White Smoke that stops Traffic... lol. HELP !

[dirtbike661]

Hi, I just got a 89 K2500 Pickup that puffs out White Smoke w/ alittle tint of Blue Smoke that stops traffic... hehe. *ya know what I mean* =)
When I'm on the freeway and step on the gas, it smokes off and on. IT's either no smoke or a puff of White Smoke that fogs up the freeway to a halt. then it goes away and comes back later. It's NOT condensation or moisture, because it's 80 degree's outside and engine's been running for 1 hour or so.
ok.. the facts: Coolant is green (no leaks), oil doesn't burn much, truck has 180k miles.
Any idea on what's wrong ? Thanks in advance for any good advice =)

*** FOUND OUT TODAY *** I pulled out all the spark plugs, and found 1 was really bad (BLACK colored and covered with black oily type of grease)... put all new plugs back and still smokes. does this mean oil is leaking through to the spark plugs ? do I need new heads or ?

[clampjockey]

likely valve seals

[clampjockey]

should get that tranny leak fixed. if its a 700r4, it won't take much abuse like running it low on fluid. probably should be higher on the priority list than the vavle seals. could be as simple as a new rear seal. any time you leave bad u-joints unattended, your almost certain to ruin the rear tranny seal.

[Fireplug]

First thing you want to do is check all fluids and see what is low. Oil,Trans,Coolant. Is there any smell to the smoke?? Oil look milky,

[Cadillakin'98]

No, first priority should be don't freakin drive it until you fix it. Thats what anyone in there right mind would do. Unfortunantle there aern't too many people that use there heads anymore. It's rediculous the # of people that drive old beaters that just intoxicate the air we all breath. I live in Texas, you know close to the border, so I see these old beaters poluting frequently. So let me put it like this, a true red-blooded American wouldn't drive that damn car until leak was fixed and no risk of thick clouds of white smoke entering into the air. No excuses. You don't need to drive back and forth to work with an intoxicating car. Walk, bum a ride, catch a bus, get a cab, steal a not-quite-as-polluting vehicle, or something.

[Cadillakin'98]

Sorry, just had to vent. Hopefully you are trying to do the right thing and thats why you are asking. Just say where you wrote ".....that puffs out White Smoke w/ alittle tint of Blue Smoke that stops traffic... hehe. *ya know what I mean*...."
Kind of sounds like you might drive it around as is. Hopefully you don't and I hope you get 'er fixed. As far as any advise on the problem/cause, I'm not mechanic but my mechanical apptitude leans towrds the valve seals, and adress the tranny issue ASAP otherwise you'll end up having to replace it quicker than you think. Good luck

[clampjockey]

apparently cadallakin'98 thinks we should all be bouncing around in emmission free bubbles.

[clampjockey]

us red blooded Canadians aren't as fussy about the beaters we drive

[clampjockey]

friend of mine says its a long shot, but on his old truck, he had a faulty modulator valve that sucked tranny fluid up the vaccum hose to the engine dome, which would burn off, leaving a cloud of white smoke. yours may not have a modulator, but he said it sounds identical to the prob he had.

[broughy84]

These are electronicly controlled so I doubt highly that it is that. THis has the original 700r4 right? You NEED to get that leak fixed soon. You will burn that tranny up quick with a leak. 700r14's aren't known for their longevity. I think you are looking at a valve guide/seal issue.

My 88 does this too, but only under accelleration. When it does it does it seem to have a "spark knock"?

Mine does that's why I ask. I don't know what that has to do with anything but it only smokes when the truck is "spark knocking" someone told me to mist water over the throttle body while it is running and it will "steam clean" the combustion chamber and help put a stop the the spark knocking by blowing off the carbon. I havent tried it yet!

[Fireplug]

If you are blowing so much oil past and down the valve seals you had better pull the valve covers and check the oil return holes in the head. They might be gunk up real bad or even pluged

[J-Ri]

Clampjockey said the modulator could be bad, that's exactly what I was thinking when I read the first post. I'd bet ya if you pull the vacuum line off the modulator, tranny fluid will pour out. The good news is the part isn't very expensive, and I'm thinking it's pretty easy to replace.

As for the comment about the smoke, and how stupid an irresponsible you are, the next time some commie tree-hugging bastard (not to name names) comes up behind ya in one of those imports, hit the gas and leave 'em in a cloud of smoke

[broughy84]

a 700r4 is NOT VACCUM MODULATED!!!

[jdr2008]

Broughy84 is correct, the th700r4 is not vaccum modulated. You said your transmission is leaking, How bad is it leaking, that leak you have may be the transfluid blowing out the vent hose when you romp down on it going down the road and the white smoke you are seeing may be the transfluid hitting those hot exhaust pipes, maybe.

[Cadillakin'98]

I'll laugh with you on that one J-Ri

In that case, I say go for it. Make that Jap car think it's Hiroshima all over again!!!!!!!