Just wondering about whats causing smoke when i start my car. At first it didnt seem like it was doing it much, but now the car only has to sit for 10 minutes and it blows smoke at startup. I cant really tell if its blue or just white but it does smell like fuel. Is it just the valve seals on this or do I have a bigger problem? Car is a 305 TPI.

 

Either it's burning oil from bad valve seals, or you've got a leaky injector or two running fuel down and you flood a few cylinders & on startup the gas stench is the leaked-down fuel burning off. Do a fuel pressure check. Turn the car off and watch how quick the pressure falls. If it starts dropping immediately, you're leaking. It should hold for probably at least 1 or 2 minutes and then fall slowly.

 

Would leaky injectors cause the car to hesitate and almost stall? Nother problem im having, possibly related?

 

That's an affirmative. If they're bad enough that is. Sounds like physical damage if they're that bad. But again, check fuel pressure before I get any crazy ideas in your head.

 

ok gonna see if i can dig up a gauge. thanks for the info.

 

If nothing turns out of from checking that, then check your coolant periodically to make sure it isnt a leaking head gasket like my 91' 305 TPI.

 

Good point. Like Bri said, check your coolant for oil. And check your oil for water. You can spot it on the dipstick and your oil will look like chocolate milk if you go to change it. But the car would probably run like crap and not want to idle with a blown head gasket.

 

Do a Compression test it will tell you what cylinder is leaking. All cylinder should have about the same compression. If one is off from the rest that cylinder is where the problem lay.

 

I didnt see any oil in the coolant or coolant in the oil. I havent had a chance to test the fuel pressure yet. Am I able to check compression on my own? or is it something i need to take it into the shop for?

 

If coolant is leaking, it doesn't necessarily mean it will get into the oil. It could be a bad intake gasket and the coolant is leaking into the intake ports.

 

That's a good point, foley....

NE_Z....You can do a compression check yourself. Just buy a compression gauge. You'll have to remove the spark plug for each cylinder you're going to test. Screw in the gauge, disconnect the wire from your ignition coil, and bump the car over a few times. And my common sense says to start the car for a second after testing a couple cylinders at a time cause you'll still be getting fuel just no spark to the cylinders...don't wanna flood her out. You'll need a buddy, or a remote starter switch for this. Just watch the gauge and see the max reading it gets. Generally you're looking for 150-160 or so psi, although the real important part is how uniform the compression is across all cylinders. There are other tips on how to use the compression tester as a diagnostic tool, by watching how quickly it builds compression, if it's leaking off, etc....but I can't remember where I saw that list. It was pretty cool...

 

I mentioned that because it's happened to me and that's why I'm rebuilding my motor right now (along with a few other reasons, like GM's crap timing set). I've also had a bad head gasket and coolant in the oil too...

 

ok, thanks for the info on this its really been bugging me. Now I have a few more things to check