2.3L ('83-'97) 1994 Ranger smoking.

[Devvonc94]

Hello everyone I'm new here! I've always had a love for Ford's and we own 3! (83 town car 88 bronco 2 and a 1994 ford ranger. The help in which I seek today is in regards to my 1994 ford ranger. It has the 2.3l. 2wd. This truck is bone stock minus a new carrier bearing, plugs, wires, coil packs. And all new fluids COMPLETELY. The issue I've been having with the truck is, in the mornings I start it and have a white ish smoke that comes out of the exhaust up until about 1 minute of it running. The only other time I see smoke is when I downshift and the RMPs are higher. I'm not loosing any coolant but, about every 250-400 miles I loose a quart of oil. I don't have alot of experience with the 4 cylinders and was hoping I'd get lucky and maybe it's a smaller problem than I thought. If I can't find anything out I'm probably going to put a reman head and call it a day. Hopefully someone will have more info! Thanks all!

 

[Shran]

It's just condensation in the exhaust burning off. Don't worry about it, if you were losing coolant, it would be a different story.

The oil loss is a problem, do you have drips or puddles under the truck? If not, check to make sure your PCV valve isn't stuck or just replace it anyway. Re-evaluate after that. Mine burns about a quart every 1500 miles, I would consider that to be on the high side of normal... most vehicles use a little, my fiance's Prius burns 2 quarts every 3000 miles, which is a problem, because it only holds three in the first place!

 

[RonD]

Welcome to TRS

White smoke at start up is normal and depends on outside temperature
Any time you burn gasoline(a Hydrocarbon) with Oxygen you get H2O(water) as a by-product
This is why water drips from tail pipes and exhaust systems rust from the inside out
If the air going IN to the engine is also humid then there is even more water vapor in the exhaust
When you shut off the engine exhaust flow stops, and exhaust starts to cool down, any water vapor will condense inside the pipes, Cats, and muffler, and the rusting starts, lol
But this water vapor, now pools of liquid water, just stays there

On the next start up the exhaust system heats back up and along with the "normal" water vapor you have the "extra water" vapor from the liquid water that's being vaporized by the heat
This extra vapor is not as hot as the by-product vapor so tends to condense quickly after leaving the tail pipe so "white smoke" until its gone
When outside air is very cold ALL gasoline engines have white smoke coming out the tail pipe all the time, the cold DRY air condense it very fast


The other non-white smoke is from worn valve guide seals most likely, fairly common on older engines
Oil in the valve train is SUCKED into cylinders by intake vacuum via the intake valve's stem, there is a rubber seal on the stem to prevent this but they get old and crack
This "smoke" is even more noticeable after deceleration and then acceleration because when decelerating engine vacuum goes high, +30" maybe, that sucks in ALOT of oil, which is then burned when accelerating and seen as the puffs of smoke

I would change PCV valve and make sure its hose is clean, PCV valve puts negative pressure in valve cover which helps to prevent valve cover gasket leaks AND less oil going down valve stems

Its possible worn piston rings are to blame, same symptom
But a compression test can tell you which it is
Worn rings effect compression, worn valve guide seals do not

 

[Devvonc94]

Thanks for the info guys I'll keep.posting. I located and pulled the PCV valve and it's pretty coated with oil and nastiness but, seems to be working properly. Is there any test I can perform on it? Also when I shake the valve It rattles back and fourth. Not sure if that's normal or how to test it. But I'm gonna just replace it after work

 

[Angie]

Know the difference between smoke and exhaust. White smoke is from burning something and exhaust is from gas vapours. My biggest problem with white smoke is from a leaking automatic transmission diaphragm. where it is hooked up to the intake manifold's vacuum system and gets a hole in the rubber keeper or blows out all together. Had this problem big time before with cheaply made china diaphragms to the point i called a trans shop and they sold me a GOOD one for larger dollars. this after 3 garbage ones that didn't hold. I even cut the floor boards open to get easier access to the trans to swap these things out. I even placed a vacuum line into the cab with a clear 3 dollar filter in the cab so i could watch for red oil in the line and knew i was blowing another system.

Your truck being manual is not an issue. so that rules out auto trans problems. More than likely you are getting a fuel problem that I wouldn't worry about. if at start up only and clears up, none issues. hope my 2 cents helps. cheers

 

[RonD]

Replace the PCV Valve every 3 oil changes, its not an expensive part
Test for PCV Valve is to "replace it every 3 oil changes", lol

If valve guide seals(or rings) are failing then changing the PCV valve won't stop the oil burning but it should reduce it a bit

PCV valve uses a weighted moveable valve inside, the part that you feel moving when you shake it
The fact it moves means its not stuck, but doesn't mean its OK
It gets alot of oil vapor sucked thru it and gets clogged up inside so stops working when driving, but shake test breaks it loose again, and then it stops working again when you need it to work

 

[Devvonc94]

Just an update after about 45 minutes in auto zone because they couldn't match the PCV valve. It was like 2.50 slapped it in and there's already a noticeable difference in idle and smoothness of the engine. Maybe slightly better throttle response?? Didn't see the smoke I normally do. (Also to add it's not just mornings I see the smoke. It's pretty much every time I started the thing hit or miss would smoke). I started it 3 or 4 times no smoke. Also didn't smoke on decel. Guess time will tell. Any other recommended smaller things like a PCV I may have missed that'll improve performance some? Thank you guys and I will update again in about 200 miles

 

[RonD]

Good stuff

Only other things that need changing because they wear out are O2 sensors, every 100k miles or 12 years
MPG slowly starts to go down as they wear out, not even noticeable at the time, until it is.."WTF, I just put gas in this pig??!!", lol
They are not cheap, but pay for themselves a few times over in fuel savings over the next 100k miles or 12 years
And the oil burning will effect O2s, shortens their lives, so maybe 9-10years

 

[89Twincharge]

White smoke=water, blue/gray=fuel,black=oil

 

[Bgunner]

White smoke=water, blue/gray=fuel,black=oil

I'm sorry but you have some of this backwards. It should be

White Smoke= Water,
Blueish Grey= Burnt Oil,
Black= Unburnt Fuel

 

[89Twincharge]

Yeayeah.. I do... was eating a samitch!

 

[Angie]

White Smoke= Water, is that smoke or just water vapors that are heavy white?

White Smoke with automatic transmissions is burning transmission oil.

 

[Bgunner]

White Smoke= Water, is that smoke or just water vapors that are heavy white?

White Smoke with automatic transmissions is burning transmission oil.

Water vapor is, like boiling a pot of water, white. The density of it depends on how much vapor is present.

Well unless there is a trans ission line connected to the engine there is only one way to burn auto trans fluid, and very rare circumstances have to happen to do that. First the radiator must be bad and mix the trans fluid into the coolant and at the same time you must have a bad head gasket or intake gasket to allow trans fluid into the combustion chamber. This is the only way you burn trans fluid.

 

[Angie]

Place a vacuum hose into a small amount of transmission fluid and let it get sucked into your intake manifold and see what smoke comes out the tail pipe.

A blown transmission modulator will allow transmission fluid into your compression chamber and this will cause your engine to burn it.

 

[Devvonc94]

Does the 5 speed have a transmission module? I've been driving it and noticed about every 250 to 300 miles I need to add oil. Coolant isn't mixed even my transmission has oil in it. Was thinking about just buying a remanufactured head and seeing if that fixes the problem