hey guys, so since I've had my car for a month now my only peeve is when I start the car after letting it cool down for about 45 minutes white smoke (I believe, I havent been able to get out of the car fast enough before it stops, or my engine dies) comes out of my exhaust... but that's not really what I am upset about because it goes away after I drive the car for like 30 seconds (most the time less). My main issue is that when it does this, it also has a VERY rough idle, and will die off, the RPMs will go down a few blocks (digital Tach, Berlinetta), then I sometimes hear a rod knock on the way down in the RPMs and then it dies.

I read about an hour or two's worth of threads on what other people have problems with, when it's their valve seals, but none seem to mention the rough idle. I would assume at first that this is two different problems, like valve seals, and alternator on the way out (because if I rev it enough in park, 2kish tops, it idles fine then)... but the fact that they only happen one with the other has me worried.

I realize that I dont have a "one of a kind, rare, problem", I'm just kinda at a loss.

Would these symptoms go with a bad headgasket? I can't look at my tail-pipes while I'm driving to tell if it's got a little bit of smoke coming out of it from a dead stop or not to confirm this, and none of my friends would actually be competent enough to confirm smoke coming from a tail pipe (sad huh? lol).

Anyways, thanks in advance guys :hail:

 

What type of vavle seals are on there now?

Are any of the friends smart enough to know what a sweet smell is, aka - coolant? Sometimes it can be hard to verify between the whiteness of coolant and the tinted blue of oil.

 

I really have no clue what valve seals are on there right now. I bought the car about a month ago, have only done general maintenance to it because it runs like a champ other than this starting/idle thing. It has a sweet smell to it, not exactly a "tasty" sweet, more like a sweet-gassish smell... I'd assume this to be the head gasket then, and the fuel smell would be fuel burnt with the antifreeze/water travelling along with it?

BTW, this is my daily driver, but I can borrow my parents truck for a couple days if I need to.... what's the estimated time to do a headgasket? And would it be easy for me to do the valve seals while i'm in there anyways? I have never replaced a head gasket in my life, so keep that in mind

Time to go using the function some more on how to replace a head gasket... I hope it doesnt cost me an arm and a leg, saving for college is a bitch when your car screams for maintenance heh

 

Before you do ANY head gasket swappingm and I mean ANY. Do a compression or leak down test. That will tell you 1 or 2 things. It will first tell you if there is indeed a leaking head gasket. And if there is 1 or 2 cylinders low, it will tell you which side to replace. No need in replacing both sides if only 1 is bad. Likewise, no need to replace a head gasket if neither are bad. Keep in mind, head gaskets are only 1 of the few ways coolant can get into the chambers. Bad intake gaskets are another, along with the less desirable methods being cracked head and least of all, cracked block.

As for the valve seals, that would depend on how much you are up for. They aren't hard by all means. But, generally, you don't have to remove the valve springs or whatnot in order to replace a head gasket. So it's a bit out of the way. Now if you were changing valve springs themselves, then sure I would suggest looking into it.

But again, first and foremost, verify the smoke and do a compression/leak down test. If you don't have the tools to do a compression or leak down test, they can be rented at places like Autozone.

 

Thanks for your help Stekman I'll go to Autozone after I get paid this week and rent compression and leak down test tools (what's the name of the leak down test tool anyways?)

 

You really only need one or the other, not both. The leak down tester is pretty much named just that. I pretty much just use a compression tester. It's an either or situation. The leak down test is a bit more "thorough" and "in depth"

The compression test basically just gives a PSI value per cylinder. The leak down test is used to establish an idea of the condition of valves, ring seals, head gaskets, etc.