My 40 Ford has a white smoke condition. It has 60,000 miles on it and has never been rebuilt. What hould i do to correct the problem
Run a compression test, if a couple adjacent cylinders are low they may be swapping compression through a bad head gasket. Does it blow smoke all the time, just on start up? Running hot, lost any coolant, bubbles in the radiator? Coolant in the oil? Running any different since it started smooking.
kevin.. as posted.. it may have a crack??? did you ever find that other fender you were looking for? Jeff
Head gasket... If it's something worse, just drive it till you can't anymore... Nothing you can do about that anyway. Find a good block and start on you next build while you're driving the smoke-screen special...
Drain the oil, the tell tale oil-coolant "milk shake" will answer the question. (hope you don't see it)
If the coolant is leaking into the oil you can check it for a chocolate milkshake goop on the end of your dipstick, then drain the oil pan and raditor and sit down and cry alot. Seriously, if the headgasket on one side or the other is the problem, remove the head(s) and replace it (or both) if you feel better about it. After you get the heads buckled back down and before your start the engine, flush the cooling system thoroughly. Hopefully you didn't have the milkshake in the oilpan 'cause that's a job to wash that mess out of there.
Where is the white smoke coming from? Just the tail pipe or also out of crank case breather? The crank case breather on that year's flatmotor is on the p***enger side, front of the oil pan. An excess of white smoke coming out of the breather could mean weak piston seal too. Compression test would help. The thoughts on the coolant are good also.
update on the problem...i had to rebuild the carb the seals were bad and it wouldnt hold any fuel...now its back to working properly the engine fires right up it runs and idles fine just tons of white smoke out of the tail pipe after it runs a little while...also seems to have excessive water come out when i give it gas...i checked the coolant i havent really lost any but im not sure i havent owned the car that long...its very green in color no oil in it or anything...nothing to indicate coolant milkshake in the oil pan either...oil is just dirty...looks fine...i think that ill try replacing head gaskets and see what happens...what do you guys recommend as far as gaskets go...copper or steel?
I like copper. Before you pull the heads, pull the spark plugs. Might fine a wet one, then pull that head. Run a compression test, as there is no need to pull both heads.
Original '40 engine - 221?? If it is, then I recommend the NAPA 1026K (I think that's the number) - they're the modern blue gaskets, require no sealant/coating, & minimal retorqueing.
so i drained the pan...just dirty oil no anti-freeze in it...the head gaskets were alright. I think there was a spot where it may have been bad...I think im going to pull the motor and do a rebuild as long as im replacing seals i should just do everything.
Hi I am going through the same thing 1950 original mercury that was overheating due to broken thermostats and too much water in rad according to PO. Well new plugs and therms in and now the car is smoking white as well, What did you get after replacing the head gaskets? Did you reuse the same bolts as last time? Did you torque them with oil?
Are you using aluminum heads? How bad did it overheat? Either way, I'd have your heads checked. There's a chance they could have warped which could make head studs and torquing technique irrelevant.
It sounds like the rings are gone. After 60000 miles it needs to be rebuilt. The cyliners look like this ()
..i think that ill try replacing head gaskets and see what happens...what do you guys recommend as far as gaskets go...copper or steel?[/QUOTE] Use the new graphite ones from best gasket, I ran the copper ones for years, I like them to, I tried the new graphite ones for the heck of it, they seemed to solve a problem for me, I like them better, just my opinion
look to see if the "smoke" disappears after it leaves the exhaust pipe, or if it lingers. If it evaporates away it's coolant.....if it doesn't it is indeed smoke......head gasket leaks don't always show up in the pan. (milkshake condition)
YEah my smoke disappears after it leaves the pipe... its gotta be water just waiting to get some headgaskets and seeing if the problem gets fixed that way. Should I Machine the heads? or just replace the gaskets and go... what torque should I torque the bolts? Also any other methods to lossen the heads besides the nylon rope in cylinder method?
clean the heads and block of all gasket material.....use a straight edge and a .004 feeler gauge to see if everything is flat...if so put the new gaskets on....I don't follow the rope deal.....just take the bolts out.....righty tighty, lefty loosy.
i was told that just taking out the bolts will not let you pull the heads off they are gonna be on there and one way to pry them off is to slide some nylon rope in the cylinder and then hit the starter and the rope compressed will pop the head off the block.... old timer trick
I see....I guess if the heads have been on the motor for years you may have trouble getting them off......sounds like it would work.....somethings gonna give for sure
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