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Black and white smoke
pekwah1 - 5/9/13 at 05:10 PM

Hi guys,

I have a 1300 xflow with a twin choke carb which was overfueling quite heavily and giving black smoke out of the exhaust.

I have just put on a single choke carb (the original xflow ford one) with a new inlet manifold.
As soon as I started the engine I now have a fair amount of white smoke.
Am I right in thinking excessive white smoke usually means coolant getting burnt?

I used a brand new manifold gasket so don't think it should be getting through from there...?

Ideas?

Cheers
Andy

iank - 5/9/13 at 05:39 PM

Yes, White is usually steam (i.e. water) or tyres

robinj66 - 5/9/13 at 05:49 PM

Not helpful but - does iT have inside knowledge on a change of Pontiff?

plentywahalla - 5/9/13 at 06:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by iank
Yes, White is usually steam (i.e. water) or tyres


....or oil !!

iank - 5/9/13 at 06:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
quote:
Originally posted by iank
Yes, White is usually steam (i.e. water) or tyres


....or oil !!


Oil smoke is usually blue in my experience.

adithorp - 5/9/13 at 07:26 PM

If it didn't do it before the change and did immediately after, I suggest you recheck your work...

Dingz - 5/9/13 at 07:35 PM

Liked the papal comment!

slingshot2000 - 5/9/13 at 08:00 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Dingz
Liked the papal comment!


Yes, I was also wondering if another Pope'ie had taken early retirement !


Jon

Daddylonglegs - 6/9/13 at 06:04 AM

White smoke can also be unburnt fuel. (Although technically not smoke, but easy to test for by smell )

[Edited on 6/9/13 by Daddylonglegs]

Grimsdale - 6/9/13 at 07:54 AM

check your inlet manifold gasket, assuming crossflows have a water connection like a pinto does (may be wrong).

pekwah1 - 6/9/13 at 08:31 AM

Yeh the inlet has a water connection in the middle of the middle two inlet ports.
I did put a brand new gasket on with the new inlet, didn't use any gasket sealant or anything so maybe something has gone wrong there...

So guess i'll be whipping it back off again and getting the sealant out!

Macbeast - 6/9/13 at 09:26 AM

Do you have a brake servo ? I had white smoke from an MGB and it turned out to be leaky seals allowing brake fluid to be sucked into the inlet manifold.

steve m - 6/9/13 at 09:30 AM

Andy,

does it smoke all of the time? or just on start up?, as it was running fine on the twin choke carb last week ?
and changing the manifold over and another carb would not make a jot of difference

Steve

pekwah1 - 6/9/13 at 09:35 AM

No i had black smoke with the twin choke which i attributed to overfuelling.

It smokes pretty much all the time since fitting the single carb.
To be honest, if the manifold has not created a decent seal to the engine then it could be very possible that coolant is getting into the engine with the fuel and could give the white smoke?

Well it's the only thing i've changed so kinda makes sense!

steve m - 6/9/13 at 11:45 AM

The manifolds on these xflows are SO basic, it can only be a crack in the manifold between water and inlet
as the only water connector is in the middle of the manifold and exits on the side

Steve

pekwah1 - 6/9/13 at 11:55 AM

yeh it is a pretty basic manifold, but i guess its the only thing i've change, and white smoke is usually quite reliably water vapour. So maybe the new gasket was just no good or i didn't quite clean the surfaces etc...
I think i'll take it back off and check the surfaces, apply some sealant round the water hole and refit.

Mr Whippy - 6/9/13 at 12:03 PM

if the white smoke evaporates into the air then it wasn't smoke, check your coolent level, is it going down?

white - steam
blue - oil
black - fuel

pekwah1 - 6/9/13 at 03:28 PM

ok so 'smoke' might be the wrong terminalogy, but basically white smoke/mist/vapour/steam coming out of the exhaust

steve m - 6/9/13 at 04:01 PM

It may just have to much water in the oil, due to not being used
an oil change and a good ragging might clear that up

Mr Whippy - 6/9/13 at 05:29 PM

May just be a humid day or water collecting in the silencer drying out. Not concern unless there's loads of steam or your going through coolant very quickly. A blown head gasket produces loads of steam and is unmistakable.

pekwah1 - 7/9/13 at 07:48 PM

Well for anyone interested, it was the gasket after all! Loads of coolant inside the manifold.
Didn't use any sealant when I fitted, certainly put plenty on now and all seems good so far!

steve m - 8/9/13 at 07:46 AM

Ive NEVER used any sealant on the inlet manifold

pekwah1 - 8/9/13 at 03:14 PM

Hmmm maybe I hadn't done it up very well, maybe the paper type gasket wasn't the best...?
Either way seems spot on with the sealant now!