ok guys so last weekend i purchased a truck wich i thought i had made a really good deal on... an 85 ext cab efi no rust in body or frame. test drove it for probably 2 miles down the road and back, everything was gold on it... so i get it home and yesterday on the way to my buddys shop to get it inspected it starts running hot, i let it cool off and make it to the shop without overheating it and realize it was low on coolant, so i fill it up and shes good to go drove it to work 30 mins away last night no problems and home no problems, today it started running warm again and when i get to where im going it was low on coolant again, i down see where it could be leaking out the radiator and when i bought the truck guy claimed it had old gas in it wich was beleiveable it hadnt been on the road for a while and it smoked, i put 3 gallons of 93 in it and the little bit of smoking cleared up. any suggestions???

 

look at your plugs. If you have coolant going in one of the cylinders they will tell the tale. Check your oil level. Does it look like chocolate milk? Or, do you have too much oil seemingly? It could be going there. That's where mine was going. But it really didn't show until it got really bad.

 

First thing is check ur oil and see if its milky or any white in it. If so then your looking at a new headgasket. Look very very closely for leaks. It may just be leaking out of a hose or pipe and you can replace and good to go. Look further into it.

 

My 85 4runner started blowing white smoke less then a week after buying it. I quickly parked it and ordered up a head gasket, and intake gasket set. Spent a entire Saturday replacing those gaskets. I believe it was one of the intake gaskets that was leaking, not the head gasket. The old gasket material did not appear to be fully removed last time the HG was done.

If you have heavy white smoke coming out of your exhaust, its a coolant leak in the system. Also check your oil like others have said.

 

All of the above and check the timing chain.

want to see what a mess a broken guide can make when the chain digs into the cover, check my thread.

pull the valve cover off. I don't know how water could hide it's evidence from you if you look there but also you will be able to view the chain.

 

i ordered the gasket kit after talking to my buddy whos a mechanic were gunna stay on the safe side and just replace the gaskets