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I have white smoke from my exhaust with that sweet smell of coolant. We have decided that one of the head gaskets is leaking, with much help from Form members. It doesn't look like I will need to pull the motor to get them out.
I finally got around to replacing the head gaskets. I had forgotten just how heavy those cast iron heads really are. After doing it by myself...I should have offered up some suds and had a couple of buddies over to help. Now to get these rockers adjusted correctly. I went ahead and installed a new intake while I was at it. If I had the money I would have sprung for aluminum heads. Oh my aching arms. But, the smelly white smoke is gone.
I finally got around to replacing the head gaskets. I had forgotten just how heavy those cast iron heads really are. After doing it by myself...I should have offered up some suds and had a couple of buddies over to help. Now to get these rockers adjusted correctly. I went ahead and installed a new intake while I was at it. If I had the money I would have sprung for aluminum heads. Oh my aching arms. But, the smelly white smoke is gone.
A set of Fel Pro from Jeg's. Now you want to hear the bad part. Got them all buttoned down, headers back on rockers adjusted, timing done. It acted great yesterday. Today I get in it and start it and a HUGE cloud of smoke appeared and would not go away. I did not do a valve job on it since I am thinking of upgrading. You think it blew a gasket or the valves finally gave out? It has 80K original miles on it. Fairly clean and well taken care of in the past.
Just a generic head gasket from FelPro? No part number or anything? Do you at least know the compressed thickness?
Did you use a torque wrench and follow the proper order when tightening down head bolts? Used sealant on the bolts?
Scott
Head set # Fel-Pro HS7733PT-2. It didn't say what thickness, but just stock. I did follow the proper order in tightening bolts with a torque wrench. I used sealant on the bolts.
Did you check the block and heads to make sure they were flat and nothing warped?
I looked up that part number and it looks like a set for $26, no gasket info. The Fel Pro head gaskets I use are Fel-Pro #1003 at $35 a gasket. But there are many different ones for different applications.
I don't think bad valves will leak coolant. You could have a coolant leak at the intake manifold gasket, or the head gasket, or maybe even a crack somewhere. It's really, really hard to say. How's the oil look? When you took the heads off, was there one combustion chamber that looked cleaner than all the rest? (That would be the coolant "steam cleaning" the combustion chamber)
I don't think bad valves will leak coolant. You could have a coolant leak at the intake manifold gasket, or the head gasket, or maybe even a crack somewhere. It's really, really hard to say. How's the oil look? When you took the heads off, was there one combustion chamber that looked cleaner than all the rest? (That would be the coolant "steam cleaning" the combustion chamber)
Scott
Yes, that was a full set. I went cheap since I was thinking about upgrading, but drive it while I thought about what I want. There was one piston that looked a lot cleaner. That's why I replaced the gaskets. I just don't understand why it was running right and then bam...smoke everywhere, but not coolant smoke like before. It was definitely oil. I am waiting for the Texas heat to go down so I can raise it up and look to see if anything is loose there.
I will do a compression check, but I am a little hesitant to crank the thing and smoke everybody out.
I had a similar problem with my 350SBC after replacing a bad head gasket......it turned out to be a poor gasket seal between the new aluminum intake and the head.....the leak was at an intake port causing that cylinder to suck in oil spray.
Once the head was removed it was easy to see which cylinder was taking in oil, and also easy to see the spot where I had unknowingly damaged the intake gasket.
(Since I had true dual exhausts with no cross-over tube, I knew that the driver's side head was causing the smoky exhaust.)
Take all the spark plugs out before doing the compression test...then you won't smoke up the neighborhood........AND label each spark plug so you will remember which cylinders they came from in case you find a couple "dirty" spark plugs.
I had a similar problem with my 350SBC after replacing a bad head gasket......it turned out to be a poor gasket seal between the new aluminum intake and the head.....the leak was at an intake port causing that cylinder to suck in oil spray.
Once the head was removed it was easy to see which cylinder was taking in oil, and also easy to see the spot where I had unknowingly damaged the intake gasket.
(Since I had true dual exhausts with no cross-over tube, I knew that the driver's side head was causing the smoky exhaust.)
Take all the spark plugs out before doing the compression test...then you won't smoke up the neighborhood........AND label each spark plug so you will remember which cylinders they came from in case you find a couple "dirty" spark plugs.
I wish I had read your reply before, but I went ahead and yanked the heads back off. You could see coolant on top of the heads and some in three cylinders one on drivers and two on passengers side. And I did have a three wet dirty plugs. I will see about a better set of gaskets and also intake gaskets tmo.
These are supposed to be my relaxing retirement years.
If your block, heads, and/or intake have been milled, you can have problems getting them to seal properly if using "standard" gaskets. Also, you could have cracks in the heads allowing coolant to enter the intake runners, etc.
If you want to keep the heads, it would be best at this point to take them to a good machine shop that works on head. They can check for cracks, evaluate the condition of valves/springs/guides/seals/seats and let you know what needs to be done to get them in decent shape.
Tell them you want them to INSPECT and EVALUATE, then contact you to discuss. Ask them what this cost ONLY would be, as you may decide to buy another set of heads.
If your heads are still good and can be refurbed for a decent price (less than $300), do it. But, also ask the folks at that shop how to determine what gaskets are needed for YOUR engine parts. They will describe how to "dry fit" your parts...without the gaskets...to determine if you need special gaskets which will provide proper sealing.
If your block, heads, and/or intake have been milled, you can have problems getting them to seal properly if using "standard" gaskets. Also, you could have cracks in the heads allowing coolant to enter the intake runners, etc.
If you want to keep the heads, it would be best at this point to take them to a good machine shop that works on head. They can check for cracks, evaluate the condition of valves/springs/guides/seals/seats and let you know what needs to be done to get them in decent shape.
Tell them you want them to INSPECT and EVALUATE, then contact you to discuss. Ask them what this cost ONLY would be, as you may decide to buy another set of heads.
If your heads are still good and can be refurbed for a decent price (less than $300), do it. But, also ask the folks at that shop how to determine what gaskets are needed for YOUR engine parts. They will describe how to "dry fit" your parts...without the gaskets...to determine if you need special gaskets which will provide proper sealing.
That's great advice. I do know a machine shop not far from me and I will take them Monday and have them checked out.
I hope you get it straightened out. You don't mention which gaskets you used but if you haven't used the Print-o-seal Performance ones from Felpro in the past, you may check them out.
There is a pretty big difference on the water passages for the center cylinders. Photo shows stock replacement on bottom and performance ones on top. To me this is a must have considering there are two exhaust ports right there building heat. Check out the difference:
I just had a set of heads pressure checked and some machine work done at Wolff Machine Shop. David is an honest guy who does good work. There were always several V8's around the shop and boxes of performance parts for builds.
I hope you get it straightened out. You don't mention which gaskets you used but if you haven't used the Print-o-seal Performance ones from Felpro in the past, you may check them out.
There is a pretty big difference on the water passages for the center cylinders. Photo shows stock replacement on bottom and performance ones on top. To me this is a must have considering there are two exhaust ports right there building heat. Check out the difference:
I just had a set of heads pressure checked and some machine work done at Wolff Machine Shop. David is an honest guy who does good work. There were always several V8's around the shop and boxes of performance parts for builds.
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Thanks! That really helps. I drive by there almost everyday and have seen it. I will swing by and speak with him and see what's up with the heads. The motor has never been apart. All original parts and gaskets. Never milled. It still had original head bolts with all the sealant crud on them. I have new bolts and sealant. The gaskets may just not be sealing. We will see if they are warped.
From: Las Vegas - Just stop perpetuating myths please.
How well did u clean the block and heads before reinstalling? The block deck and heads need to be squeaky clean - enough so the machine marks show and no gasket material at all remains. Usually takes a scotch brite like wheel on a drill - dont remove the machine marks though with any abrasive.
BTW with iron heads u can use a FelPro steel shim gasket 1094 (well its coated) with 0.015" compressed height (thats what i used). This will give a little compression increase and makes some piston to head quench which is a very good thing for performance and economy.
But a vlv job is always a good idea once the heads are off to make it worth while. If the heads have never been apart before the fit up should be ok. But why does your profile then say u have Pro Tork heads and Thumpr cam???
Head Pull question
