Exhaust smoke from drivers side
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Exhaust smoke from drivers side
Ok I inherited a 1971 and this car sat under a car cover and car port for 7 years without being started. I changed the oil (added sea foam), spark plugs,drained the gas,put in new gas (added sea foam), put in a new fuel filter, and a battery and she started up. I drove it in the neighborhood a few times and it ran fine. Was waiting on getting the title situation straight for a year and now its smoking from the drivers side. It starts to smoke very lightly after a few minutes and is worst when it revs up. It looks white and smells light a rich burning fuel smell. After the car is cut off even after 5 mintutes there is smoke coming out liek there is somthing in the exhaust thats one fire. Smokes for a good 5-10 min afterwards. I hasnt been driven in 7 years so I dont know if its possible it could be something else besides a head gasket or crack.
Last edited by bad dnky; Sep 25, 2012 at 11:33 AM.
Race Director
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 18,740
Likes: 2,583
excessive white smoke is usually antifreeze. Do you see any brownish substance in the oil filler cap? Guess you havent driven it enough to know whether the coolant level is going down? Try pressure testing the cooling system.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
Most likely a head gasket. But, don't just change out the gasket on the 'bad' side; be sure to re-gasket both sides. If the smoke was blue and smelled of oil, the piston rings would be suspect. Without blue smoke, more likely to be head gasket problems.
P.S. Check to be sure your heat riser valve (right side exhaust manifold outlet) is opening. If that is rusted shut, it can be very damaging to the engine at higher than idle speed.
P.S. Check to be sure your heat riser valve (right side exhaust manifold outlet) is opening. If that is rusted shut, it can be very damaging to the engine at higher than idle speed.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,023
Likes: 6
From: Austin Tx
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 8,941
Likes: 35
From: El Cajon California