white smoke
white smoke
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
Likes: 12
From: Gateway to the West
White smoke or steam? Water is a natural by-product of internal combustion engines and it gets more prevalent if there is excess water in the fuel to begin with. Fuel line dryer like HEET will help cure this symptom HOWEVER...
Is this condition associated with performance or mileage loss? If so, its more likely to be oil or antifreeze. You say there is no anti-freeze in the oil. Have you checked the level in the cooling system lately? Don't rely on the overflow bottle to be correct. Wait 'til the truck is cold and check the level in the radiator at the cap. If it is low, top it off and go for a nice drive. If its low when you come back or within a day or two, you are losing it somewhere and if its not on the ground or the outside of the engine, then its surely getting inside somewhere. The most common internal leak point is the crossover passages in the intake manifold... LOWER intake manifold on EFI-equipped trucks. The repair requires removing the intake and replacing the intake-to-cylinder head gaskets.
I believe it was Stuntmanfyke who suggested that it could be a bad transmission regulator which could allow transmission fluid back through the intake. This would produce a very light blue smoke from the exhaust. If you have a 3-speed automatic in your truck, there is a regulator on the transmission.
Is this condition associated with performance or mileage loss? If so, its more likely to be oil or antifreeze. You say there is no anti-freeze in the oil. Have you checked the level in the cooling system lately? Don't rely on the overflow bottle to be correct. Wait 'til the truck is cold and check the level in the radiator at the cap. If it is low, top it off and go for a nice drive. If its low when you come back or within a day or two, you are losing it somewhere and if its not on the ground or the outside of the engine, then its surely getting inside somewhere. The most common internal leak point is the crossover passages in the intake manifold... LOWER intake manifold on EFI-equipped trucks. The repair requires removing the intake and replacing the intake-to-cylinder head gaskets.
I believe it was Stuntmanfyke who suggested that it could be a bad transmission regulator which could allow transmission fluid back through the intake. This would produce a very light blue smoke from the exhaust. If you have a 3-speed automatic in your truck, there is a regulator on the transmission.
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New User
Joined: Jul 2011
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white smoke
I'm sure there is no coolent loss, after reading, I think maybe I figured it out, valve stem seals, Ive done 3 so far and they were very bad so hopefully after finishing, it will fix the problem. what do you think?
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
Likes: 12
From: Gateway to the West
That would account for pale blue smoke from the exhaust as burning oil emits that color smoke. Valve seals tend to display initially as puffs of smoke upon acceleration from idle. Eventually though the seepage is pretty constant and renders a consistent blue-ish smoke from the exhaust.
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New User
Joined: Jul 2011
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it did not fix the smokeing 
. there is no compression in cylinder # 8 would that cause it to smoke
. there is no compression in cylinder # 8 would that cause it to smoke
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Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 9,182
Likes: 12
From: Gateway to the West
What did not fix the smoke? What did you do?
Zero compression in any cylinder is bad. It means that either you have a spark plug that is not seated, a valve stuck open, the head gasket is blown, piston rings are shot... and I mean SHOT, or (worst case) you have a crack in the head or block or a hole in the piston. The latter three would yield far greater problems than a little smoke.
Zero compression in any cylinder is bad. It means that either you have a spark plug that is not seated, a valve stuck open, the head gasket is blown, piston rings are shot... and I mean SHOT, or (worst case) you have a crack in the head or block or a hole in the piston. The latter three would yield far greater problems than a little smoke.
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New User
Joined: Jul 2011
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white smoke
I replaced all the valve stem seals I thought it would be the problem, it wasn't I should have checked the compression first. this is my first time working on a ford and first time that I bought one, I think maybe I should get an engine from the wrecking yard. It shows 49k miles but I think it probably turned 1 or 2 times by the shape the seals were in, do I sound stupid? I love cars/ trucks and love to work on them, kinda dumb for a girl? anyway what do you think about a different engine? Thanks
The Southernmost Mod
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 6,902
Likes: 21
From: Caracas, Venezuela
I bet you're having a crossfire in the sparkplug wires, that's one of the main causes of failures in the #8 cil. Check the firing order and keep the wire before #8 appart from it.
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New User
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no more white smoke
i checked the wires and they are not crossed, I did stop the smokeing unplugged the fuel injector to cylinder # 8 .Im gonna get rid of this moter and get another, can you tell me if a 390 or a 4.6L will fit this bell housing?
