OK...before I go and get killed by my wife and neighbors for pulling the heads off the Camaro on the side of my house, give me some advise.

Is there ANYTHING that would cause white smoke OTHER than a head gasket or cracked head.

I had a bad cam lobe, and a dished lifter...I replaced them. I was NOT getting smoke before? Just a cracking through the carb...

What about sealant ont he intake bolts...I read that here today...I KNOW I did NOT do that on the install. Oil looks good, not milky?

Comments...swear words...I am getting VERY tired of this PIA...

ALL and ANY help appreciated!

Jim

 

It should smoke until all the crap burns out of the cylinders and combustion chambers.

 

leaky intake gaskets could also cause it but if you jsut did a swap it will probably smoke for a little while..

 

So fill it up with AF...put on the cap...and let it run? It was smoking yesterday almost IMMEDATELY on startup.

Seems to be real tough to start too...like it WANTS to start, but I need to keep spinning it until it catches...then it smokes?

Just odd...and again...it was NOT doing this before?

JIm

 

It sounds like you defintely have an anti-freeze leak into the cylinders. If it is very bad that would explain why you have a hard time starting it. If your cylinders are getting the water in them while sitting and just after running it, the piston will have to pump the water and anti-freeze out of the cylinder before it can fire. It will also be hard to start because the piston is trying to compress the water. If you didn't put sealer on any bolt that goes into a water jacket then that could cause a problem. But white some is not crap burning off from startup, and it wouldn't last all that long. And if you didn't have the problem before this, its tough to say whether its a head gasket, warpped head, or cracked head, unless you got the temp too high on break in. But in short, if you are having white smoke (water vapor) while the engine is running, chances are the intake and maybe heads are going to have to come off. Good Luck

 

I have never used sealant of any kind on my intake bolts. I dont even use sealer around my intake gasket. Ive done 5 or 6 intakes this way and none have ever leaked. However if the intake gasket didnt seat well you could get coolant into the combustion chambers...but would he also have some anti freeze in his oil.

 

The water wouldn't have to get in the oil. Only if the gasket was bad, dislocated, or the wrong one between the water jacket and valley, would it allow the oil and water to mix. The water jackets are right there with the 1st and 2nd cylinder. Maybe the new intake has a crack in it and its letting the water seep into cylinders 1 or 2. Maybe if you take a the spark plugs out you can find out which cylinder is actually getting the water. If you have ran the engine, the plug and cylinder should be quite clean. It has been steam cleaned from the water being vaporized. And its just a good idea to use sealer around the bolt threads. Of course you may not ever have a problem with a leak, but I would rather be safe than sorry later. As far as intake gaskets go, I wouldn't recommend putting a lot of sealer on the gasket itself. It could cause the gasket to become uneven and possibly cause a leak. Like everything, none of this is set in stone, but its just what can or won't happen.

 

??? I was told to ONLY put sealant on the manifold side around the water ports? I put about an 1/8" bead. Was that wrong?...could I still have a manifold leaking into the cylinder?

Thanks again.