More car questions

A

ACEGOLFCARTGUY

Cartaholic
Whew I'm filling up this section with questions. I am stumped trying to figure out if my 91 Toyota pickup 22re engine is ok. I recently replaced the timing chain and while doing so messed up the head gasket. It would spew oil out the side at the top where the timing cover meets the head after I got it all put back together. I pulled the head to replace the head gasket and have been driving it around. I don't see any more major leaks, a drop every now and then but I think that's from the oil pan.
The thing is when the engine first starts up there is some white smoke coming from the exhaust.
yucky.gif
The smoke goes away after a minute and the truck runs good without over heating. I can't tell if there is antifreeze in the oil. It doesn't have that milkshake look in the oil yet like one of my other trucks did. However, there is oil in the radiator, I wonder if that is from before the new head gasket? A good sign is I pulled the radiator cap while the engine was running and don't see any air bubbles in the antifreeze. Could it still be my head gasket handy work isn't so great?
Thanks for the help!!
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
Is the smoke antifreeze or oil? You should be able to tell by the smell.

I'd say the first thing to do is pressure test the cooling system...
 
A

ACEGOLFCARTGUY

Cartaholic
Ok HRC, I did the cooling system pressure test and it slowly dropped from slightly over 1 down to 0.9 during 5 minutes. Then kind of leveled out at 0.9. The system is rated at 0.9 but I accidentally went over that pumping it up.

I did see a hose dripping coolant when the system was pressurized. I'm going to replace that and try it again.


I can't tell if the smoke smells like antifreeze. It just smells like a normal exhaust to me, not sweet or maple syrupy.
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
If it held pressure you should be ok. You could start it with your pressure guage on the radiator and let it run to see if it's building excessive pressure. I'd flush the radiator and start with fresh antifreeze.

Normally if a engine only smokes (oil) when it's started then quits it's valve guides or valve seals causing it...

Also if the engine has been sitting a long time it may clear up after you run it a while...

As long as you don't have water in the oil and after flushing the radiator no oil in the radiator I'd start driving it and see what happens...
 
A

ACEGOLFCARTGUY

Cartaholic
I don't know what to think about this, HRC. Flushed the radiator and rode around with Prestone radiator flush in it for 3 hours, 103 miles today. Went up a mountain, no overheating. It ran great the entire day but continues to drip water out the tail pipe and there's the occasional white, non smelly smoke. The engine oil still looks crystal clean. If it was a leaky head, how long would it usually take to notice water in the oil? I'm going to drain the radiator flush stuff now and see what the water looks like if there's oil in the radiator.
 
HotRodCarts

HotRodCarts

Cartaholic
If the head gasket is leaking it's probably leaking into a cylinder and you wouldn't get water in the oil. Pull the spark plugs and see if any are real white...
 
A

ACEGOLFCARTGUY

Cartaholic
HRC, I'm still skeptical the head maybe leaking although adding up the mileage driven so far with out problems, there was the 100 miles after flushing the radiator, a 4 wheeling trip 150 miles, driving back and forth to school I would say by now there's close to 500 trouble free miles on it.

The reasons I think it's leaking but not sure include the white exhaust smoke that comes and goes. It billows out when cold(condensation?) then eases up to almost nothing after a few minutes. But there are times it randomly puffs even after warming up completely. Exhaust does not strike me as smelling like antifreeze, but it may to someone more experienced.
The antifreeze in the radiator still looks clean and does not bubble or overheat, however, checked the overflow tank recently and it shows close to the low mark after having been full after the radiator flush.
One day there was some creamy residue on the oil cap. It has not happened again yet and the oil on the dipstick is not milky.

I did a compression test and all the cylinders were within 10 psi of each other.

dazed053.gif


Dang gas engines...electric motors are the way to go man!
thumbup.gif
rotflmao.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top