• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Smoke question

Share this page

Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

Run it hard.....Enjoy it.....It won't last long.
Just like life.

Then rebuild it.
Reincarnate it.

Re-enjoy it.
Don't sweat the engine stuff.

A lot of Brit cars live longer than we do.
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

[ QUOTE ]

Also, I checked my rad expansion tank and it is empty, and th owners manual says that it should be about 1/2 full...maybe I should flush and refill the rad and refil the expansion as well? I figured when I drop the oil I should be able to tell if there is water in it...

[/ QUOTE ]

Check the coolant level in the radiator by opening the fill cap. It should be full to the top, as well as the expansion tank being one-quarter to one-half full. If i is not fill it.

As a quick measure, water in the oil can be checked by looking at the dipstick. It should have a black oil appearance if all is well, or a milky white-brown-blackish color if there is water in it. You don't need to wait till "when I drop the oil"
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

Some updates...

The coolent level in the rad itself is full to the top, obviously check when the car was cold...and there seems to be no fluid in the catch bottle, and it seems to stay dry, so I don't believe any is going in or out at all, and th fluid looks good, nice and green and does not appear oily...

When I check the oil via the dipstick, it looks good, pretty fresh, and not milky...and the level seems to be good, about 1/2 inch above the low line...

I did get a puff of white smoke this AM on startup though...nothing after that...

Oil pressure is high until the car warms up, needle goes to 100, then once it is warm it idles around 40, and under power rises to about 50-60...however when cruising on the highway, staying in 4th gear (no OD) after it gets really warmed up, the cruising pressure seems to be low, around 25-30...

I am taking the car over to the mechanic who has done quite a bit of work on the car in the past for the previous owner, so I am going to have him drive it, and bounce some of these things off of him...

I'll report back tommorow, and thanks again for the input...I am learning, slowly, but learning none the less...

Mike
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

Alan Myers sumed it up best (like usual)check everything the way he said. I would put my money on a leaky/blown head gasket. run 20/50 in the summer but in your area I would run 10/40 in the winter.
 
LZ, Landing Zone, Green cool, red hot, pop your flare and get a call back on the color, e.g purple is Goofy Grape, etc.
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

Well, I just left the mechanics and it is not the head gasket! It took everything I had to not jump up and down! Turns out there was a breather hose that came out of the valve cover, that was routed into a nipple at the top of the carb (Webber), that fed into the air filter...well, the foam of the filter was getting sucked up into the nipple that the breather hose, not letting it breath...which explains the oil coming out of the top of the fill cap, and part of why it was pushing so hard out of the valve cover gasket...so we unhooked the hose and let it hang open for the ride home, jumped on the freeway and buzzed home for at 70-75 the whole way, just over 4K...NO SMOKE at all!!! I expected to see some oil out of the hose when I got back, but there was none, it looks like all it wanted to do is breath! I will probably just put a little K&N style filter on the end of it, or just let it hang into a catch or toward the bottom of the engine...also, it turns out that there is Mobil One 15/50 Synthetic in there now, so when I swap that out, I'm going to give some Castrol 20/50 regular oil a try, see how the leaks are then...valve cover gasket came in today as did the new engine mounts, so in the next week or so, the car should be good to go!

So happy I don't have to tear into that engine yet...

Thanks again for all the help so far guys!


Mike
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

It must have not been pure white smoke that you see with coolant in the exhaust, it must have been light blue---in any case glad to see it is fixed.
 
Re: Smoke question...and low[?] oil pressure

Well, I was confused about that as well, but he said that very fresh oil will burn white when combusted, but it also very well could have been a faint blue, it was tough to tell, as the only time it was happening I was doing 70! I'm am also not familier with what I am looking for, but it sure looked white to me!


Mike
 
Back
Top