I need some help diagnosing this thing. I have a 91 TPI 305 TA. It has sat for about a two weeks due to what I thought was a slipping trans. I started it today and it runs for a while and starts to pour white smoke out so I kill it. I check the obvious things, no water in the oil or oil in the water. I figure maybe it's just condensation, so I start it again and it runs fine for a little while and starts smoking like crazy again. The temp is normal, oil pressure normal, coolant level is fine, but it is fogging up the place. The smoke doesn't smell like antifreeze, just regular exhaust.

The only thing that is different is a sound similiar to the fuel injectors which is coming from around the driver's side exhaust manifold. With the oil fill off it doesn't seem to be coming from inside the valve cover. The car was bogging as if the transmission was slipping very badly which is why I haven't been driving it. Now I'm worried that something in the engine is trashed. I'm trying to figure out some things to start checking, but if anyone has some suggestions to figure this out I would really appreciate some help.

 

i bought a blazer once that did that. I bet it sat for about a year because the owner seemed to think it had trans problems, which was actually just the tv cable was disconnected.

Anyway the first time i started it up it started blowing clouds of white smoke out, i mean it covered about 5 acres. But it died down afterwards, and never did it again. I assume it was just water in the oil and gas and....well probably water everywhere in it.

 

Anyone have any suggestions at all? What would cause a car to fog out the world with no oil in the water or water in the oil?

 

Change the oil since this began? Maybe someone put tranny fluid in the engine? Intake sealed well? How did you check for water in the oil?..Sure sounds like a head gasket to me!

 

I'd guess it is just condenstion in the engine and exhaust that built up when sitting.

Matt

 

condensation will burn off at max 5 min of operation....

 

Oops, didnt even see riley's first post.
Yeah head gasket is possible, but wouldnt the exhaust smell like coolant. Though that would explain the bogging down.

Matt

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'm stumped and still trying to figure this thing out. I was hoping it was condensation, but I let it run for a while and it still poured the smoke out. It didn't get any better and pretty much stayed the same. I'm kind of leery about letting it run at all until I figure something out. I have never seen a car put out steam like this from condensation. My 79 camaro sat for almost three years and it didn't even puff when I fired it up again.

Would a vacuum leak cause something like this? I've been trying to get things together to replace the injectors and all the seals in the TPI because there is some visible leaking at the plenum to runner seals, but I haven't torn into it due to the need to burn chips when I replace the injectors.

I thought the trans had burned up the clutch packs, but now the thing starts blowing steam. I guess it's a good thing I didn't drop the trans right away. I actually bid on a 5-speed conversion and lost right before the smoke issue came up. Oops

 

Sounds like a head gasket to me also....or worse case scenario maybe a cracked block/head


You can have the coolant system pressure checked and if the pressure drops you know it's a gasket/crack. If not it'll be something else.

 

Maybe thers a bunch of condensation or water stuck in the exhaust somewhere and its heating up and smoking? Just a guess, i dont see how it could be a head gasket when it doesn't stink really bad. Burned coolant is one of the worst smells ever!

 

dont run it.....you have a problem,,,,staart at the gasket and work in...

 

It might be a blown head gasket. thats what happened to me.

 

I'm starting to think it's a head gasket or cracked block. I really haven't been able to find any other things that would make it do this. I'm heading to autozone to get a coolant system pressure tester and whatever else I can think of to start testing this thing out. I'll let you guys know what I find.

 

Here are the results of the compression test. The numbers are from the front driver's side back (No 1) in the order that I tested them.

8- 150 4- 180
7- 100 3-
6- 160 2- 160
5- 155 1- 150

Second time was pretty much the same. I could not get to the no3 for anything, but I have some penetrating oil on the o2 sensor which I think I can remove and get to no 3 tommorrow.

With no 7 being 100 psi, I put some oil into it and tried again. It went up to 190 and 200, so I guess it has a bad ring. the No4 I'm not sure about. It may be right on or it may have too much due to carbon build up.

Regardless of what the causes are, it looks like this 305 is going to get thrown off a bridge pretty soon. I've gotta get my hands on an engine hoist and pull a couple of engines next week. It looks like the 350 is going in a little sooner than I thought.

And just to be sure what is the normal compression for a 305 TPI supposed to be? I know everyone says that consistency between your cylinders is important, but I was curious about the normal values.