Hey guys, well im on my way home and notice that my temp gauage is a bit high on a 45 degree day(225) usually stays around 170. Pull into the drive and notice white smoke pooring out the back. So im doin a compression test later today to see if i blew a head gasket. will this gasket set http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerc...25&prmenbr=361 part number 720-7103 be enough to change the gasket. Im goin to only be doin the one blown one. also, i cant tell if it has a little bluish tint to it. How would i know if it was the piston ring and not the head gasket? I know its hard to tell without seeing. so if anyhting jsut a yes or no on the above kit wouild be appreciated thanks!

 

You might be overthinking things. try taking the air filter off and see what happens. A plugged filter will make the car run warm, and blow a whole lotta white smoke. Joe

 

you think? I mean the funny thing is the car is running ok and the idle doesnt seem bad. But there is some white smoke coming out the back and it smeels funny. What filter could be messed up? Gonna do the compression test later but, does anyone have any idea if that gasket set would come with everything i would need? Any other suggestions on goin aobut telling if i got a blown gasket. Oil seems gold in color not a milky color?

 

For starters I don’t think your car is to hot.
Your car came with a 195 deg stat that starts to open at 195 deg
And is fully open at about 225 – 230 deg and factory fan
Comes on at 243 Deg. You are still normal.
And I have never seen nor heard of a plugged air filter
Causing overheating and white smoke a plugged air filter will
Cause an over rich condition and black smoke. White smoke on a
Cool day could just be condensation.

 

Well the car warms up and still blows white smoke. Doesnt seem to be missing or idiling funny but i havent taking it out of the driveway. I was pulling into my driveway when i saw white smoke coming from the back. temp was only 225-230 but the catch can was boiling to the top with coolant. What u guys think?No coolant leaks anywhere. And my oil seems gold in color still not milky. But i havent been driving it jsut reving it a bit in the driveway

 

If the motor cannot suck air through the filter, and eventually the intake, it is going to suck it past the rings, which we all know will produce white oil smoke. The motor will also have a tendancy to have greater vaccum, which will result in more pcv action, which is going to suck hot oily air into the chambers. hence the white smoke. the Pcv itself could be stuck, which would produce smoke.
also, IF the there isn't alot air traveling through the mass air sensor, the car will run lean. I have seen this before on a few different cars. Air filters seem to be fine until one day it plugs and your car runs like Yugo.

It should only take 5 minutes to on hook the air filter and inspect it. along with the PCV.

Perhaps the high temp is just the normal running condition, if your cooling system is stock. maybe your air dam went flying off, or there is a bag on your radiator.

If you are really sure its the head gaskets, take off your headers, and there should be white crystals in the exhaust port of the leaking cylinder.
IMO, tearing the heads off is not the next logical step, Is the car using coolant? well that could be hard to tell if its boiling over.

run the car with coolant cap off, and see if it starts to get bubbly. I had an olds with bad head gasket. and everytime the piston went up, it shot coolant in the air about 8 feet out the cap.

You could also take a sample of your coolant to a shop that can test it for carbon monoxide. that test alone should tell you if the head gasket is gone.

Joe

 

shouldnt be boiling at that low of a temp.. make sure your radiator cap is good for starters...

 

OIL smoke is blue gray not white.
before it pulled oil past the rings it would frood out.
your way of thinking is every time a choke closes it pulls oil past the rings. And every car before 1980 would need plugs every week.
boiling overflow probally bad rad cap.
car should hold 15 psi at the cap.

 

Its cheap. You can have the cap tested at any oil change place. Or you can just buy a cap from NAPA and replace it. Won't cost that much.

 

I agree with the cap check, and check your stat. If you say your car NEVER goes over a certain low temp, and then on this outing you notice higher temps and boiling coolant, I say you may have a stuck shut stat...Just my $.02

Fruity,

How are those runners working out for ya!!

 

what about the smoke coming from the back? i mena it is like 45 to 50 degrees out and the car has bumped up timing and stuff. I jsut dont know im gonna have the compression checked for the hell of it. Thanks for the replys this is by far one of the best auto sites on the web.

 

ps ta405, yes when the radiatior cap is off the coolant starts to get bubbly is this a bad thing? But hteres no shooting coolant into the air

 

I mean their is not a ton of bubbles in the radiator but there are a few. i do think i need a new radiator cap so ill replace that. any other ideas?

 

On a carbed car, the motor will suck the choke open as its rpms increase. the choke is only acutally totaly closed upon cold start up. it immediatly opens when the engine fires, only a very slight amount. when the motor is revved, it pulls the choke wide open, thats why it doesn't smoke. if the choke didn't allow any air in, the motor would not run.

I've seen this a bunch of times, if a motor starts to smoke greyish white, check the air filter, then the pcv. its textbook stuff!!! it only takes a total of ten minutes too... if that

 

oil smoke is blue.. burning coolant is white.

 

make sure your fans come on, mine did the same thing but i had a broken temp gauge and still do, so i installed a new electric fan with a switch and slapped in a 160 thermo, not a peep of boiling since.

 

Well im pretty sure its the head gasket here guys. Oil in the coolant(on the radiator cap anyways)So, im wondering if the head gasket set above is gonna have everything i need? Also, what else will i need for the job(not tools but parts)Ex. Coolant, Oil. Will i need to get machine work done to the heads? And can i stay under 200 bucks for the whole job since i will only need aobut 50 bucks for labor. Will i need more gaskets then what the kit in the link provides? Thanks guys for the help.. Ps....This SUCKS!

 

A block test could help you out to be sure
but since most people don’t have one (cost about 30 bucks at Napa).It is a test that checks your cooling system for carbon
monoxide gases in the radiator simply test. car needs to be running for the test.
But there is no way to test the coolant for the presence of carbon monoxide unless you have acces to a csi lab or something
But I would suggest that you do have the heads checked and resurfaced. (runs about 35 bucks here)

 

Did you try the radiator cap? I would, along with some other stuff before I replaced a head gasket. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to check/replace/clean the air filter and pcv in the first place. I would just do the little stuff too. My .02. Good luck!

 

yeah defently try to figure out the problem before throwing parts at it... that gets expensive and time consuming... you should probably think about maybe pressure testing the cooling system for starters.. then maybe a compression test to verify if there is any leakage in the cylinders.. but the boiling coolant at such a low temperature is a definate sign of a bad radiator cap.. they're only a few bucks.. go get one.. then verify your thermostat is functional.. hell maybe even just replace it if you dont know how old it is.. you might also want to pull your plugs and see if any appear to have been in contact with coolant.. it should be really easy to tell.. look for the clean plug.. there probably many other ways to determine what your actual problem is and im sure i left a bunch out.. basically the point im trying to get across here is dont just throw parts at it.. find out what the actual problem or if there even is a problem besides the obviously bad radiator cap.. keep in mind that the white smoke could have ran down your exhaust system and made a cloud of white smoke too and also the fact that you were boiling it over also would make the car run hotter then normal due to the fact that there is less coolant and that it has bubbles in it...

 

yea im gonan prolyl have that done. If i go and get a compression test(i am tomorrow) and it shows up that one head has a blown gasket can i just replace that one(assuming it is not cracked)? Do i have to replace the other one(will the other one blow right after cuz i replaced the one im having probs with now). gonan replace pcv and cap but if it shows up on the test as a blown head gasket will the Mr Gasket gaskets be enough or will i need to buy more gaskets(does it come with head gaskets, intake, etc.).

 

for what you would pay someone to do a compression test on it you could probably buy one from your local autoparts store and do it yourself, save money, and have it if you should ever need it again. all you have to do is pull plugs and hook the gauge up.. not much 2 it.. hell it will probably even come with directions.. you can normally get a cheap 1 for like 25-30 bucks at advance auto or napa or somethin.......

 

Could Yes should you NO! . Since you have 90% of the top end off to replace one head gasket you better replace the other also. Do it right and you wont have any problems. Mr. Gasket sets usually come with all the gaskets needed but you may be able to peice them togather for alot less $$$$$


EDIT: You might as well have a machine shop renew your heads while thier off too. No one likes a engine that puffs smoke.