Still smoking

I can't see the post about "pipe in the throttle body"

Cold engines steam normally it comes from the moist air being drawn into the engine. On cold moist days you can get around 7 gallons of water vapour per gallon of fuel used. If you are not using coolant what is your problem. Take the plugs out and look for a clean one if they are all coloured forget about it and enjoy the motor.

Ok Wammers I will check the plugs.

I managed to find the other thread about the inlet pipes so im going to check them as well.

crossa said:

I can't see the post about "pipe in the throttle body"

Click to expand...

sorry it says v8 losing water not o rings. Then its about a pipe leaking.

v8hotrodboy said:

sorry it says v8 losing water not o rings. Then its about a pipe leaking.

Click to expand...

Found the post thanks.

While the heads were off I did notice the bit where those water pipes sat on the inlet manifold had been off at some point, as it was gumed up with gasket seal. So if I have to do the heads again (please if there is a god don't make me have to do it again) I will take the little chamber off and see if there is any problem with the insides of it. But I suspect it was resealed as the orginal gasket was leaking.

Well did a cold compression test on all but one of the cylinders, no 7 the spark plug is crossed threaded. So I did not want to take it out in case I buggered the thread all together.

Anyway the results for the rest are:-
1 = 190
2 = 180
3 = 185
4 = 200
5 = 200
6 = 175
7 = n/a
8 = 180
And after running it again there were still loads of steam coming out of the exhaust, and once the engine had cooled I checked the expansion tank and it had no water in it.
The rocker cover breather pipes and the oil filler cap did not have any gung in them.
So would any of the results indicate that there is a problem in the cylinders?

crossa said:

Well did a cold compression test on all but one of the cylinders, no 7 the spark plug is crossed threaded. So I did not want to take it out in case I buggered the thread all together.

Anyway the results for the rest are:-
1 = 190
2 = 180
3 = 185
4 = 200
5 = 200
6 = 175
7 = n/a
8 = 180
And after running it again there were still loads of steam coming out of the exhaust, and once the engine had cooled I checked the expansion tank and it had no water in it.
The rocker cover breather pipes and the oil filler cap did not have any gung in them.
So would any of the results indicate that there is a problem in the cylinders?

Click to expand...

Were there any clean plugs?

No But saying as the the water disappeared I may pop them out and tomorrow and check again.

But considering there is steam coming out of the exhaust I think I will find they have been steamed cleaned.
Can anyone confirm that apart from number seven that the other cylinder compression test results are OK.

just read on another thread that someone removed their inlet manifold and repalced the rubber seals. Mine did not have any rubber seals, should it have ?

crossa said:

So I left the car running for nearly 40mins today and it just kept on blowing white smoke out of the exhaust which got worse if I rev'd the engine. But when it cooled down it had not used any water, and from what I could tell it had not used any oil. There are what look like copper particles in the expansion tank so I suspect that the previous owner had used something to mask what they thought was head gasket fault.
I have the compression tester so I will see what that reveals but I may not be able to do that until the weekend.

Click to expand...

So basics since rebuild, Ignore the exhaust steam for a min...?
compressions look fine...?
is it loosing/using water water...?
have you bled it properly and does the top of the rad get properly hot and is the bleed pipe from the top of the rad to the expansion tank free and flowing coolent when running? that plastic pipe should get hot too, thermostats are prone to play up once overheated..?

if it is bled properly, when running does the system pressurise more than cap pressure (15psi) are there any bubbles in the expansion tank, put a clear pipe in the rad bleed pipe to see if your getting bubbles etc...

does it overheat or run hot stood still, I know you havent driven it..and does the viscous fan appear to work ok...

you really need to make sure that the cooling system is really sorted before you can really tell anything, and it really needs to be driven on the road to get the exhaust cleared out....they steam alot when running perfectly ok, and it being run withought being driven will make the exhaust worse...

My rad bleed was blocked when I got my car and that caused problems, my top hose was leaking too but you couldent see the leak it dried before it dripped...

Hope this helps...?

Thats some good points to check. Also when the engine is hot would it be normal for the cololant to drop then re-appear once the engine has cooled?

There does not appear to be any bubbles in the expansion tank, and the bleed from the rad does work as water can be seen entering the expansion tank from it.

Yes the water can drop slightly in the expansion tank when reved, but shouldent disapear, shows water pump is working but may be telling you there is air in the system, remember the heater counts as the cooling system too so air in there is a problem too...air expands and compresses where as fluid doesent.....?

Some of the plugs showed signs of water/steam. So I took the inlet manifold off and It was obvious that at least the left-hand bank (drivers side) has wet inlet ports on the heads worse toward the back 3.
I have checked the manifold for warping and the left hand side is warped by a small amount.
I tested by using a sprit level and shone a small led torch along the edge of the level when it was pressed on the edge and I could see light shining through at the centre of the manifold. I'm not sure how that would affect the seal once a gasket was in place and it was bolted down.

So I have replaced the inlet manifold, using a new gasket and it is still blowing plumes of steam out of the exhaust. But not losing any water out of the expansion tank, So a sort of result.
I have taken the exhaust off and the centre box is full of crap the you can hear sloshing around it sounds like rust and water but it won’t come out of either end. So sounds like part of the centre box has collapsed and is helping retain the water/condensation.

I then started the car with only the cats attached and guess what the amount of steam was reduced but it still has steam coming out.

I ran the car without the cats and I am just getting exhaust fumes but no steam.

Oh and the V8 sounds really nice without the exhaust but I'm not sure the neighbours would agree.
So I have order a new exhaust including CATS, so that’s a big chunk of the money for LPG conversion gone.

take off the boxes and, using a heat gun, blow hot air through the boxes. Try and keep the temp to just above 100C tho - you dont want to burn the contents of the box, just drive off the water.

Drill a 5mm hole in the lowest part of the box. Water will be forced out when engine is running.

Thanks for the top tips But I have already taken the exhaust off and I do suspect the centre box needed replaced as it did not look to good and it sounds like the baffles have gone which I suspect bits of these is what is sloshing around, and to get the cats off I had to chop the joining pipe in half.

I have ordered replacements and the cats come in three bits so these will be easier to fit.

I am also going to take the drivers side exhaust manifold off as it is blowing on the flexi joint so I'm going to see if I can weld that back together.