White Smoke (solved). Carb questions now.

[Goodz]

Car doesnt see mto be overheating at all, but after driving for a little bit (10 minutes or so), it's like a cloud following my car.  Any ideas what it could be?  any chance it isnt something catastrophic?

[firefighter3931]

Car doesnt see mto be overheating at all, but after driving for a little bit (10 minutes or so), it's like a cloud following my car.  Any ideas what it could be?  any chance it isnt something catastrophic?

White smoke usually indicates water/coolant is making it's way into the combustion chamber. That could mean several thngs ; blown head gasket, cracked cylinder head, cracked block. Start off with a compression check and then do a pressure check on the cooling system. The blown head gasket is the best case scenerio.



Ron

[tkkruzer]

question I have is ,is it smoke or steam ? if smoke then it could be a bad vacuum modulator. burning tranny fluid gives off white smoke. if its steam then it is more serious..let us know  Tom

[squeakfinder]

question I have is ,is it smoke or steam ? if smoke then it could be a bad vacuum modulator. burning tranny fluid gives off white smoke. if its steam then it is more serious..let us know  Tom

Vacuum modulator?

[Jon Smith]

question I have is ,is it smoke or steam ? if smoke then it could be a bad vacuum modulator. burning tranny fluid gives off white smoke. if its steam then it is more serious..let us know  Tom

Vacuum modulator?

GM thing, 727s dont have one...
could be burning brake fluid if the master cylinder seals are shot and you have power brakes...

[RD]

please state specifically where the smoke is coming from, either:

from your exhaust pipes

or

from under your car

identify the source of the smoke first, then please provide that information.  until that, it is pretty much guesswork and assumptions.

[Goodz]

ok, i will get more info and get back to you guys.  thanks.  couple of things to rule out though...

its a new master cylinder, new power booster, new brake lines, new vacuum lines, etc.  dont think its that stuff.

i BELIEVE the smoke is coming from the exhaust pipes, not under ther car, but not sure.  will have to find out.

at the time this was happening though, now that i think of it, it was determined that the new gas tank was leaking gas from the hole for the fuel sending unit since the idiots who put on the new gas tank didnt seal it right.  would that cause any prolem like that per chance?

[tkkruzer]

question I have is ,is it smoke or steam ? if smoke then it could be a bad vacuum modulator. burning tranny fluid gives off white smoke. if its steam then it is more serious..let us know  Tom

Vacuum modulator?

GM thing, 727s dont have one...
could be burning brake fluid if the master cylinder seals are shot and you have power brakes...

well here I go again,, sticking my foot in my mouth,,,by the way furd uses them too,, but who cares I still made a fool out of myself  sorry   Tom

[squeakfinder]

question I have is ,is it smoke or steam ? if smoke then it could be a bad vacuum modulator. burning tranny fluid gives off white smoke. if its steam then it is more serious..let us know  Tom

Vacuum modulator?

GM thing, 727s dont have one...
could be burning brake fluid if the master cylinder seals are shot and you have power brakes...

well here I go again,, sticking my foot in my mouth,,,by the way furd uses them too,, but who cares I still made a fool out of myself  sorry   Tom

          We all know your trying to help. Who knows, maybee he's got a turbo 350 in his Charger. 

[squeakfinder]

I'd think there would have to be allot of gas dumping on to your exhaust to create a big cloud.

Has your coolant level bean dropping?

[aifilaw]

If its cold outside condensate will come out the exhaust, true white smoke will smell heavily of antifreeze if its coming through a cracked block/head or head gasket.

Blown head gaskets happen often, and really all three of the scenario's are going to get worse... a lot worse if you leave them alone. Some are unfixable.... one is easily fixable in an afternoon (head gasket).

In my experience it is always just as easy on any old mopar to pull the intake and the heads off the engine and find one of those three causes then it is to run a compression test. If you truly have coolant coming out of your exhaust, then your compression test is going to show that anyways, the sign is already there, start pulling the heads off.

[Goodz]

If its cold outside condensate will come out the exhaust, true white smoke will smell heavily of antifreeze if its coming through a cracked block/head or head gasket.

Blown head gaskets happen often, and really all three of the scenario's are going to get worse... a lot worse if you leave them alone. Some are unfixable.... one is easily fixable in an afternoon (head gasket).

In my experience it is always just as easy on any old mopar to pull the intake and the heads off the engine and find one of those three causes then it is to run a compression test. If you truly have coolant coming out of your exhaust, then your compression test is going to show that anyways, the sign is already there, start pulling the heads off.

i wish i had that kind of mechanical skill.  unfortunately, i dont.  it has been at a repair shop for a couple of months now.  they only fixed the fuel tank leak from the fuel sending unit, but havent had time to check out the engine much, other than to say that the freeze out plugs are leaking.  they are a mom and pop shop owned by a dad of one of our friends.  since there is no rush, its free storage in the meantime til we get it on the road.  i have a friend of my brothers that may be able to come over and do some engine work for me if the shop determines its something major.  thanks for all the help guys.  i promise to keep you all updated when i find out whats wrong.

[Back N Black]

Go to a local garage and do a leak down test, much more accurate than a compression test. plus ,it should not cost too much.

[Go Hogs Go]

Do you ever hear your engine detonate? The timing was slightly off on my engine causing it to detonate after it warmed up right off of idle.  When I got on it even though I did not hear any detonation I would get white smoke from the exhaust. I retarted the timing until I could not get the engine to detonate under any circumstance and guess what, no more white smoke ever.  Check your timing.

[Ghoste]

Vacuum modulator?

GM thing, 727s dont have one...
could be burning brake fluid if the master cylinder seals are shot and you have power brakes...

well here I go again,, sticking my foot in my mouth,,,by the way furd uses them too,, but who cares I still made a fool out of myself  sorry   Tom

          We all know your trying to help. Who knows, maybee he's got a turbo 350 in his Charger. 

Trans fluid leaking from the front pump seal on a 727 can also be a culprit.  For that matter, it can leak from the shift lever pivots, the rear seal, the speedo pinion seal...

[472 R/T SE]

Antifreeze being burnt has that distinct smell, kinda like gear oil.

[aifilaw]

Antifreeze being burnt has that distinct smell, kinda like gear oil.

But nowhere near as sexy as the smell of high octane leaded fuel exhaust scent....I swear, if they make a purfume out of that I will buy it it and pour it on my my wifes head every day.

Yes, there are several things that have a distince aroma.... antifreeze being burnt and going out the exhaust is definitely one of them.

[Goodz]

i honestly didnt get the chance to smell it.  i was driving the car at about 65 mph and i noticed the smoke, pulled over, and the car shut off on its own.  it started back up again, but didnt want to stay on.  i honestly didnt know what the smoke smelled like, and sadly, wouldnt know the difference if i did.  (except burning fuel.  i know that one)

[Tilar]

If it's antifreeze from a blown head gasket, you can pull the radiator cap and see if you are getting combustion pressure and gases in the cooling system while it's running.

If you are losing anti freeze and it's not sending combustion pressure into the radiator, I'd check your intake manifold or gaskets, but in this case you are probably going to have water in your oil which will give it a milky color.

Also as mentioned before, It may be brake fluid, and just because those parts are new doesn't mean they are good, and it might explain why it just started. Check the brake fluid level. Just a little bit of that stuff can create a lot of smoke.

[charger Downunder]

could it be caused by a bad batch of fuel with diesel contamination.

[Tilar]

That would burn a bluish black.

[Goodz]

The white smoke (so far) seems to be gone.  I drove it home from the shop the other day and my gf drove behind me in her car.  She said she didnt see any smoke, so maybe they fixed that problem.  Of course, nothing is easy here so far, so there seems to be a new problem.  The car seems to idle low and stall out when you hit the brakes to stop the car.  After reading some posts on various sites from other people with the same problem, it sounds like it is the vacuum lines.  I will replace them ASAP to see if that is the trouble. 

The engine looks like it has a single barrel carb on it.  I havent taken it off yet, and granted I dont know much, but thats what it looks like judging by pictures I have seen of a single barrel carb.  I didnt see the butterfly like you normally see on a double barrel.  I was advised to take the carb off completely and see how many holes are in the intake manifold.  I believe the carb thats on there now is bad, but the engine needs a tune-up anyway, so I will let you guys know how that goes. 

I took some pics of the engine which I am going to post now.  It looks like there are some hoses coming out of it that the old owners so skillfully "customized" by putting BOLTS into the ends on the tubes.  I have no idea what they are for or what they might be used for, so if you know what they are for or WHY they would have done something like this, please let me know.  Let me know you thoughts about this post as a whole..

[SeattleCharger]

  Probably was a replacement carb and didn't have all the same connections, so it looks like vacuum line points of the new carb he didn't need, he just put a couple/few inch hose on and a bolt in it.    It doesn't look cool, but it does block off that line ok.  An old Dodge truck with 318 two barrel I had had one or two of those, there is probably a cleaner looking way to do that, hopefully someone will say.
    I don't know about that carb,   looks different/unique,  wonder what the cfm is on a one barrel, look sort of big,
   maybe somewhere cheap you can find a different carb and intake, if you have to take off your intake anyways to find possible leak there . . .
 

[Steve P.]

You can buy replacement vacuum plugs from most auto parts stores. Summit also has them.

[FLG]

I would also change those spark plug wires to correct ones. The only correct one i see is the one with the straight boot. Might be causing some problems and i would be worried about one of them working there way loose while driving.

[Goodz]

  Probably was a replacement carb and didn't have all the same connections, so it looks like vacuum line points of the new carb he didn't need, he just put a couple/few inch hose on and a bolt in it.    It doesn't look cool, but it does block off that line ok.  An old Dodge truck with 318 two barrel I had had one or two of those, there is probably a cleaner looking way to do that, hopefully someone will say.
    I don't know about that carb,   looks different/unique,  wonder what the cfm is on a one barrel, look sort of big,
   maybe somewhere cheap you can find a different carb and intake, if you have to take off your intake anyways to find possible leak there . . .
 

So do you think I could be losing vacuum while braking from those hoses?  is it possible that that is part (or all) of the cause of the car stalling out while braking?  Or it feeling like it's not braking properly?

[Steve P.]

The Diaphragm may be leaking by in your booster allowing a large vacuum leak. Start the motor. Leave it in park and slowly step down on the brake pedal while listening for a light whistle or whisk of air. This is not an exact science, just a simple way to see if you can hear it leaking by. On my daughters old Pontiac I chased a problem like this. Hers would only act up on cold mornings. Thus by the time I checked it out it would not act up. It took some questioning to get the real skinny. 

Check 2 is to pinch off the vac. hose going to the booster (while running), and see if you have a difference in idle RPM. If it changes you have a leak.

[Goodz]

Sounds reasonable.  I will try that when I get home.  Thanks a bunch.

[Goodz]

So last night, I stopped at the store to pick up some stuff for the car... engine cleaner, engine paint, red scotch pad, bondo, screws and clips for rear valance, etc.  When I got home, I decided to take someones advice and remove the carb to see how many holes are on the manifold.  There are 2.  So it's a 2 barrel carb motor.  Most of you will be like "DUH!!!", but I'm still a novice, and although all my reading says it should be a 318 with 2 barrel carbs, I needed to check for myself.  Anyway, before i loosened the bolts for the carb, I had to remove a hose that was attached to it.  As I grabbed that hose to remove it, it just fell off.  Seems the hose was cut on an angle and was barelt hanging on there by a thread.  I believe this is where my vacuum loss was coming in.  Either way, I am going to order a new carb very soon.  Thinking about ordering it from JEGS.  Anyone know if this will do the trick without all those extra connections having to be capped off?  And is this a reasonable price?  Any alternative suggestions?

http://www.jegs.com/i/Holley/510/0-7448/10002/-1

[myk]

I know this is probably pushing it, but rather than buy another 2 barrel 'carb, would you consider buying a 4 barrel with an intake to match?

[1969chargerrtse]

Next time just look down the throat of the carb.  You will have one or two " butterfly's"  I would not replace the carb.  The lines with bolts in them are fine for now.  You need to cap off the booster line and see if it still stalls.  Also, you have idle air screws to adjust for a little better idle and you can just idle it up a bit.  Don't go wasting 300.00 bucks for a carb.  If it runs fine except when you brake, disconnect the brake vacuum line and cap it.  It has to solve the problem?  If it does you have to check the line and grommet connection at the booster or the booster is bad, new or not.  If braking at an idle is the only problem, solve it and save 300.00 it won't run any better with new carb if the carb is not the problem. See the 2 screws at the front base of the carb?  2 screws, 2 barrels.  Turn each out a bit ( 1/2 ) turn at a time and see if the idle goes up.  Make sure also they are the same .  Example..   2 turns out, on both sides.  When you get a higher idle stop there and then idle the idle screw in to  whats suits you.    I see a larger line for PCV?  Did that motor originally have one?  You can look up a vacuum line chart on the web I'm sure.   Oh you asked how is the post as a whole?   Ummmmm.  very nice.     Good spelling, no swears, good job.

[SeattleCharger]

" . . . The engine looks like it has a single barrel carb on it.  I havent taken it off yet, and granted I dont know much, but thats what it looks like judging by pictures I have seen of a single barrel carb.  I didnt see the butterfly like you normally see on a double barrel.  . . . " 

    Kind of looks like a one barrel carb put on later, maybe would explain the hoses with screws in em,    

   Anyway,    you have a V-8 Charger,  no one barrel,  two-barrel minimum,   and a 318 four barrel intake is prob. really cheap if you aren't going eddlebrock or something,   buying a new carb two or four, might as well get four       

[Goodz]

I know this is probably pushing it, but rather than buy another 2 barrel 'carb, would you consider buying a 4 barrel with an intake to match?

In all honesty, I dont know much about intakes and carbs, so I will ask a "stupid" question...  What would be the advantage of switching out the present 2 barrel intake manifold for a 4 barrel?  How will a 318 hold up to that? 

It should be clear that this will not be a racer, just a cruise night car that me and my GF can enjoy.  We want the engine to look good and be solid, but I am not looking to wow people on speed and such.  Just took out the Master Cylinder and painted it since Blue looks better than RUST.  LOL.  We plan on doing the same with the engine and the headers and other parts, having a blue and silver theme under the hood.  But again, its more for show than anything.

[SeattleCharger]

Well, for looks and some performance increase, you already have headers, so that is good for going to a four barrel.    Your restriction on some power is probably in the carb and intake.   the more going in, the more out,    you have the headers already to handle the "more out", so now get yourself a fourbarrel intake/carb set up, "more in".   if that all makes sense, heh.
    You also have chrome valve covers for looks.   You can buy a nice intake that will look and performe much better, the carb is going to cost some though.   You don't need a big one with a 318, but hey, a new holley two barrel you were going to buy isn't exactly cheap.
   Look for good deals on ebay.  try eddlebrock performer intake, or performer rpm,  you will want a dual plane intake.   on the carb size, maybe a 600 cfm,   for example, a popular size for a 440 is about a 750 or 770.   You don't want to much carb if the set up can't take it, more isn't always better, it will bog down and stall out and sputter, so 600 is still big for a 318, maybe others will chime in with opinions here,  

[myk]

A solid, enjoyable cruiser would be well served by a 4 barrel 'carb and matching intake.  Go to Summit racing, and you'll find several 'carb and manifold choices that even when combined, will still cost under $500.  Like I said earlier, if you're going to spend hundreds on a new or remanufactured 'carb, might as well get a 4 barrel and make the car that much more enjoyable...