'85 305 smoking

[jase386]

85 caprice with 305 has started smoking. we bought it the week after christmas after it had been
sitting not driven for over a year. it immediatly became a daily driver, averaging 50-100 miles a
day. had 160k miles on it last week of dec, now has 166k and has started puffing whitish blue
smoke on start up. it wasnt smoking when we bought it.


also its doing something with the anti freeze. we keep having to refil the antifreeze.

any suggestions as to what this might be, or anyone whos been thru it to give me a heads up on
whats ahead in the future for the engine. we love the wagon, so anything will be repaired that
needs it. so keep the suggestions rolling

[bobss396]

Whitish smoke and missing coolant means one thing, the problems are related! I believe that there is a shop test for combustion gases in the coolant. Just keep an eye for oil on the dipstick and oil in the radiator, as that would signify a truly blown head gasket, which still might be the case. A competent shop should be able to give you a quick diagnosis on what the exact problem is.

Short term, if it was my car, I would dump a package of Solder Seal Block Saver into the radiator, it might be enough to fix the problem for a while if the leak is minor. This would give you time to save money and find a good deal on a replacement or repair.

Bob

[silicon212]

Definitely follow Bob's advice re: solder seal. One thing though, don't automatically assume that the coolant is being ingested by the engine. Smoke on startup could simply mean leaky valve guide seals - oil smoke is a whitish blue color too. If it is a leaky valve guide seal, and it only throws smoke upon startup, then I wouldn't worry about it, as long as oil consumption is not high. As for the coolant loss, if it's not being burned in the engine (Bob's advice for checking for presence of coolant on the dipstick is excellent), check for leaks in the hoses, the heater core (do you smell coolant inside the car?), the weep holes on the water pump, bluish-colored corrosion on the radiator core, etc.

[wrightz28]

My '85 had the same at startup from a bad vacuum modulator on the transmission.

[GreyGoose006]

burning coolant smells like sweet sugary syrup. smell your exhaust (but dont get carried away here, it can kill you)

also, to tell if its the water pump or hoses, put the car in drive and leave the parking brake on. put one foot on the brake and one on the gas.
rev it up to about what you would while driving.
hopefully, there wont be any puddles of coolant under the car, but if there are, then you have problems.

[jase386]

the poof of smoke doesnt smell like oil or coolant. it has a burnt plastic smell. i know what burnt oil smells like and what coolant smells like, and this isnt either?? we will try some solder seal just to see if we can stop the smoking till we can find someone we trust to build the engine.

the car is a wagon that belongs to a friend, and shes in love with it. and for $500 she didnt do bad. we put a radiator and a rear window motor in it, and thats it so far. no rust. and wood grain is still completely intact. weve taken two road trips one to a town 3 hours away, and another to a town 4 hours away, and the old wagon just keeps on getting it. runs great at 75mph, and 22mpg.

i just figured the seals had dried out when the car was sitting for so long, and we tried some marvle mystery oil in the oil, but that hasnt helped anything. thanks for the advise, ill try to get some pics of it posted some time, and keep the group posted. this is the first time ive posted in the Chevy forum, im usually up the hall in the buick forums, and sometimes next door in the lincoln forums. thanks for all the help and letting me post