What is wrong with my car?

CManT1914 · Jul 12, 2005

This is getting out of hand. I tried driving it just now, and it hot REALLY fast, up to 225 or so, and it's blowing white smoke out of the exhaust. It doesn't have any power, and it keeps wanting to die on me. What's the deal? I set the timing, cleaned the MAF, and it just doesn't run at all. Any ideas? I haven't checked for codes or anything, so I don't know if that's a problem.

mootang · Jul 12, 2005

did you bleed the air in your coolant?

S/CBlack95GT · Jul 12, 2005

The white smoke sounds like you popped a head gasket.

CManT1914 · Jul 12, 2005

mootang said:
did you bleed the air in your coolant?

No. Do I just let it run with the radiator cap off? How much fluid should I put in the thing?

My friend who was giving me tips along the way (I would call him with some questions) said that I need to do a compression check. If I got the rockers to tight, the valves wouldn't close all the way and it would run like crap. How likely is that the source of my problem?

mootang · Jul 12, 2005

run the engine with the radiator cap off to purge the air from the system. fill as needed and then hope you don't have a blown head gasket.

also don't take the cap off when it's hot.

WHITE94COBRA · Jul 12, 2005

You just did the h/c/i right? it sounds like your rockers may be too tight? or perhaps your firing order is off? White smoke sounds like water in the chambers???? maybe gaskets on wrong?? not sure but keep us posted. Have you gotten on it at all?? I couldnt imagine it being a blown hg yet! but you cant rule anything out until you test it.

95opal · Jul 12, 2005

well ya definately have water in the cylinders some how,pull your plugs to narrow it down to wich head it is and go from there.good luck

mo_dingo · Jul 12, 2005

Check your oil and see if it's milky white. You may be leaking water into your oil and other places.
Scott

CManT1914 · Jul 12, 2005

Well I talked to a few mechanic friends, one of whom has the same setup as me, and they said it's most likely the rockers are too tight. Considering I tightened them down another 3/4 turn after zero lash, and before the oil system was primed, then the valves probably aren't closing all the way. I'm gonna pull all the plugs tomorrow, check the compression, and redo the rockers. As for the coolant, I thought all I had to do was run the motor with the rad. cap off, good to verify that. Then all that's left is putting on my new power steering pulley and I should be good to go (assuming the rockers are my problem). Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it goes.

sKyZ · Jul 12, 2005

check each plug for signs.. if they're discolored, detereated, etc..

Grn92LX · Jul 12, 2005

Check your oil for the dreaded milkshake.

You do not have to have the lifters pumped with oil to set rockers. I dunked my brand new crane lifters in oil for less than 5 minutes and put them in my new 347. Then I set the rockers like a day later. You can hear a little ticking, but as long as its not super excessive, its fine. Looser is better than tighter.

Rockers being too tight will not cause you to burn coolant in the chambers. You need to chek your oil for milkshake. Or you could have the lower intake too loose and getting coolant in from there. Did you torque it until ever bolt was perfect? Did you put a tiny bit of silicone around the coolant ports (both sides of the gasket) on your 1250 gasket? You will also need to retorque your lower manifold.

94-302-vert · Jul 13, 2005

one thing that helped me to burp the coolant was to (with the rad cap off) keep squeezing the upper radiator hose. this will force most fo teh air out of the system. Then you jsut keep topping off.

It sounds like you have 2 problems to me. A huge air gap in the cooling system and then maybe a bad HG or the valve adjustment as noted.

94TURBO5 O · Jul 13, 2005

S/CBlack95GT said:
The white smoke sounds like you popped a head gasket.

Did you torque them in the right pattern?

CManT1914 · Jul 13, 2005

94TURBO5 O said:
Did you torque them in the right pattern?

Yep, from the inside out, in increments. I don't think it should be a head gasket, I've only driven it around the block, but who knows. I just got a compression gauge, I'm gonna check for compression now. I should be looking for 180-200 or so right? If it's low on all cylinders, that means leaking or stuck valves, and if on just one cylinder, then that means head gasket probably right?

CManT1914 · Jul 13, 2005

Well I pulled a few plugs already, and every one of them is black as night. I checked the Hayne's manual, but it didn't talk about them being black. It's not oil though, because they are completely dry, it's more like a soot on them. Too much fuel?

Venom351R · Jul 13, 2005

Last plug picture...

http://www.theultralightplace.com/sparkplugs.htm

to much fuel

CManT1914 · Jul 13, 2005

Good news guys!! I have crappy compression on all my cylinders!! I guess that means it can't be a head gasket, as that would cause one cylinder to have a different amount than the rest. And my plugs are fouled out from too much fuel, no oil on them, so it's gotta be my rockers. Looks like I might have this gremlin tackled.

94-302-vert · Jul 13, 2005

SWEET... the best part with that is you don't have to go too far into the motor to fix it...

Green 94 5.0 · Jul 13, 2005

how would overtightened rockers cause overheating and white smoke? those are symptoms of a dead head gasket even though the compression being bad on all cylinders is a bit strange. just a stupid question here, but are you sure you torqued down the neads properly?

CManT1914 · Jul 13, 2005

94-302-vert said:
SWEET... the best part with that is you don't have to go too far into the motor to fix it...

I figure maybe 2 hours and I can have it running.

Green 94 5.0 said:
how would overtightened rockers cause overheating and white smoke? those are symptoms of a dead head gasket even though the compression being bad on all cylinders is a bit strange. just a stupid question here, but are you sure you torqued down the neads properly?

The white smoke I'm not sure about, I only saw it once, and it might have been the plastic burning on my headers from some loom that melted on it.

The overheating is because I didn't burp the coolant system, and there's a lot of air pockets in it.

What is wrong with my car?

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