People are probably going to start yelling at me because i post questions everyday.. Im sorry in advance. alright i have a white smoek coming from just about everywhere on my 73.
1) out my exhaust when its cold, a lot of water is coming out as well
2) Out my breather and PVC when it not in
3) Out where the distributor sticks into the manifold
-Any help on these three that would be wonderful!
Also for a fourth problem so i dont have to make another post and piss more people off than i probably already have.
4) My car will run just fine and then everything gets sort of bogged down and it almost dies and i have to keep it alive. but then it will kindof pop(not really a backfire but sort of like when you pull a cork out of a bottle) and then everything will run smoothly, Except the smoke coming from everywhere that remains a constant.

Once agian im sorry for any problems i am causeing. but give me a break im only 18 still in highschool im still learning about cars!!

Water out of exhaust is normal, byproduct of combustion.

Smoke out of breather and PVC is blowby, rings sound weak.

Smoke by distributor is a new one on me, that should be sealed with a gasket under the distributor base.

Have no idea on the bogging down.

I'm guessing by the amount of white smoke you said is coming out of everywhere you blew a head gasket.How's the oil look?

I agree, it sounds like a head gasket. Check the oil to see if it is milky looking. Even if it is not, you may have blown a gasket. If the white smoke hangs around a long time and smells like buring oil, it probably is. If the white smoke does not hang in the air long, and has a sweet smell, or no real smell it is antifreeze and water. Check the level in the radiator to see if it is low as well.

Jon

MMmm burning antifreeze. One of those smells you just associate with working on a car..

'specially when all the hoses break/rust/leak onto the ground/exhaust pipes.

The oil is good i changed it aboout 3 or four times since i did my head gasket last year. any possibility i screwed up installing the head gasket?
also the gasket on the distributor is totally blown away so im gonna put a new one in
the white smoke doesnt hang around, more like steam than anything. no smell and radiator levels havent really changed since i filled it.

Im starting to think weak rings becasue the oil has a gassy smell to it. Am i on the right track? Is there anything that can be done to change this besides replacing them?

thanks guys (and gals?)

Yes I agree, rings. Reason is you mentioned no smell of antifreeze, problems with oil, or billowing smoke constantly from exhaust.

The only solution for rings that are this bad is to rebore the cylinders and install new pistons and rings. Your engine sounds very tired. You have lots of blowby.

I had my car running this afternoon and oncc it warmed up there was no sign of smoke anywhere life before. So im not really sure what the heck is going on. it will probably smoke next time i start it. this problem is startting to piss me off. how much is it to rebore and new rings? I guess im gonna do this as a last resort. i dont want to do tis because it runs just fine but i guess if i have to i will.

What causes a head gasket to blow anyways? I have a similar problem with my 71 SS. Everytime I start it I get a billow of white smoke.

Reading this post is making me worry if I did blow it. Any feedback would be appreciated =)

detonation... aluminum heads on an iron block.. overheating.. that could cause gasket failure.

I'm with Rick. Light white smoke during warmup is normal for any car. Lots of smoke or pressure from the PCV or anywhere on the engine is ring leakage.

Thanks for the reply!

I believe I have a timing issue, air/fuel mixture is set wrong. It's not much like 1978LT said. It clears up after I rev the engine up a bit.

Undertow, if you get a quick blow of smoke on startup, take a look at your valve seals.

I'll check that out, thanks merlin.

A friend of mine told me to check out the Transmission Modulator. I'm trying to remember what he said considering it was late as heck. He told me that if the Modulator was toast, it's sending Tranny Fluid to Intake? Is that right?

I'll check that out, thanks merlin.

A friend of mine told me to check out the Transmission Modulator. I'm trying to remember what he said considering it was late as heck. He told me that if the Modulator was toast, it's sending Tranny Fluid to Intake? Is that right?

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71 Camaro SS

Undertow... Yes if the Transmission Vac. Modulator is bad then you will get white-ish smoke out the pipes.

The engine's vac. sucks on the hose/modulator. There ATF behind the modulator, and a rubber "seal" inside the modulator. That seals the ATF from the inside and hose.

If that rubber has a tear, or blown, then the AFT will be drawn through the modulator, up through the hose to your intake, then down the intake runners, into the heads, into the chambers, and exit out the exhaust as smoke

yeah, excellent point, you can use a vacuum pump to check that guy out. just hook her up the line running to the intake and pull a vacuum. if it doesnt hold(or you get a pump full of tranny fluid http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/smile.gif, its bad