steve228

Hi all, I need a diagnoses.
Last night i was working on my 81, head light stuff...and needed to start it up and back it out of the garage a bit for clearance to move around.
It's a 2000 GM vortech holley 670,performer manifold,stock exhaust.
car is timed per lars,engine starts and runs fine.
The only change i made is to hook up the two passenger head light vacuum hoses,all others are hooked up or capped.
when i started it i had a build up of smoke.at first it looks like vapor,but then it builds to a point where i must shut it down or choke on the carbon monoxide. o.k. i may be am being a bit paranoid,but could the vacuum hoses being hooked up change my carb settings?
the vacuum before the hook up wa 20hg steady. a forum member once posted a similar look of his 67 condensation. the volume was alot,and the smell is carbon monoxide/exhaust...no fuel smell,no oil smell.what gives? any help is appreciated.Steve

Jud Chapin

What color was the smoke? Black is fuel, blue is oil, and white is water.

steve228

white,and there was a bit of moisture on the ground from the passenger pipe.

Durango_Boy

Did you let it warm up? If it gets up to operating temperature and you still see large volumes of white smoke then you are probably burning coolant.

You can also pull the plugs to see if they look 'clean' as burning water will do.

what was the weather last night when you started it, and do you usually ever start it and let it sit or do you drive it? I'm thinking you may just be smelling the normal exhaust smells and are seeing the condensed moisture in the exhaust.

Jud Chapin

I would take it out for a drive and get it fully warmed (1/2 hour or so) and see if it clears up and then again after a cold start. It could just be a lot of condensation in the exhaust. Constantly starting a car for a short period of time to move it around can cause this problem as well as others including fouled plugs. The other possibility is a blown head gasket.

steve228

The smoke did'nt take long to accumulate,Ackkk...so no I did not let it run up to temp..I was thinking maybe my choke is opening too soon? as it was not idling high.
Temp was around 57*F to 60*F
I will ck.the plugs today after work.

steve228

Actually if it's a blown head gasket I would not be down...it would be a relief.
Would'nt I hear a Ticking sound if it was blown?
Also,since it's a 2000 Vortech GM5700 motor and not an original
Vette motor,what plug heat range shoud i use?
currently i have the stock bosch plat.plugs for a 5700 motor.

Durango_Boy

Was the engine rebuilt when it was installed or did it come with some mileage?

There are a few tests you can do if you think the white smoke it thick enough to suggest a blown gasket. You can do a compression test on each cylinder, and you can do a coolant pressure test using a kit easily rented at most parts stores.

steve228

28,000 mi. before i got it.katrina brought down a tree on the rest of the vehicle,so i jumped on it.
I'll ck compression on each cyl. can you tell me the normal range?

Durango_Boy

If it's under 100K I would suspect around 150 - 160 should be your average. The overall average is less important though, than making sure a single cylinder's compression is not significantly lower than the rest. If one, or a side by side pair have a compression number far less than the others then you may have found a gasket break.

steve228

Thank you,Durango boy,and Thank you Jud Chapin for your help.
I was concerned that it could be a valve thing...out of my expertise.
Plugs,compression,Gasket worst case scenario,is an easy remedy for me.Again thank you both for your Help.Steve

Jud Chapin

You're welcome, Steve, and hope it's an easy resolve.