PSI. Then you see if it holds that pressure. If it doesn't, you'll either see where the leak is externally, or if you don't..most likely an internal leak into a cylinder (bad head gasket) or something else (cracked block)...

There's also test strips you can get to dip into the radiator water while it's running to see if there's combustion gases getting into the cooling system...

I doubt you have that issue though. If you are going low on coolant and you have nothing leaking externally...and your oil looks like a milk shake....maybe.

Smoke on startup is bad valve seals 90% of the time. Pretty common actually, and not a big deal unless it gets to a point in which it continues to smoke while running....you only mentioned a puff of smoke on startup though.

I doubt it's water vapor either if it's just a puff of smoke, then it stops. All condensate in the exhaust piping isn't all going to just disappear in an instant.

If the smoke is getting into the drivers compartment, you have an exhaust leak...separate issue.

IrocRoadRacer

It's called the bowtie salute!

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

White smoke can be excessive fuel in one of the cylinders. Sounds like leaking injectors or carb if carbed. If you ever seen a stuck injector or a broke regular spraying tons of fuel in intake amd getting into cylinder, it comes out very white.

Oil is bluish or grayish and definately has a smell to it.



And to be clear, you knew they messed with the car when you found a container of lighter fluid next to gas tank and you stillll started car up anyway??? Not even drain the tank first???

Justin93

Thanks for all the replies i would reply to each one of your posts but i don't think anyone would want to read all that as much as i would.

So, im pretty sure its not water vapor as when i start my 93 k15 with free flow exhaust in the mornings/first time of the day i do see small clouds of white/clear smoke coming out with barely any rich smell but it is still present.

As for my camaro.. I start it up and i can visually see the smoke come from behind my car and get carried away with the wind (like a shopping bag getting caught in the wind draft lol)
It smells foul, like if i smell it for more then 7 seconds i might die from internal complications.
No pun intended.

It runs well, and only smokes at startup and actually was told at heavy acceleration a little bit of smoke will come out of from the turn downs of my car.

Im putting in a crate motor and have another motor in my garage so i just wanted to know the problem so when i pull it out i can repair and either use it for a sand rail build or just sell it ( i know they're not that desirable or valuable but hey, 8 pistons mothafu*** )

I just pressure tested my truck;Radiator failed. compression was spot on to oem specs.

Ill have to test my camaro then to see if i don't have a blown gasket/block.. If i do ill just repair it outside the car after i get my motor.

So what it sounds like to me is the oil is running down the valve seals to the top of the piston and at startup the little oil that is on the pistons is getting burnt away immediately creating the white smoke with foul odor.

Correct?

And orr89irocz its TBI so it may be possible but i inspect my car after every drive hood and under carriage i check under my snorkel/filter often. Nothing wrong with the 2 injectors, my tbi looks like it could use a good cleaning and deburring though.
nothing i would worry about until i get the engine out as im more focused on milking the mpg out of it while i can as i've been saving up for motor and complete interior job done by COVERGIRL here on TGO.
I Must admit, she has some compassionate understanding and willful advice so anyone seeking any interior work i'd definetly suggest her services. Plus you can check her work on lethalinteriors.com for yourself

i emptied out the entire fuel system with hand pump - that was fun. Then i added fuel stabil with a 1/4 tank of gas. killed it then refilled the gas as usual.

I love my car, paid for it all myself, all the parts, insurance, gas, headaches, long nights and cuts and blood. even all the repairs from the damages they did.

Im pretty sure it's not the water vapor while that is a true and good thing to point out so there's no confusion.

My oil is fine, my coolant is getting a little poopy so ill be checking that out followed by the pressure testing, compression, Throttle body inspection.



So it seems like my valve seals have given out (potentially) and what would be the best way to address/fix this problem?

Just asking this now so after i inspect my car i can have a better idea of whats going on.

And for another reference - with my current pretty much stock Gearing/motor/trans/driveline other than suspension/brakes what is other fellow 91 RS's getting for Gas mileage? I've got 215 or 275 for a full tank (poor picture quality can't tell if its a 1 or 7 lol) is this normal? Below/over average?

Mostly city miles with some light freeway traveling on nothing over 30-40 miles on free way

Just want to take all factors into consideration, appreciate all the great informative responses.

naf

iTrader: (7)

Check your mileage by

1) fill it up completely
2) note the current mileage
3) drive until next fill up
4) refill it completely
5) note new mileage and gallons put in tank
6) divide the difference in mileage (miles driven since last fill up) by the gallons put in

I check mine nearly every fill up. A sudden drop in mileage is sometimes the first indication of an issue.

lonestar7

iTrader: (1)

If the smoke is really smelly, maybe something is going on with the catalytic converter from the stuff they poured in your gas tank. I remember back in the days when they first started putting cats in cars and you could still get leaded gas some places. People would accidentally fill up with leaded gas and the exhaust would stink to high heaven. I don't know, just a thought, might check the cat.
As for the valve stem seals, I'm just finishing up the job of replacing the ones on my 1988 Formula 350. It's a pretty big job on a 1988 350 TPI simply because of all the crap you have to take off just to get the valve covers off, especially on the passengers side. Once you get there, replacing the seals is pretty simple if you have an air compressor and and the right hook up hoses to pressurize the cylinders to hold the valves in place while you have the springs off. #8 cylinder was the only real problem on mine, just didn't have much room to compress the spring with the tool I have, took a lot of fiddling and skinned knuckels but I finally got it. I assume your 91 RS has is a TBI, so you may have you may have a little more room to work with. At any rate, I would set aside a couple of days to do the job if you have all the right tools and parts.

Confuzed1

iTrader: (4)

Another thought...if you suspect you have lighter fluid in your gas tank....run it down to 1/4 tank and top it off with good gas. Then get a locking gas cap....

tom3

Might pull the plugs cold, see what they look like. Oily or wet with coolant. Crank the engine over with the plugs out, look for coolant spray. Worse case there.

Justin93

Well i did remove my cat about a 8 months after the vandalism took place, so its to be expected, but the white smoke is still
It smoked before i took the cat off as well, i looked up quickly about the leaded gas topic got this info from this link:http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/airpage....d+Gas+Phaseout

Leaded gasoline will no longer be available in the United States after December 31, 1995.

"Unleaded gasoline" is allowed to contain no more than 5/100ths of a gram of lead per gallon

So im not to worried about 5/100ths but certainly something to consider as you said.

If its not detrimental to the vehicle and all the components as a whole i would love to fix it when i pull the whole thing out, so could you elaborate maybe on that aspect lonestar? I mean it is just a 305 and im not in that hurry but would like to either build something to put it into such as a sand rail or just end up selling it but obviously before either of those take place i have to take care of the issue present.

I also do have access to all impact tools, compressors, MIG welders, mill, lathe etc, but im still a student and am learning how to use all this equipment the proper way such as routine maintenance to promote the longetivity of the equipment.

Confuzed1 the next morning i immediately got a locking gas cap then a hand pump to get it all out then i put added fuel stabil and filled up a 1/4 tank, burned it out then refilled again


Tom3 it isnt bad to try to crank over the engine with the plugs out?.. or are you referring to just a small bump to see if anything comes out. Ill inspect my plugs soon my odo just hit 130k

Z28/ZR1

The cats job is to super heat and burn any unburned fuel before it hits the atmosphere. If you were smoking oil before the removal of the cats, expect to see more smoke after the removal, as you no longer have the cats super heating and burning excess fuel/oil passing through the combustion.

WILL85IROC

my car smokes bad like that too! white/greyish smoke from tailpipes and stinks like hell! if I stand near it for too long, about 5 seconds, it feels like I may carbonmonixde poisoning.... real strong odor like when u pull a car in a garage then shut it off and u get that lingering exhaust fume smell... ;-)
my car is an 85' with only 86,000 miles .. could it still be valves like mentioned above??

Justin93

This sounds exactly what im experiencing.
Im going to change my oil this weekend anything i should look for?

And 89OrrIrocz i didn't start the car after they did that, i emptied it all out as soon as i saw what they did with a hand pump then filled a 1/4 tank with fuel stabil. burned it off filled up again with fuel stabil also i did get a locking gas cap the next day as well, one of the best investments i've had for my cars lol.


I got 273 miles out of a full tank 14 gallon (mostly city) 5.0 TBI 4 speed auto w/OD stock 2.73 gears.

Though it was slightly coincidental, how many miles are you guys getting out of your similar drive train specs ?

I do plan on running dual high flow cats with a borla exhaust set and QTP cutouts.
I want to do something different with my tips though either keep them turn down or have them angled behind the rear wheels.. any suggestions?

More importantly,
I don't believe it's water vapor, if it is my valve guide seals what would be the best way to identify if that's the issue (oil leaking through the seal?) and how to replace them properly?

I wouldn't mind taking a weekend to replace it as i don't want to do anything detrimental to my vehicle in the long run.

Thanks for all the replies hope to hear from you guys soon

Gary Simonds

I have the same issue, going to have valve seals done next month! hope it works

Shane2250

I've got a 83 z28 has the 350 carburated motor swap...noticed a slight bit of white smoke coming out of the tailpipes just figured valve seats no big deal...but today going down the highway it was boiling smoke out of the tailpipes and got it home the radiator was bone dry...just wondering what all possibilities could be going on and what steps should i take...any input would be greatly appreciated thanks in advance!!

Zane M

iTrader: (1)

Check your oil. Is it milky? if so, you probably have a blown head gasket.
Another possibility is a leaking intake manifold gasket.

85MaroMikezz4

I have a zz4 with 300 miles on it since I put it in this winter.. 650 Holley carb lt4 hot cam 1.6rr after market valve covers. Smokes like a freight train from both breathers but NOT out the tail pipes or pcv valve. All fluids are good coolant, engine oil, etc.
Pulled pcvalve out while warm and running and it was puffing smoke out at a good rate.
Compression seemed good car drove good just smokes out the neighborhood.
Zz4 sat for about 7 years in a garage never used (guy I bought it from)
Any input is appreciated as the weather is finally nice enough to drive it and I'm stuck looking at it.
Thanks all