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Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmation..

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:57 am
by stiffler4444
Hi all,

So I've done the searches of "big cloud of white smoke",but have a couple of additional symptoms, so will post up here and see what thoughts are before tearing my engine apart (or paying a more qualified individual to do so!).

I was driving back from a family event, on the highway, plugging away at around 100KPH. Suddenly I noticed the engine start to miss, just as it would if you were to run out of gas. The Pinz hesitated and then began to bellow white smoke. I pulled over and the engine died. I removed the engine cover and observed oil spattered on the inside of the cover and around the top of the carb covers. I checked the oil and it was still very visible on the dipstick, so figured I'd get it home (was only a few KM's away).

I attempted to restart the truck, which it did so and limped it home. The whole time it would smoke if I gave it much gas and ran with a distinctive miss all the way home, doing about 40-50KPH tops. It would go faster, but I wasn't interested in testing it.

Once home, I pulled into the garage and this is the different part. The Pinz "puked" out about a half litre of oil on the floor over night. I also noticed that it has expelled some on the driveway, maybe a quarter of a cup as I stopped and waiting for the garage door to open the previous day.

I let the truck sit for a couple days, then started it yesterday with ease. It idled just fine and I backed it out into the gravel portion of my driveway with ease. Scratching my head, I took it for a little spin, only to find it expelling white smoke again and idling rough under load. Back to the garage it goes....no more oil on the floor this time though.......

I am learning from my searches on the subject that I may be in store for a rebuild of the top end. I'm a bit confused as to where the oil came from in such volume. Anyone with more knowledge than I please chime in. I am not experienced with engine repair/rebuild but am famililar with the terminology.

tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:01 am
by stiffler4444
Some additional details, while the truck has been a bit hard to start for a while now, it has always run excellent. Over the past couple of months I have noticed an occassional backfire when downshifting. The truck has also been known to leave a black "fart" on my wife's Honda Civic if she's parked beside during starting. She loves that........

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:27 am
by audiocontr
I too have seen this on my truck when running WOT.

Could it be a scenario that the high vacuum produced by high RPM is pulling brake fluid through the brake booster? That will cause a nice white cloud!

Regardless, my pinz occasionally belches a huge dark cloud while at idle, burning off oil that some how got in (through the heads i suspect). Oil consumption is minimal. Performance is fine. Compression is high. I keep an eye on it, but dont see a need for an immediate tear down.

Are you able to see where the oil is originating? Maybe wash it out and find where the oil is leaking? Are there gaskets on the oil cooler that may have dry rotted?

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:33 am
by stiffler4444
audiocontr wrote:I too have seen this on my truck when running WOT.

Could it be a scenario that the high vacuum produced by high RPM is pulling brake fluid through the brake booster? That will cause a nice white cloud!

Regardless, my pinz occasionally belches a huge dark cloud while at idle, burning off oil that some how got in (through the heads i suspect). Oil consumption is minimal. Performance is fine. Compression is high. I keep an eye on it, but dont see a need for an immediate tear down.

Are you able to see where the oil is originating? Maybe wash it out and find where the oil is leaking? Are there gaskets on the oil cooler that may have dry rotted?
I will get into it this weekend and remove the doghouse for a good washing. I did read in previous posts about the brake fluid from the master/booster.

tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:03 pm
by undysworld
I'm assuming it's oil, and not brake fluid, since you said it puked a half liter of it. Is the engine oil level actually low?

Occasionally an air filter being clogged or iced up will cause the truck to inhale a bunch of oil (I believe) up the filler tube. (Obviously, icing will only occur in low temps.) It gets into the airbox above the carbs, and causes a big fog of oil out the tailpipe. IIRC, certain brands of filters were more prone to this than others.

I'd check the filter condition, and maybe run it w/o the filter to test.

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 1:30 pm
by Jimm391730
The only thing I can think of that might match your symptoms would be a blocked oil return line from the head: If this gets blocked, the oil fills up the valve cover until the pressure starts forcing it through the valve guides, creating white smoke. Then at rest the oil trapped in the valve cover leaks out onto the floor. Oil in the combustion chamber can foul the plug and create rough running.

Can you tell where the oil is leaking from?

A simple test would be to run it again until you get it smoking, shut it off and open each valve cover and look for any cylinder with "excessive" oil (compared to the other cylinders).

A plugged air filter will create such a vacuum that oil can be sucked up through the crankcase breather; this is another possibility.

Best of luck.

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:17 pm
by stiffler4444
Thanks for the replies . I will investigate further on Friday night if not sooner, as both suggestions sound very plausible. I will post up my findings.

Tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:21 pm
by stiffler4444
Yes, the truck is down about a litre maybe, so its not a constant leaking while driving, as I would expect it to be lower (and the underside would have lots of oil spatter, which it does not)

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:59 pm
by Stekay
I'd start at the beginning. Compression or preferably a leak down test. Check condition of the plugs as you pull them. A hard run at high RPM could've hurt a piston or rings, or burned a valve. Wishing for the best that it's a clogged breather or something simple.

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 6:30 am
by stiffler4444
Stekay wrote:I'd start at the beginning. Compression or preferably a leak down test. Check condition of the plugs as you pull them. A hard run at high RPM could've hurt a piston or rings, or burned a valve. Wishing for the best that it's a clogged breather or something simple.
Yes, I will start with the quick test of the air intake and then get more serious from there. As much as I'd love a simple solution, I'm equally prepared for a bit of rebuild....

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:05 pm
by muttandjeeps
I'd second the blocked oil return line from the head. Happened to me once and scared the crap out of me....same symptoms/results. Cleaned out the return line (it was a mess), and the Pinz was good as new. Best of luck.

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:49 pm
by stiffler4444
muttandjeeps wrote:I'd second the blocked oil return line from the head. Happened to me once and scared the crap out of me....same symptoms/results. Cleaned out the return line (it was a mess), and the Pinz was good as new. Best of luck.
This will be my first (well second, after checking the air filter) step to diagnosing this issue. Is this the return line from cylinder 4 that I read about earlier (another thread)? This is the 3rd mention of this, so I'm getting hopeful!

tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2014 5:44 am
by stiffler4444
So decided after work to get moving on this, but I was the only thing moving. Batteries died. Oh well, got the air filter out and sure enough, it's pretty crappy looking. Not sure it's the culprit, but great time to change it.

Friday night is looking good to getting to the other suggestions, once things are charged and ready to go!

tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:46 am
by stiffler4444
Played around a bit last night. Oil return hose to filler is not blocked. Found a throttle spring came off my front carb...not related, but good to fix!

As pictured, the second valve cover from the front is showing signs of leakage as well as an oil soaked spark plug wire. The others are all dry. This will be my next step, to pop off the cover and have a peek.....

tx Dave

Re: Big smoke, big oil mess, big problem! Advice/confirmati

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:47 am
by stiffler4444
everything else looking fairly dry.......