Strong smoke coming from exhaust 84 caprice

The exhaust from my caprice if thick and white. And theres a strong carbon smell. Could this mean my cat converter is bad?

The exhaust from my caprice if thick and white. And theres a strong carbon smell. Could this mean my cat converter is bad?

white smoke would be coolant.

remove spark plugs . check for a plug to be white and very clean . this would be the cylinder/head with the leak.

cat converters plug up. you get no power.

sometimes with a new cat converter and having a poorly burning of fuel condition they will burn up and turn red hot. sometimes will burn up the car. that is why there is a stainless steel heat shield.. as they get old this would not occur. as mileage piles up the converters don't do much any more because of being coated by exhuast deposits.

Another possibility could be a failed vacuum modulator bellows, if your car has a TH250/TH350 transmission. Fluid from the trans would get sucked up into the intake by the vacuum, and this would also be evident by the presence of detonation on acceleration (knocking or pinging sound, reduced power).

If this is the case, at least some of your spark plugs will be oil fouled.