Hey, i have an 87 iroc-z28 and for some odd reason the engine is smoking white after about 3 minutes of starting the car. i already replaced the oil in the car and im completely lost on as of what the hell is wrong with my car. also the throttle keeps getting stuck open. i would much appreciate it if anyone can assist me with this.

 

Some white smoke at startup isn't unusual. Condensation in the exhaust system will begin to evaporate as the pipes warm up. However, this should stop after a couple of minutes unless its really cold outside. If you are getting a lot of white smoke and it doesn't quit after a short time ie. white cloud following you down the road, it could be a sign that you're burning coolant. This is usually caused by a failed/failing head gasket or a cracked head.

 

someone else also told me that it could be the gasket and i thank you for the help, but the smoke is literally coming from the engine, underneath the hood. not the tail pipe, and i notice that the exhaust manifold is very hot after the smoke starts coming. and how much do you think it would cost me to replace the gasket?

 

Are you sure it isn't a hose leaking coolant onto the engine or manifold?

 

Probably not a head gasket, regardless.

More likely, a valve cover gasket, which is RIGHT IMMEDIATELY ABOVE the exhaust manifold; so when it leaks, the oil dripps right ... directly ... down onto ....

I'll let you finish that thought.

The throttle sticking open sounds like what happens on a carbed car when people screw up and put on "chrome" air cleaners. If that's the situation here, put the stock one back.

 

ill upload a picture or a video at some point, and the car doesn't have a carburetor.

 

Ok. Misunderstood where the smoke was coming from. I had a similar problem that was caused by a coolant leak. The plastic side of the radiator developed a crack. It didn't leak until the pressure built when the engine warmed up. It sprayed coolant directly on to the engine and headers. White smoke. You've got a leak somewhere obviously. It can be tough to find since the coolant evaporates pretty quick. Start the engine, stick your head under the hood and watch for the smoke.

 

Update: smoke is coming from both sides now and when ever i rev the engine the rpms will go down at a snails pace or not go down at all. i checked the throttle and that closes fine. oil on dipstick seems low but the gauge says its full. this is the video of the smoke



passenger side





driver side

 

Use the stick to check level. If you dont add till the gauge starts fluctuating you will kill the engine.

 

when you changed your oil, did you run synthetic? How about before the change? What did you run?

I agree with sofa. Its either your valve cover gasket leaking or your intake on top of the china wall.

 

I may have missed it if you said you already checked for leaks but warm it up, park it somewhere clean like a garage floor (clean a very loose term) and come back in the morning and see what's under it. Minor valve cover leaks may not make it down the motor but if its steaming to that point you'll see it on the ground hopefully

 

5-50 now and I have no idea what it was running before, so I'm going to try and replace the gasket today but there is one huge problem, I'm a complete scrub and have zero idea how to begin doing this, can anyone give me info to point me in the right direction? (I.e how to get all of this other stuff out the way first )

 

Id go to your local parts store and pick up a repair manual. Best 20 bucks you will spend. And study up. There may be videos on youtube, or you can search the forums here. We can try and tell you but if you go get that book you will be able to see what you are getting into. Its rather a easy task, but for someone who has never done it before... Id recommend reading up and getting an idea of whats up.

You can easily do this. Your going to want carb cleaner to clean the gasket surfaces. Absolutely no oil can be on that surface. Some people use a gasket shmou that you put on the surfaces and let it tack up and put your gasket down and cover. Dont over tighten bolts. feel what they are doing.

Obviously you dont want to drop anything down in the engine. that means dirt too so be careful where you set stuff and keep under the cover clean.

hope this helps some.
-Dan

 

Might want to check for leaks at the distributor area as well. Oil could be dripping onto the Y pipe. This happened to me with my 2.8 Fiero and I was absolutely positive I had a rear main leak, but nope. After years of ignoring the problem, a 50cent gasket fixed it. Wipe oil off of anything you can, then put some cardboard under the engine for the evening and see if any oil shows up in the morning.

 

A couple of drops of oil on the exhaust manifolds or pipes will burn/smoke for hours. Did it smoke before you changed the oil?

You could have leaked a few drops when you poured the oil in and even leaked some off dipstick when you checked it.

If that's not the case then you have a mild small oil leak on top side of engine. Could be the valve cover gaskets, distributor gasket, oil pressure sending unit, intake china wall.

The oil pressure gauge DOES NOT TELL YOU EMPTY/FULL. It tells you the pressure which the oil is moving at. It can have full normal pressure with just 1 qt of oil in the engine. Use the DIPSTICK to check oil level.

 

Sounds like valve cover gaskets. All those hoses and crap up top in the way can be pretty easily removed. Just grab a toolbox, invest in some new hose clamps, and like Z28 said grab the manual too. Might not need it, but it's a great reference.

 

ok so i replaced the gasket and now the engine is giving off this weird sound. also some smoke but not as bad as before. i dropped coolant so im assuming its that

 

What do you mean you dropped coolant? That sounds awful. I wouldn't run it while it's making that sound. So the smoking isn't as bad as before, that's good, but you're going to have to go deeper. Might be an intake manifold leak near the back. Recheck your coolant level, oil level, look for any kind of leaks and try to nail down exactly where the smoke is coming from, and find out what is causing it. Could be exhaust leak, coolant or oil leaking on an exhaust manifold or even a wire pressing up against something hot.

You've got to figure out that sound though. Tell us about dropping the coolant, your oil level, all that good stuff, and please, when you notice sounds like that, don't rev the engine. That's only going to make whatever it is worse. Start it up, notice what it does and kill it before it can break something.