inforcer958

i asked about a months ago about white smoke in the exhaust and i was told that it could be the tranny, antifreeze (head gasket), or the brake booster. the tranny is fine, i did a head gasket job on it, and i am not sure how to check the brake booster. now could it be that after doing the head gasket and all of that antifreeze getting in the motor some is still there? i did two oil changes to make sure,( kinda of an accident ) but could there still be more and it is just going to slowly burn out through the exhaust. well please reply back it would be great.

91Caprice9c1

I have no clue where someone would get the tranny or brake booster idea. As far as I know those two systems could have absolutely NOTHING to do with smoke in the exhaust. But if I'm wrong, anybody please, correct me.

White smoke is generally an issue of oil in the exhaust. I would strongly recommend having a "Leak-Down" test performed on all of your cylinders. And even though the head gaskets are brand new, It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a pressure test performed on your cooling system.

If you have white smoke in the exhaust and new head gaskets don't do the trick it basically means your RINGS are shot, your BLOCK is cracked, your VALVE SEALS are shot, or the new gaskets are not properly installed.

inforcer958

well i believe that the booster and the tranny are an issuse because of the vaccuum hoses and the vaccuum modular that are on the transmission. And since those could mess up it could mix those fluids with the oil and then burn on in the motor. '

Is there any chance that i just have antifreeze left in the motor with the oil and that it just needs to burn off? would the compression check on each cylinder head tell me if the valve seals or the rings are gone? thanks

smokey041369

call me dumb, but the only things that cause white smoke are
1. blown head gasket
2. cracked cylinder wall
3. warpped heads
4. piston ring blow by

91Caprice9c1

I don't see how transmission fluid would leak through the vacuum lines to create smokey exhaust, nor do i see how a brake booster (which is a fluidless unit) create exhaust smoke through it's vacuum components.

I agree with smokey, with the addition of VALVE SEALS (located at valve stems inside cylinder head to prevent oil leaking into combustion chamber), and CRACKED HEAD(s).

If by chance you had antifreeze left in the crankcase from removing the intake manifold, it WOULD NOT cause your white smoke.

A compression test would give you a comparison of pressure developed by each cylinder. If one cylinder is significantly lower in pressure than the rest (greater than 30% difference) than you would suspect either blown rings (which would contribute to smoke in the exhaust) or burned valves (which would not contribute to smoke in the exhaust).

If you found a suspect cylinder, it would be wise to follow up with a LEAK DOWN test to indicate whether the low pressure is caused by worn rings and/or burned valves, and/or escape of pressure into the cooling system (via blown headgasket). All of which except for burned valves would cause smoke in the exhaust.

*did you have the heads machined (or at least checked for warpage) before assembling engine w/new head gaskets?
*did you have the heads inspected for cracks?
*did you have the valve seals replaced?

inforcer958

i did have the heads looked at for cracks and or warpage. we have done a few head jobs in the past that have worked out just fine but for some reason this one is giving us trouble. now if the valve seals are bad then i would hear air in either the exhast pipe or inside of the intake manifold right. also where do you get a leak down guage from. or a cylider differential guage. i can 't find them.

91Caprice9c1

The valve seals DO NOT seal compression gasses in the combustion chamber. That is the job of the Valve Head itself, and the Valve Seats (which are pressed into the head and provide the sitting surface for a closed valve).

The job of Valve Seals is to keep the oil that is lubricating your rocker arms and valve springs in the head, from traveling down the valve stem and into the combustion chamber.

I'm not sure if autozone or kragen/checkers will carry something as specific as a LEAKDOWN tester/cylinder differential guage.

I am certain that you can find both COMPRESSION TESTERS and LEAK DOWN testers on ebay - i've seen many of them on there before. There are also a lot of aftermarket/wholesale websites that have these items to order as well.

(Note: the point of this is to see if your rings or head gaskets are identifyably the culprits of your exhaust smoke. A leak down test will conclusively identify bad rings/head gasket - and though it will also find any bad intake/exhaust valves - they are not the cause of your smoke. if your rings and head gaskets check out fine.. next step is either cracked block or bad valve seals.)