Ok, here’s another:

I’ve been looking for a past post dealing with this problem, but haven’t been able to find it… I thought I saw it once, but not even the search engine has helped me.

I got a lot of white smoke coming out of the exhaust; while running hot or cold. I haven’t been able to find a NEW carb here, gonna have to get one shipped here ASAP, but that’s gonna take a while. I have to prime my carb each time I start and although I do a warm up, she usually dies on me when I try to take off. While in the city, at this altitude (3600m) I have more trouble than at my country home alt of 1700m, but I always have to maintain my foot partially on the gas while slowing down, stopping at lights, etc. or she dies. Usually see smoke in 2nd and 3rd and always in reverse. If I want to turn the engine off and come back in 5 or 10 minutes, for it to start up with no problems I gotta rev up and let the carb fill before turning off. If I do this, usually I can just start up easily. But, normally I just prime.

What are the different possibilities and how fix?
Thanks,
Big John,
’79 F350 inline6 2x4 crew cab

 

White smoke like burning antifreeze? Is it loosing coolant? Does the whites smoke smell sweet?

With the engine off, look down the carb and move the throttle. Do you see streams of gas inside carb? You should. Check/replace fuel filter. Remove fuel line from carb and hold over a can. With engine idling, does there appear to be a good steady supply of fuel? Is the outside of the fuel pump wet with gas?

Why did you order a new carb? Are you thinking the troubles are in the carb?

Marty

 

You may need a fuel pump or filter for the carb problem, or the carb could be gunked up. You should not see any gas in the carb throat while idling unless the choke is on. The idle circuit is below the butterflies. The white smoke would be coolant probably if you don't have an auto trans. Are you losing coolant?

 

Thanks,
Nope, it's not coolant... haven't been losing any. Last year I flushed out all the crud, put on a new radiator and put on a new water pump.
The carb is running the most basic of ways. The choke has been nulled as well as the fuel return. We bought a repair kit and changed out packing and made sure it was all nice and clean. The carb problem is mainly a bother (having to prime). I'm worried about the white smoke. Actually I don't think the two are related.
I have an electric fuel pump (9 lbs) so, Also we re-worked the overflow from the carb back to the tank (just in case the pump might cause build up).
The engine hasn't received hard work from us... I do have a decent oil leak but haven't found any hint that it's burning oil.
That help?

 

it has manual transmission

 

Black Smoke = Too Much Fuel
Blue Smoke = Too Much Burning Oil
White Smoke = Condensation burn off or Coolant leak (head gasket? )

 

Thanks mill, that helps narrow it down.
Other than head gasket, what could it be?

If head gasket, are there other tell tale signs?
Does any body know what they call the head gasket in spanish? (pretty sure it's not "empaquetadura de cabeza")

 

you can tell if a head gasket is blowen by taking off the radiator cap and watching for bubbles. You do want the engine to be at operating temps before doing so, and be careful when removing the cap as it will be under pressure.

Keith

 

The other symptom of a faulty head gasket is gurgling/bubbling coolant in the rad.

 

thanks,... will check. Don't remember seeing bubbles, though. I'll let ya'll know asap.
Thanks again

 

Gordilocks,

In Mexico it would definitely be a "junta de cabeza", you might try "sello de cabeza", or cirumlucute...something like "el sello que se instala entre las cabezas y el bloque de cilindros". It's a long way from Tex-Mex to La Paz, but I bet that would get the point across. South America has some really unique technical terms, particularly Argentines.

3600 meters is almost 12000 feet of elevation! Is your motor jetted for that kind of altitude? I doubt you'll get one setup that will run well at both 1700 meters and 3600 without some serious carb tuning.

I don't have any clues to cure the smoke, hope some of the others help,

Bob

 

The best way to check for coolant is to pressure test the cooling system and see if it holds pressure and if not, find out where it is going.

 

My frend was having a problem whit his truck and it was white smoke, and this is what we faund the carburator it was durty, so we cleaned , he also add some of that fule cleaner to the fule tank, some time the tanks get water from the cheap gas, he star using beter quality of gas and the problem was solved. We asumed that that the tank had water from before, so give a try see what happen.

 

I agree, white smoke is typically caused by excessive moisture in the combustion chamber. In addition to head gasket leakage causing this, it can also be caused by a cracked or warped head or block, or a bad intake manifold gasket. Several tests can be performed to isolate the cause. Here are my favorites:

1. Remove the spark plugs and crank the engine. If you see smoke coming from one of the spark plug holes, this is the cylinder to focus on.
2. A compression check will tell you if you have a cracked block, head, or bad head gasket. If compression is OK, check your intake manifold gasket.
3. Checking for bubbles in the radiator can tell you that you have a cracked block, head or bad head gasket, but is not much help with a leaky intake manifold gasket.

If you do have water going into the combustion chamber you should start noticing the water level drop in the radiator. Also the problem should get worse as the engine heats up pressuring the cooling system.

Such problems seem to surface a lot about this time of year, when unexpected cold weather causes the temp to sore below the freezing point of your coolant. If you are confident that the engine did not freeze, my suggestion is to perform the spark plug test. If you see water vapor, remove the intake manifold and look for tears around the intake valve for that cylinder. You may get lucky and that is all it is. If not, you still have to remove the intake to get the head off!


EDIT:

This most likely is not your problem but I thought I would share it with you nonetheless. I have a 79 F150 4X4 that I purchased new. After about a year, I got nervous about driving it on the expressway during rush hour. Brakes are not a strong point of these vehicles. Anyway, to make a long story short, I parked the truck in my garage, and only used it when I needed home improvement materials.

The following year, I returned to college, the truck sat most of the time. In now has about 42K actual miles on it. Well, after 26 years of sitting, I relocated and needed my truck running. Although I started the engine every once in a while, I didn’t put many miles on it. When I fired it up, it ran terrible and smoked like crazy. People behind me became angry it smoked so badly.

During the moving process I had no time to even think about what the problem might be. Several weeks later, when the smoke cleared, pardon the pun, I was finally able to check it out. I removed the spark plugs and noticed the number 1 spark plug was covered with oil, all the rest burned clean. I thought it might be the oil seals around the valves dried up. Removing the valve pan on that side of the engine I expected the worst.

When I removed the cover I found that the intake push rod on number 1 cylinder was bent, and would not open the valve. The suction from the piston so strong that if sucked the oil past the valve seal. I purchased a new push rod at Autozone for $3, installed a new gasket and no more smoke.

I might add, that although the smoke appeared white, a closer look revealed a slight bluish tint to it.

Again, let us know what you find. Hopefully you will be as luck as I was.
John24255

Please write back and let us know what you find.
John24255

 

Pull your spark plugs and note the condition of each one.