Huge clouds of dense white smoke!

Kc7nwi · Dec 10, 2016

New to Fords. I have an 85 ford ranger with the 2.3L engine. I just put in a new long block engine to replace the old one. Upon starting it is blowing white smoke. I figured it was burning anti freeze which was confirmed by the radiator being almost empty after just a couple minutes of running.I pulled the intake back off and it appears that the gasket was leaking around were the anti freeze feeds into the intake and anti freeze was getting sucked into the cylinders. Are there any tricks when reinstalling one of these engines? I would think a new long block would be pressure tested before being sent out, so I'm thinking I must be missing something. :dunno:

Mark_88 · Dec 10, 2016

Well, first up if it was leaking at the intake side from the cooling inlet then removing and reinstalling the intake would be the first step to try. Make sure you put some gasket goop on around the coolant inlet before mounting the gasket and it should seal it...

Easy enough to overlook that small step...but once that is done you should have the coolant situation corrected.

you may want to drop the oil to check for coolant floating in it and change it out if there is. Other than that...it was running so it should be...unless you ran it too long with no coolant which is very bad for these engines.

As for pressure testing the engines...totally up to the shop that sells or rebuilds the engine...if it was a rebuild then they usually test the compression to make sure it is sealed and can make compression but other than that...unless they install the engine I wouldn't count too much on them doing extensive testing...but, again...depends on the shop

tomw · Dec 12, 2016

Given the expected demand for long blocks for a 31 year old Ranger, I'm surprised you found one, and wonder how long it sat on the shelf.
As noted, the intake manifold gasket is likely the source of the leakage. The intake on an 85 with EFI has a small coolant hose that connects to the intake, to pre-heat the intake manifold so fuel will burn better from cold start. The hose goes around the back of the head and connects to a Tee in one of the heater hoses.
The center, front-to-rear, of the intake manifold is the location where coolant needs sealing. I would lay the new gasket on the intake manifold and check that it will seal the opening or chamber that contains cooland. If the gasket is flipped, end for end, it may not work. Make sure it will contact all of the gasket surface, and that the intake gasket surface is clean, smooth, and dry. Personal choice, I would not use sealant unless there are problems with the gasket surface. A good gasket, compressed between two good surfaces, with even / level surfaces will seal.
If you must use sealant, only use a small amount, and spread it using a finger so the coating is very even and thin. If you use too much, when you tighten the bolts, it will slowly ooze out, perhaps inside, and lose tension as the sealant oozes. You end up with too little tension or torque on the manifold bolts, and it starts to leak coolant or air as it relaxes into position. Using plain gasket, no sealer, when you torque, you know it's torqued. If you use sealant, check torque a few hours after installation, and then a week later to make sure it hasn't lost tension over time.
tom

Huge clouds of dense white smoke!

Kc7nwi

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Mark_88

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tomw

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