Like the ***le says, the Edsel has thin white smoke curling out from under the oil cap when the motor shuts down. Not a huge amount, but it keeps going for a minute or two. Never while the engine is running, but after it's up to temp and turns off it happens every time. Any ideas? Sign of trouble or just old car doing what old cars do?
Just what old cars do...I ***ume there's some miles on the engine, as long as it runs well otherwise and isn't using an excessive amount of oil I wouldn't worry about it.
for you born after pcv guys that is normal. The old road draft tube relied on the cars forward motion to cause a low pressure area at the end of the tube drawing out the vapor. when you stop moving the air current stops and the hot air rises bringing the vapor with it. Now if its pumpig smoke at idle they you have ring blow by problems.
Water condensation in the oil is "boiling out", your engine is kind of acting like a stil. (sic?) In modern cars PCV reduces this action, and "closed" crankcases effectively mask and captures the steam that is produced.
That's re***uring. I'm probably jumping at ghosts from the persistent issues I've been having with this thing. I know the valve seals are going, but the oil consumption really isn't that bad. This is the first pre-pcv car I've had, so it was (and has been) disconcerting. The trouble is that the damn thing just won't hot start. When it's cold it fires up fine, ***uming I start it every day. It runs well, but then won't start back up. Makes getting gas a difficult affair. The motor has been making steady progress, but I swear... A friend has a 32 valve lincoln motor just sitting there and I'm about *this* close to dropping it in the Edsel and saving the 361 for a shoebox
Older cars love to vapor lock, you might need to wrap tinfoil around your fuel line to reflect heat away.
FWIW, my car used to start fine cold, but not when it was hot. Turned out my distributor clamp was no good, you'd tighten it and it'd be fine for a minute then loosen up. just see if you can rotate your distributor by hand to check it. I never woulda guessed
Maybe the start circuit for the ignition is not getting a full 12V when the starter is engaged? If so, If I were you I would start with a new coil and then move to the fuel system if that does no good. As strange as it sounds, you might have a fuel pump issue. Also try closing the choke by hand to see if this helps with your warm start. You might just be running too damn lean when the choke is OFF.
Describe the exact problem. Cranks well and doesn't start? Cranks slowly? Somewhere here will tell you how to fix it.
A buddy of mine had the same symptoms on his 498 inch big block Chevy. Thought hwe broke a piston. turned out to be 2 blown head gaskets.
Your car has a smoking addiction, send it to me and I will put it through my rehab program. The program takes up to a 12 months or 20,000 miles ,which ever comes fist. On the good side least it is not smoking tires , or is it?
When the car has been running and is up to temp, the motor turns over just fine. In fact, it usually has to do that alot. Giving it gas doesn't seem to help. It usually will finally catch once it's been cranking a long time without touching the gas at all. Fuel pump was replaced by the last owner 2 years ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good. Distributor clamp is a-ok, you can't even think about turning it by hand. A side (possibly related?) issue, the idle has been steadily creeping upward. I'm out of adjustment, and even if I disconnect the linkage it stays high. Does that make the alignment of the ****erflys suspect? If anyone knows I'd be happy to hear an answer. The car starts well, and falls into a smooth idle with a minimal amount of cajolling right after fireup. Motor runs like a top, it just can't start again unless it sits an hour or two. *Only* that one issue, but it's a doozie.
This is the type of thing I'm worried about. My old truck blew a head gasket in a very sneaky way. No mixing of oil and coolant, just a nagging ghost overheat. Couldn't drive more than 20 minutes at a time. Figured out the problem when the car erupted with a plume of white smoke out the exhaust. After teardown it had a hole nearly an 1/8 of an inch in size between #4 and the coolant jacket
You can talk yourself into a broken crank, a seized frammis regulator and a mummified barfoo injecticator if you want...it's a form of auto-hypochondria...but chances are it's just a simple thing. Hot start problems like yours are often caused by raw fuel being percolated out of the fuel bowl vent and down into the manifold causing a rich condition. I have the exact same problem with my '64 El Camino, especially in this hot Texas weather! After the car has set for a while the raw fuel evaporates and the problem disappears. Check to be sure there's at least one insulator gasket between the carburetor and the intake. To help the problem you can stack up several insulator gaskets, or find/make a thick one out of frenolic material. Aluminum conducts heat fairly well so one made from aluminum really won't help much. A sheet metal heat shield might also help reflect heat from the intake manifold away from the exterior of the carburetor. Setting your float level a mite on the low side might also help, as long as it does not adversely affect performance. This all ***umes that the needle/seat ***embly in your carburetor is up to snuff. If there's any doubt, rebuild the carburetor before you try the tricky stuff. Hope this helps. Good luck! Eric
as mentioned ^ it sounds like cl***ic perculation deal. You are basically trying to start a flooded engine. Do not pump the gas, Just slowly press it to wide open then crank the engine. And do set the float level a bit lower. This will mean there is less fuel in the bowl and more room for it to expand before it sloshes over. Todays gas is much more volitile ( temp and ease at which it expands and evaporates) than the old stuff. Thats the reason new systems use high pressure pumps that return unused gas to the tank, it basically a closed system and with the injectors shut off there is no place for it to go except back to the tank. Pull your dipstick and give the oil a sniff, if it smells like gas this will confirm the situation.
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