HELP:Smokey exhaust (please be gentle with bad news)
Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:05 pm
Heres the scoop. Changed the oil in my GMC 353 (Rotella T 30 weight) 2 gallons, and oil filter. Also put on later cast iron carb in place of die cast on while I tried to rebuild the die cast carb.
Run the engine and she starts so SMOKE. Smoke does not smell much, but can see fluid running out of the tail pipe and smoking quite profusely. Fluid looks like oil.
Take off carb and there is fuel pooled on the intake floor. Cleaned that up and restarted (I though I may have just flooded the motor with gas).
Still smokes.
Checked the spark plugs in cyl 3,4,5 and there were not bad. Had some oil on them, but wasn't sure if it was from taking them out or from cumbustion chamber. THe engine is quite greasy and oily to start with.
Checked the oil filter, and the filter was not 'full' and the oil was cold.. the engine ran long enough to heat up to 190*F. SO I ran the engine WITHOUT the oil filter and verfied that oil was being circulated, and that it was warm from the engine.
After I ran it WITHOUT the oil filter the oil no longer ran out of the tail pipe, but still smoked pretty good.
Questions: could ANYTHING with the oil filter have caused this problem? I think that the smoke now is from oil in the muffler, not new oil from the engine.
Other than spark plugs, is there any other way I can verify oil in the cylinders without taking the head off?
Is the oil I used Rotella good for the engine? Could it be to 'thin' and seep past the valves, etc?
Looking for anything to check before I have to take out the motor.
Engine runs fine, idles with 25-30psi oil pressure and does not sputter. No unusual noises or sounds.
Run the engine and she starts so SMOKE. Smoke does not smell much, but can see fluid running out of the tail pipe and smoking quite profusely. Fluid looks like oil.
Take off carb and there is fuel pooled on the intake floor. Cleaned that up and restarted (I though I may have just flooded the motor with gas).
Still smokes.
Checked the spark plugs in cyl 3,4,5 and there were not bad. Had some oil on them, but wasn't sure if it was from taking them out or from cumbustion chamber. THe engine is quite greasy and oily to start with.
Checked the oil filter, and the filter was not 'full' and the oil was cold.. the engine ran long enough to heat up to 190*F. SO I ran the engine WITHOUT the oil filter and verfied that oil was being circulated, and that it was warm from the engine.
After I ran it WITHOUT the oil filter the oil no longer ran out of the tail pipe, but still smoked pretty good.
Questions: could ANYTHING with the oil filter have caused this problem? I think that the smoke now is from oil in the muffler, not new oil from the engine.
Other than spark plugs, is there any other way I can verify oil in the cylinders without taking the head off?
Is the oil I used Rotella good for the engine? Could it be to 'thin' and seep past the valves, etc?
Looking for anything to check before I have to take out the motor.
Engine runs fine, idles with 25-30psi oil pressure and does not sputter. No unusual noises or sounds.
It is more likely water fron condensation mixing with the soot and carbon in the exhaust to give you a black liquid running out the pipe. This is not uncommon for even newer vehicles. That is the condensation that rots out your muffler. It is pretty difficult to get enough oil past the rings to run out the pipe. Where is the oil on the spark plugs? Is it on the threads or on the actual electrode? The other possibility is that you are burning a bit of antifreeze from a head gasket leak. Do you have antifreeze in the system or just water? Burning antifreeze will smoke like a bit*h. Antifreeze will usually give you a bit of a sweet smell though.It is also not uncommon to have a bit of gas in the intake. That is residual air fuel mixture that didn't get sucked in as the engine was being shut down. 
