Ok so driving home yesterday I got the good old white smoke. Problem is I don't know WHEN it started because I was driving down a dusty kansas white rock road. Possibly a mile or two. I checked my coolant and it looks down a bit but not sure how much because it does leak some which is one of the many previous owner problems I have been slowly whittling away at. Now what to check first? I'll pull the dipstick when I get home this evening and see if it still looks like oil or a big mess. If you haven't read any of my other posts I just recently put a new a87 peanut head on, new gaskets for head, valve cover and manifold. Most of the manifold coolant lines (the ones that keep it from freezing in the winter etc) are all blocked off. We had been having a heck of a time with ping but got it dialed in pretty good but nothing like before I had to put the head on. It was supposed to go into the mechanic today for him to check everything out. blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Mostly I want to know is there anything else I can check before I take the head off again and any thoughts or question from you guys.
Thanks a lot!
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
I wonder if maybe my previous problem was that the BLOCK wasn't straight not the head. And then the head WAS warped after someone put it on that block? Again that sort of refers to my halfway home post.
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
Milky oil, if the coolant is seeping into the oil. Overpressurized radiator if combustion pressures are entering the coolant circuit. Coolant might also smell like exhaust. Coolant would have a sheen at the filler if oil's getting in to the coolant.
What did the Temp gauge read when you noticed the smoke?
If you suspect a bad head gasket (which brand did you use?), you can pull the head again and then check the block and head for flatness. You've just done the work, so it should be fresh in your mind (yeah, small consolation). Half a day's work to pull it and check it and get it back together if nothing else is wrong.
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
I imagine you have water in your oil (but check to be sure). The head gasket is a weak point on the L-series. I followed your previous post - but I don't remember - did you have the head surfaced to make sure it was straight - or did you get a rebuilt head....
The block could warp - but its a lot less likely than the head (cast iron - about 4 times as tall vs. a short long piece of aluminum.).
There really isn't any other way for water to get into the combustion chamber - unless you have a crack (doubtfull)
Let us know what the oil says.
You are getting to know a lot about this car in a short time......
Fill the rad cold and start and let run in driveway with rad cap off. If the gasket is bad between the cylinder and the water jacket, compression will easily push into the unpressurized cooling system. You should see bubbles work their way up to the rad top. The rad may even displace some water as the bubbles take up space before getting out. Let it warm up and try revving suddenly several times and wait and watch for bubbles. An unpressurized cooling system is no match for 180 compression.
If the leak is bad enough, water that doesn't boil off can work down past the rings and mix with the oil.
There are ways for coolant to get into the combustion chamber but one of them doesn't apply hear as you say you blocked the coolant holes in the head to the intake. Here's another but unlikely one, but it shows how anything is possible. When I was a kid my first car was a '64 Dodge slant six. One night I noticed that when I had it floored there was a huge white cloud of steamy exhaust behind me, but when I stopped it was gone. If I just drove it it was fine but as soon as I floored it there was white smoke. Drove me nuts all evening so I lifted the hood, nothing to see. So, I worked the throttle hard and revved it up. Both heater hoses loop together over the valve cover to the front of the motor to the water pump. When revved up the extra pressure would push open a small pin hole in one of the hoses. It would squirt directly into the air filter snorkel ... and into the engine where it would smoke out the tail pipe.
"Nissan 'shit the bed' when they made these, plain and simple." McShagger510 on flattop SUs
Tighten intake manifold Upper and lower.
A87s still have water passgae holes in the head I believe, still could leak unless u used a pipe plug to thread in the the hole.
Ck the spark plugs. If its sucking water they will look nice new and Clean(white porcelin). That will narrow it down abit but still could be loose intake/exhaust bolts.
My beater 510 the bolts get loose but I run Sidedraft carbs and the head is plugged so no water leaks.
So the gasket has to be bad, plugs are soaked, with the cap off it shoots like a geyser. Apparently though while I was inside my helper cranked it over with the cap on as well and it made a pretty good bang inside the motor. No idea how loud, probably have a bent valve again now from water in there?
Taking the head off tomorrow. Hainz that passage you are talking about, do you have a pic of that or is it in the book? If I'm in a cold climate is that one of the holes I want to leave open? I'll tighten the manifold as well. I was afraid of tightening it too much so that's a good possiblity.
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
The best way to quickly tell if water is getting into the oil is to remove the oil filler cap and look underneath the cap for milky oil. That will identify even a small leak.
Is there a "good" head gasket to use. I need head, valve and manifold again I guess. No idea on the brand I had before.
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
goatee wrote:Apparently though while I was inside my helper cranked it over with the cap on as well and it made a pretty good bang inside the motor. No idea how loud, probably have a bent valve again now from water in there?
Might have hydrolocked the engine? Will it turn over?
Any update from the head-off inspection?
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
goatee wrote:Is there a "good" head gasket to use. I need head, valve and manifold again I guess. No idea on the brand I had before.
Fel-Pro is considered "good." Their headgasket kit (not just the head gasket) should include all you need.
Is your head still flat? Any damage from the bang?
Because when you spend a silly amount of money on a silly, trivial thing that will help you not one jot, you are demonstrating that you have a soul and a heart and that you are the sort of person who has no time for Which? magazine. – Jeremy Clarkson
Ok thanks guys. I'll be pulling the head this evening and I'll update you.
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
James thanks for checking up, I did take the head off last night but I didn't take pictures because it was too dark. I'll get some asap when I get home. The gasket was all but totally eaten away in the center where I believe the water passages are (remember I know nothing about this). The guy I brought along for advice said the head even though it's be redone etc has really been eaten away at the water passage areas so the holes are pretty wide. My father in law had noticed that the area on the block I'm talking about wsa slightly pitted. You can hardly even tell when you put your finger on it but it has that look to it. My friend suggested taking my head and gasket to a local guy here and asking his opinion. he has a straight edge also. He also looked at my gasket and thought it looked like a piece of junk.
I'll get some shots when I get home
Oh on hainz note, he did say too that it didn't look like the exhaust manifold gasket was sealing very well so maybe that IS a possibility also. The studs I have for that area really kind of suck and I just don't feel like I should tighten them down much. I'll have to look at the torque specs for that area because we DIDN"T torque those just tightened them.
Is my dime pretty rough? yep Could it use an owner with a little more mechanical expertise? yeah probably. Does it look like every other beige sedan in the parking lot? No sir it doesnt.
Possibly a mile or two. I checked my coolant and it looks down a bit but not sure how much because it does leak some which is one of the many previous owner problems I have been slowly whittling away at. Now what to check first? I'll pull the dipstick when I get home this evening and see if it still looks like oil or a big mess. If you haven't read any of my other posts I just recently put a new a87 peanut head on, new gaskets for head, valve cover and manifold. Most of the manifold coolant lines (the ones that keep it from freezing in the winter etc) are all blocked off. We had been having a heck of a time with ping but got it dialed in pretty good but nothing like before I had to put the head on. It was supposed to go into the mechanic today for him to check everything out. blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. 
