I just rebuilt the head on my 89 toyota pickup. Originally it was leaking coolant into the cylinder due to a broken head gasket. Upon a cold start it would shoot out thick clouds of smoke. So we replaced the head gasket and all the gaskets in the head and valves, and we also did a valve job on it (new calves and fixed the seats). Also has some new valve seals. Everything is new or cleaned to look new.

But tonight was the first big startup and it shot clouds of smoke until it was fully warm. Even when it was fully warm it was still smoking a little. It was definitely burning oil, but we can't figure out where from. Any ideas?

 

Oil? Or residual coolant.

Let it run for a while, and see if it clears up. Usually after major engine repairs, the engine will smoke until it burns all the residual oil and coolant out of the exhaust and intake.

 

what color smoke?

Typically you'll see steam for awhile but if it alls well it'll burn off eventually. If its blue, and lasts something is amiss.

but bottom line, dont be to shocked to see blue and or white smoke from the exhaust after removing and replacing a head

But, if you could be more specific we might be able to help ya more. =)

 

I started it again this morning with the same results. It smoked until the engine was at the normal operating temperature. Is this still normal? I must have driven it enough to get everything broken in and the valves seated properly and all the seals adjusted.

I still have to adjust and fine tune the valve lashes, as I have an annoying ticking in the engine. But this couldn't be the problem, could it?

 

how many miles on the lower end? Many times after repairing a worn out cyl head you raise the comp back up and the lower and lets loose, run it 500 miles then change the oil and add restore, good luck

 

Lower end has a total of 233k miles on it. I know the previous owner has maintained the engine and repaired it when needed, so I know everything is good down there. I added some prestone oil additives with the new oil, and I am planning on changing the oil early on. Next week maybe. I'll wait and see.

If it's leaking and burning oil, why would changing it help?

 

Exhaust smells bad to. Could this be attributed to the cherry bomb muffler? Exhaust fumes are actually beginning to give me a scratchy throat from driving it.

It still smokes a LOT on startup. Thinking I may need new piston rings.

What's required when you bore a cylinder? Does the whole bottom block have to come off? Does it even need to be bored if the cylinder walls are in good shape? Because when we did the valve job and had the head off, we cleaned up the walls (they weren't scored at all) and cleaned up the piston heads.

Any tips or guides before I dig into this next project?

 

UPDATE:

It's been leaking coolant. So I drained the coolant before I went to bed and filled the radiator with water in the morning. I ran the engine to look for the culprit to the leak and I didn't see any smoke. Maybe because there's no coolant to burn, only water?

So now that we've replaced the headgasket (which was definitely bad) where else should I look for antifreeze leaking into the engine?

 

Water won't "smoke" but it'll steam and you'll get that white cloud out the back of your exhaust. Sometimes it just takes a certain amount of time of the engine running to fully seat the headgasket.

The only place coolant would leak into the combustion chamber would be at the headgasket unless you had a cracked cylinder wall, but since the engine runs properly I doubt its that

 

did you take the head to a machine shop to have it tested? definatly change the oil after 500 miles or you will be sorry. i changed my head gasket out and had a machine shop test it and it was cracked but the naked eye couldnt see it. bought a brand new one from japan and installed evrything new including cam. thank god i had it checked or i would be very upset if i had to do it again.

 

the head was cracked

 

We did have the shop pressure test the head to make sure there were no cracks. Everything turned up okay.

I'm changing the oil tomorrow. Close to 500 miles.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/2...e-smoke-19913/

That thread says coolant was getting in via the timing cover. If that's the cause, wouldn't my oil have some cooland in it and vice versa? Because my oil is fine and my cooland is clean.

 

*UPDATE*
I just changed the oil and stopped another coolant drip. The oil I put in this time was 10w-30 full synthetic. After startup (cold start) It blew white smoke again. Usually it would quit after the engine has warmed up. This time it continued to smoke and even as I revved the engine up it blew more smoke. Not a lot. I've seen far worse. This was barely noticeable, and since I was looking for smoke it was easier to spot.

Sound like worn away piston rings?

 

isnt it possible for coolant to come in through the intake gasket as well? (22r)

i just did a head gasket. i have alot of moisure in the exhaust. i can see water come out of the tail pipe. im not sure what to make of it. cant really smell anything tho. put my nose right in there. only drove it once so far. also i thought i saw oil in the coolant. is it possible to get oil in there while doing a head job? (wishful thinking)

 

yes, coolant can leak in through the intake. Not a typical place for coolant to leak but definetly a possibility for certain.

 

Still smoking

I have some more questions, but here's what I know:

I put in some bad oil in the other week (bad oil, meaning oil that had some parts cleaner mixed in.) My oil had almost run dry because it's still burning oil. So I had 2 jugs of oil in the back. I knew one was filled with old bad stuff and the other with mostly new stuff leftover from the first oil change after the headjob. So I added what i thought was the better oil. Turns out I was wrong. The oil burned and smoked even as I drove down the road. Small (not large) clouds of smoke would trail behind as I drove. Keep in mine it's regular 10w-30 oil with carb/parts cleaner mixed in, so it's thinner than it should be. As soon as I found out what I did, I drained all the oil I could and put fresh stuff in there. But it still smokes on startup and burns oil. It just doesn't leave trails of smoke as I drive.

Second thing I noticed lately. When I would startup the truck after it has been sitting for 4+ hours, it would smoke. Now, I could let it sit and warm up and and it would still smoke. But as soon as I put it in first gear and let it roll forward a little bit (like, 6 feet) and then stop and leave it in neutral the smoking stops immediately.

I'm going to try and do a compression test on Sunday. I have to work odd hours, so I can't get to it until then. But what do you guys think the problem could be? Bad head job or bad piston rings?

 

What color smoke are you getting on startup? If it's not blueish then it's probably not your rings.

Rob

 

I'm colorblind, so I'm clueless. To me it looks bluish, but to others I ask it's whitish gray, and it doesn't smell sweet like coolant. I'll get a pic and post it.

 

I'd say it's blue smoke. After starting it up tonight and trying to get a decent picture, I'd say it's definitely blue smoke. What does blue smoke mean versus white smoke?

 

blue smoke = oil
white smoke = coolant
black smoke = running too rich