Swapped intakes, now white smoke

[recoiljunky]

I swapped the stock intake on my 302 for an Edelbrock Performer 289 intake and a Holley Truck Avenger.

The motor idles fine. I sprayed carb cleaner around the intake to check for leaks, none found.

When the motor warms up it starts to blow a good bit of white smoke out the pipes. I suspect that a water passage may be leaking onto a fuel/air passage.

I haven't run the truck down the road yet; the fuel tank is not hooked up yet. It's pulling fuel from a remote tank right now.

I haven't changed the oil yet. Any chance of coolant in the oil causing the smoke? I checked the torque on all the bolts. I used new Edelbrock gaskets and gasket adhesive on the block.

Someone please tell me I didn't screw up placing the intake on.

 

[slider58]

I think you answered your own question. White smoke generally means coolant in the combustion chamber. Did you let it run long enough to make sure it was not condensation in the muffler? Did you torque the bolts evenly and in the proper sequence? Aluminum intakes can be kinda fickle sometimes.

 

[kontinu]

I had the same problem when I changed my intake manifold. Turns out I did not put in on correctly, meaning tightening them in the correct order and to torque specs. When I did it worked fine and stopped smoking. I also used a good bit of rtv sealant the last time around all the holes and openings. take your time and do it right and you'll be fine. I did mine like 4 times

 

[recoiljunky]

I put gasket adhesive on the block side of the gaskets but did not put it on the intake side. I figured it wasn't necessary to create a seal; I was using it to hold the gaskets to the block. Maybe I need to pull the intake and apply the adhesive to the intake side of the gaskets too.

 

[Jungleboy]

White smoke is definatly a sign of water/coolant in the combustion chamber. If you didn't have the problem before the swap it is probable there is a problem with the intake or an intake gasket. Is your intake new or used? If you have access to a radiator/coolant system pressure tester it may help you with troubleshooting your problem. If you didn't have the probem before you changed the intake the problem should be isolated to what was changed on the engine. Hopefully it is just a bad or damaged gasket.

 

[recoiljunky]

It's a used intake.

For some reason, saving $65 doesn't seam like that great an idea right now.

I'm going to try re-torquing the bolts tomorrow.

It didn't smoke before I swapped intakes. It only smokes after it heats up. I haven't run it more than 30 minutes though, so maybe it just burning out spilled fluids. I'm still not giving up on the idea that coolent is in the oil yet, even thought the oil does not look milky.

 

[Pa PITT]

hay just a little more experiance......sealer both sides and tighten in order ....
About a 4 beer job.........

 

[recoiljunky]

hay just a little more experiance......sealer both sides and tighten in order ....
About a 4 beer job.........

Cool, I'll try that tomorrow.

I tightened them in order but must have needed the sealant on both sides.

 

[jrmyrgd]

I had the same problem about 10 years ago when saving money on a used intake also.my problem after 3 redues/install I strait egded the intake seal surface to find it was warped and not true. check it out maybe its not that.
good luck

 

[recoiljunky]

I broke it all down again.

Bought new gaskets (Felpro.)

Cleaned everything. Wiped down with gasoline. Allowed to dry. Vacumed valley.

Coated head surface with gasket adhesive. Placed small bead of High Temp RTV around water passages. Placed gaskets down on block and allowed to dry/stick to block.

Coated intake with gasket adhesive.

Placed RTV on the ends instead of cork gaskets.

Placed intake on block and torqued according to the sequence in the above post.

Waiting one hour for the bolts to stretch and recheck torque.

Maybe this will work.

 

[recoiljunky]

Well, that didn't seem to work.

It doesn't blow smoke until it's warm and then it pretty much only does it when you blip it.

I let it warm up until it started smoking. Then I tried to back it out of the garage but it would barely move.

I think I'll take a brake from it for a day or two.

 

[Pa PITT]

After it sets over night or a day or 2 does it miss when it 1st starts up ...and I guess you could pull the plugs one at a time and look see it they might be wet .....White smoke miss upon start up busted head ?????But I did want more info before I went there ..

 

[recoiljunky]

After it sets over night or a day or 2 does it miss when it 1st starts up ...and I guess you could pull the plugs one at a time and look see it they might be wet .....White smoke miss upon start up busted head ?????But I did want more info before I went there ..

No, it idles like a champ, even on start up after sitting a couple of days.

I'm really hoping it just has a bunch of water trapped in the exhaust. I still don't have the fuel tank hooked up so I haven't been able to road test it (it's drawing fuel off of a little red gas can sitting on the ground.)

 

[Skiddy]

Did you check it with a straight edge while you had it off?

 

[recoiljunky]

Did you check it with a straight edge while you had it off?

No, I read your post after I reinstalled the intake. The water passages do look a little boogered up. The water was eating away at the edges a little bit. I don't know if this is normal or how much is acceptable but it looked like it would still seal fine.

I'm not sold on the fact that my engine is consuming water. Like I said earlier, I'm going to have to road test it to be sure. A little smoke can look like a lot when you're blipping it inside a garage (yes, the door was open.)

 

[recoiljunky]

Good Lord! What didn't I get wrong?

I was thinking about my carb today and realized that I had my vacuum hoses hooked up wrong. The choke air had the brake booster hose hooked to it. The carb didn't have the nut looking thing on the choke air to keep it from having a hose hooked to it.

With fingers crossed I tried it again. It cranked, idled and warmed up fine. Once it was warm I tried to drive it a few feet. No dice. It bogged and stalled.

I checked the intake again and noticed that the brass plugs that filled the unused ports on the intake were not tight. They weren't that loose but they weren't that tight either. Tightened everything down and tried it again.

Now once it warms up it doesn't want to idle. If I crack the throttle it will idle (probably a little too fast.)

I'm thinking it may need a bit of a timing adjustment now. I'm going to hold off until tomorrow before I go adjusting anything. I'm putting the tank back in and it should be done by tomorrow (it's too dark to finish it tonight.)

 

[recoiljunky]

Turns out the PO sold it to me with three spark plugs less than finger tight.

Replace plugs and wires. Runs fine.