CRAZY WHITE SMOKE! Head Gasket?

jimdrechsler · Apr 29, 2010

I started my car today and it smoked like a mofo. White smoke all over the place coming out of both tail pipes. I cut the engine, waited and tried to start again. made a "eh" noise and nothing. waited again and started up with smoke again, not as much this time though, but enough. had it towed to my mechanic. proior to happening i did not notice any temp increase, running rough, or anything. if it is the head gasket, what should i do? if i have him fix the head gasket, would it make sense to have it bored over to a 306? anything else i should do to increase power? i will say that it has been drinking oil the past year like crazy. it doesnt leak it but defintiely losing it somehwere. or burning. with all the oil it has been going through, is it worth keeping the motor or get a new one (not that i have the money to)!

thanks for replies in advance..
jim

BlackGT89 · Apr 29, 2010

A head gasket could have a lot of other symptoms besides white smoke. Was the cooling system building up an unusual amount of pressure ? Was it running hot and did you see any white bubbles in the coolant while it was running (do this carefully). I think there are kits you can buy to check for exhaust byproducts in the coolant. Of course the white smoke is usually the biggest clue for a head gasket.

dave181760 · Apr 30, 2010

also cheak your oil if its creamy with coolent then its a blown head gasket hapnd to me

Cobra1741 · Apr 30, 2010

most likely blown headgasket, do like they said and check your oil.

jimdrechsler · Apr 30, 2010

i pulled the dip stick yesterday as well before i had it towed. did not look milky, but looked really thin, so maybe it is just the beginnning of it. plus that radiator fluid was down a little as well... if this was your car, what would you do next. the bottom end is stock and you can see the HCI I have in the signature below...

thanks!

BYRDPE · Apr 30, 2010

jimdrechsler said:
i pulled the dip stick yesterday as well before i had it towed. did not look milky, but looked really thin, so maybe it is just the beginnning of it. plus that radiator fluid was down a little as well... if this was your car, what would you do next. the bottom end is stock and you can see the HCI I have in the signature below...

thanks!

if it was me i would go 331....

stykthyn · Apr 30, 2010

if it is coolant then you could also look into the possibility of a blown lower intake gasket, could be bad valve seals, leaking injectors flooding the cylinders with fuel and eating the rings...white smoke can be many things. what does it smell like?

Cobra1741 · Apr 30, 2010

+1 for stroking to 331

BlackGT89 · Apr 30, 2010

I'm told that NAPA sells a Coolant Exhaust Gas Tester for around $50. It is a glass tube that you partially fill with a blue liquid that comes in the kit. If there are exhaust gases present in your coolant system the liquid turns green. I've never used this but I think it takes a lot of the guess work out of it.

You could also try a compression test and see if that results in a cylinder or two (usually adjacent) that's down on compression. You can also do a leak down test where compressed air is introduced in the cylinder. If the head gasket is leaking you should see bubbles in the coolant in the radiator.

Those are a few simple tests you can run, let us know how it goes. I wouldn't rule out fuel contamination, one time I filled up my old Ranchero at a new Shell station and they had put diesel in the premium underground tank !

wv109323 · Apr 30, 2010

Do you have a exhaust cross over pipe? Why is white smoke coming out both sides if not? How many miles are on the engine and history?
I would second the compression test and the leak down test to help make my decision.
I would hold the decision to build/buy a new motor until I saw what was wrong and the amount of wear with the existing motor.
How much of the old motor is reusable: camshaft , heads. How much machine work?
Going back with a 302/306 is a lot easier on the wallet. A 331 stroker would add at least $1000.00(crankshaft,rods and machine work) to a rebuild. That is assuming that you are buying new pistons for the 302. Also to take advantage of the larger displacement you need to improve/match more components such as: heads, exhaust, TB and Camshaft.
The bottom line is you and your wallet will need to make that decision.

vetshelby · Apr 30, 2010

fix it

drain all the antifreeze out of car add water and sodium silicate.idle for half an hour or longer ,then drain radiatio pull out spark plugs take off the radiator hoses,top and bottom .Ley it sit for 12 hours connect everything back up an viola.k and w block sealers main ingediant is sodiam silicate.You can also order it from some pharmacys,also called liquid glass.lasts for 10 years plus for me. best of luck. ps can someone help me post an ad for my fox,when I click on placing an ad on it goes to no connection. thanks

CRAZY WHITE SMOKE! Head Gasket?

jimdrechsler

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I want to measure mine. It doesn't look that tall.

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