ok, i just bought a 85 Trans Am w/ a carbed 350 in it (not the original engine) and somethins up with it, lots of white smoke pours out of the exaust when RPM's are taken above about 2000 abd it seems to smell like coolant (kinda sweet) and when the car is shut off, smoke still comes out of the exaust for a few mins....anyone who knows anything about this please help....

also, the engine gets real real hot within a few mins of running

 

sounds like a blown head gasket to me, check your oil, if it looks like chocolate milk thats a dead giveaway, if your loosing coolant thats usually a sign as well.

 

Zerogauge is right, it is probably the head gasket, ESPECIALLY if it is also hard to start. Pull your plugs and check for water, as well as checking the oil.

 

i checked the oil and it looks kinda funky.......what does changing the head gasket involve, and can i do it in my garage????

 

Blown head gasket on a carbed car should take a few hours but overall it can be done by a skilled person on a weekend. If you've got the gaskets from a parts store which are real cheap and have a torque wrench, and a chevy small block repair manual or a chilton's for camaros you should be ok. I agree however that is what your problem sounds like, the blown gasket thing.

 

It could also be just the intake gasket, since the water ports adjoin both the crankcase and the intake runners... sounds like teardown time, keep going until you find the culprit.

Now would be a good time to do any head work or velve train upgrades you might have been planning, since you'll have most of that stuff apart already.

 

When my intake gasket went there was no evidence of a leak, but there was coolant ontop of some of the valves. If you see no signs of an intake gasket leaking, your problem is likely a head gasket. Get an entire head gasket set from a parts store. Good luck and post back if you need more help.

 

Ya, get a gasket set.

Don't replace only the gastet that is broken because your manifold will never sit properyly or your compression will be unequal on each side. Check what bolts you have aswell. Some cheap garages use 'torque to yield' bolts, which cannot be reaplied; you will have the same trouble you have now.

Depending on the life of the engine the problem could be more serious. If it have signifigantly overheated, you could have a broken cylinder bore, a cracked head or intake. It probably isn't one of these, but if it is it may be expensive, or a chance to do some mods (bigger engine, alluminum heads)

 

thanks to everyone for their help.....im gonna take a break from the car till after xmas, then ill dive in to it on fri prob....hopefully by sunday ill be all set.

matt

 

What is is with people and these LARGE SIG PICS.....MAKE THEM SMALLER in physical size and file size...my *** that gets OLD...please make them smaller I hate telling people this but it gets on my nerves.