Car will not drive white smoke from behind engine and exhust

deekster_caddy wrote:

pull your plugs. Do a compression test. You don't want to do the LIM gasket only to discover that you need a head gasket (and thus have to do the LIM all over again).

Admittedly it is very common to need a LIM gasket, but you should do a compression test beforehand anyway, and plug inspection. That way you know which cylinder you are looking for and you know what leak to confirm when you get the LIM off. You should be able to locate the passage the coolant was using to get to the intake runner.

Rent a compression tester from Autozone or buy one from Sears, or wherever. They aren't that expensive.

will do sir!

I got a dollar on cylinder #4...

any takers

97rivman wrote:

I got a dollar on cylinder #4...

any takers

are you saying theres no more piston in cylinder #4? or that will just be my problem cylinder?

98riviera98 wrote:

97rivman wrote:

I got a dollar on cylinder #4...

any takers

are you saying theres no more piston in cylinder #4? or that will just be my problem cylinder?

hes saying that he thinks you blew your head gasket around the #4 cylinder. I believe its a "middle" cylinder and those theoretically get hotter and are most likely to blow and lose compression. Could be more than one cylinder.

the compression test will tell you for sure. if any of the cylinders have noticeably lower compression than the others....well, hello weekend project. of course he could be talking about actually blowing the head gasket and then chunking a piston. That would be even worse.

[quote="dreww]
the compression test will tell you for sure. if any of the cylinders have noticeably lower compression than the others....well, hello weekend project. of course he could be talking about actually blowing the head gasket and then chunking a piston. That would be even worse.[/quote]

After reading the title......I'd like to ask more questions.

Is the white smoke coming from the backside of the motor, from the exhaust or both?

How much coolant is this actually using?

How does the motor run? Running hot or warmer than usual?

BillBoost37 wrote:

After reading the title......I'd like to ask more questions.

Is the white smoke coming from the backside of the motor, from the exhaust or both?

How much coolant is this actually using?

How does the motor run? Running hot or warmer than usual?

The white smoke is coming from something leaking onto the rear exhaust manifold. AND the rear tail pipes ALL starts smoking 20 seconds after startup


my radiator is 3/4 full


i havent ran the engine long enough to find out






I was told it MAY BE in limp mode???? how do i reset this??

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/articles1.php?id=41

Just because your quarter time is so low for a stock pulley , i assume you probably are running pretty advanced timing , so i think this article might apply.

cylinder #4 has been a repetitive hot spot for our cars, more so than gtp's, because theres a bunch of relays and modules right above it and heat doesnt escape.

I chunked a piston when mine blew, but i knew it instantly from the sound and the whole car shut-off at 80 mph. But the white smoke was the tell-tale sign.
There wasnt any immediate signs of head gasket blow-out, but the crack up the entire cylinder wall doesnt help at all. and no way to determine when anything actually happened.

Have you drained your oil yet? Your gonna have to do it anyways. If it were me, I would just start tearing it down. Because if it is fucked, no reason to start buying gaskets u dont need.

Well today i bought a new tranny filter just because i have never dropped the pan and well this is what i found

Sorry for the cell phone pics..
MORE CARNAGE!


After realizing my tranny was hosed i decided to move to my engine issue... disconnected a few wires undid a few bolts and junk and this is what happend in 2 hours


And the next crappy pic


AND of course i decided to supercharged the riding lawnmower while i was at it




TO tonysmooth Well i decided i might as well replace the head gaskets while im at it
how long does it take to remove the heads while i already have the blower and lim off? dont i basically take off the head studs? and the exhaust manifolds and its a done deal? would i need new head studs or bolts?

TO 97rivman..... Nope no metal iin the oil.......

hahaha. Man I hope the dime is for size reference.

Jason wrote:

hahaha. Man I hope the dime is for size reference.

you better believe it is!

gosh dude! you have me rollin on the ground OF COURSE its there for size difference

Jason wrote:

hahaha. Man I hope the dime is for size reference.

So THATs where all the change that falls into our seats ends up.

sorry for your trans' catastrophic death. R&R now.

did you get a ported SC?

Jason wrote:

sorry for your trans' catastrophic death. R&R now.

did you get a ported SC?

I can get a ported blower and Lim for a REALLY good price but im not sure yet what im going to do........... have you ever taken a head off a L67?

If you already have the LIM off there's not much more to getting the heads off. You'll have to unbolt the PS pump and the rest of the alternator bracketry, plus the coilpack mounting on the other side, but otherwise you are very close to there.

If you are getting in there, might as well get all the way in.

Did you do a compression test? It's unlikely, but you could have a broken ring letting oil blast through as well. Did you notice any blow-by (remove oil fill cap with engine running, any air blowing out of it?) Did you notice any plug looking vastly different from the rest?

Any fluids under the car where you park? If so can you see where it's dripping from? This could all have been a rear valve cover gasket leaking...??

These are important clues that should have been checked before you started ripping it apart. It's not too late to do a compression test, as long as you disconnect your fuel pump first.

deekster_caddy wrote:

If you already have the LIM off there's not much more to getting the heads off. You'll have to unbolt the PS pump and the rest of the alternator bracketry, plus the coilpack mounting on the other side, but otherwise you are very close to there.

If you are getting in there, might as well get all the way in.

Did you do a compression test? It's unlikely, but you could have a broken ring letting oil blast through as well. Did you notice any blow-by (remove oil fill cap with engine running, any air blowing out of it?) Did you notice any plug looking vastly different from the rest?

Any fluids under the car where you park? If so can you see where it's dripping from? This could all have been a rear valve cover gasket leaking...??

These are important clues that should have been checked before you started ripping it apart. It's not too late to do a compression test, as long as you disconnect your fuel pump first.

I totally forgot to do the compression test........... the front three plugs were 5 months old and they looked like they came out of a 100 year old car..... they were very rusty and they had ALOT of carbon on the end.......

im going to do the valve cover gaskets when i remove the heads

if it does look like its dripping from the rear valve cover than i will just replace the valve cover gaskets and call it a day

You can still do the compression test, it would be a real shame to do the VC and get it all back together only to find out you need to tear it all down again.

Agreed, test everything you can before pulling. Head gaskets are costly and a pain to change.

If you believe your heads were manufactured in 96 or 97, then you should automatically send them out to be magnafluxed. Those years are known for having cracks. Even tiny ones could be adding to the issues.

When doing heads, along with everything Derek mentioned, you will need to unbolt the exhaust from the head as well.
New parts should include valve cover gaskets, fuel injector o rings, LIM gasket, SC to LIM gasket, TB gasket if you remove it from the SC to clean, head gaskets, Head bolts, rocker bolts (head and rocker bolts are TTY from GM and should not be reused ever), coolant elbows.

Now if you plan a build up in the future this is a perfect time to plan ahead with some ARP reusable head bolts, reusable rocker bolts, etc.

how long would it take me to remove both heads from the stage im at??? input now please THANKS

98riviera98 wrote:

how long would it take me to remove both heads from the stage im at??? input now please THANKS

the hardest thing to get at is the rear exhaust manifold. depending on where ur car is situated, i would pull the whole motor and trans. it wil be a hell of alot easier to reassemble and reinstall assuming you have a lift. Or drop the the whole subframe. Either way is fun....

the rear mani is easily accessed from underneath. In my garage you'd be another hour to have the heads off.