2000 4.0 smoke

[cllake]

My Truck blows a huge white cloud of smoke when its cold and under load. It smokes in park and will blow smoke when I get on it in drive. It has no noticable loss of power and after it warms up it stops smoking. It does bog when I first put it under load but it clears out fast. It does have a rough idle and the CEL light is not on. Checked the oil, theres no water in it and theres no noticeable loss of oil. I will be doing a compression test. Whats normal compression for my motor? 35-40?

What do you guys think?


Thanks!

ody

 

[gjm4l]

I don't mean to make this sound mean but is it cold right now where you live?

 

[07rangerfx4lv2]

yea sounds like it might be lil cold there

 

[srteach]

What does the "smoke" smell like? coolant? oil?
Compression at 50 is a problem. Should be at 75 (I think). Whatever the compression, it should be about even across all the cylinders. If it is low across two adjacent cylinders, there is probably a leak between them. If it is cold outside and the smoke goes away after warming, it may be normal operation.
A blown gasket may leak into the oil passages, creating brown / gray snot in the oil, or may leak directly into the exhaust. If the leak is small enough, warming the engine to running temps could seal the leak.
More investigation is needed.

 

[cllake]

Yea you guys are right! It was just cold out!
















GTFO of my thread.

Anyways, This isnt a little bit of smoke it is a smoke screen of thick white smoke.

Well, I check my compression and its even along all cylinders EXCEPT #3. #3 was about 50psi HIGHER than the other 5. The plug was also soaked! Was talking with my grandpa and we think the head gasket is leaking there until the motor warms and expands the gasket, sealing off the leak. It seems that fluid is leaking into the exhaust port while sitting and then I burn it out until the motor warms. My CEL FINALLY came on today so I will check that in the morning, I also bought some gasket fix so Ill try that out also. Might just be time for a new(er) motor!

Cody

 

[Big Jim M]

Woooaaa up there Cody

Well, I check my compression and its even along all cylinders EXCEPT #3. #3 was about 50psi HIGHER than the other 5. The plug was also soaked! Was talking with my grandpa and we think the head gasket is leaking there until the motor warms and expands the gasket, sealing off the leak. It seems that fluid is leaking into the exhaust port while sitting and then I burn it out until the motor warms. My CEL FINALLY came on today so I will check that in the morning, I also bought some gasket fix so Ill try that out also. Might just be time for a new(er) motor!

Cody

The plug soaked sorta tells the story..don't it? The valve seals in that cylinder are most likely badly worn. When the engine is turned off the oil up there slowly drips down into that cylinder and the results are the smoke when first started.
In my whole life I never heard of a head gasket that would SWELL when warmed up and stop any leaking into the high pressured chamber..
I don't know what "gasket fix" is but I do know for sure it will NEVER "fix" a leak such as you describe.
Putting foreign crap into your coolant or oiling systems is not advised by most others.
Bad head gaskets show up by having oil or coolant in places where they don't belong.. Just having a smokey exhaust isn't a sign of a bad head gasket..
Big JIm

 

[BlackBII]

Douche alert...douche alert...

Big Jim pretty much nailed it. Oil leaks down into the cylinder, causing the smoke and the rough idle. If it were a blown head gasket, and you were smoking that bad, you'd have a serious loss in coolant...

Smoke have a sort of blue-ish tint to it?

A little smoke does not mean a new motor is needed...

 

[mosher41]

My 99 4.0 smokes (steams) HUGE just after start up. the steam is just steam no smell of oil or Antifreeze. it will do it for about 1/2 mile or so depending on how cold it is...I live upstate NY and when it is below 20 degrees it is a James Bond style steam cloud. But then it clears doesnt do again until I shut off the motor for a while.

I am not loosing any coolant or oil, so I just wrote it off with the other crap that this truck does. I love the truck itself but it sure is a maintenance nightmare. BY FAR THE WORST MECHANICALY RELIABLE VEHICLE I HAVE EVER OWNED

 

[Big Jim M]

Ya know

My 99 4.0 smokes (steams) HUGE just after start up. the steam is just steam no smell of oil or Antifreeze. it will do it for about 1/2 mile or so depending on how cold it is...I live upstate NY and when it is below 20 degrees it is a James Bond style steam cloud. But then it clears doesnt do again until I shut off the motor for a while.

I am not loosing any coolant or oil, so I just wrote it off with the other crap that this truck does. I love the truck itself but it sure is a maintenance nightmare. BY FAR THE WORST MECHANICALY RELIABLE VEHICLE I HAVE EVER OWNED

All the little old ladies on my street with Rangers never have had a problem! They just get in there every morning and away they go.. About twice a year they go down and have the oil changed. Somewhere near 100,000 miles they get a tune at the dealer and they never complain.
I'm sure there are millions and millions of Ranger owners that do zackly the same thing.. NEVER opening the hood..year after year!
Seems the guys with the racing cars on their nicks are the ones that complain.. Could it be too much attention is being given to their rides? There are so many of these engines world wide I'd suspect they would be swapped out for another engine if they were truly bad products.
Big JIm

 

[cllake]

Douche alert...douche alert...

Big Jim pretty much nailed it. Oil leaks down into the cylinder, causing the smoke and the rough idle. If it were a blown head gasket, and you were smoking that bad, you'd have a serious loss in coolant...

Smoke have a sort of blue-ish tint to it?

A little smoke does not mean a new motor is needed...

It is white smoke, I live in arizona and there is a serious loss in coolant. No loss in oil and no water in the oil or vice versa. Also, its not just a little smoke, I have never seen a truck smoke this much in my life.

Is there anyway to check specifically for worn valves? Leak down test?

Didnt mean to come off like an ass btw. But 'is it cold outside?' LOL

Cody

 

[BlackBII]

Serious loss of coolant + ONE wet spark plug + White steam = Blown head gasket.

You will not always have significant signs of water in the oil when you blow a head gasket.

I'm going to bet that it's not the warming up of the truck that causes it to stop smoking, but rather the coolant gets too low and is no longer making it to the cylinder with the leak. It could also be a leaky intake manifold gasket, but that normally affects more than one cylinder....

Have you pulled all the plugs and looked at them?

Be ready to pull apart the top end

 

[Big Jim M]

I'd like to know what he thinks a serious loss of coolant is.. AND how does he know it is losing coolant... and how it loses it. Seems this thread should be about coolant loss and not about smoking..
Big JIm

 

[gjm4l]

I was joking at least mostly as I've diagnosed the mysterious smoking until warmed up but only when cold out at least a time or two. Looks like now that more information was made available, people with more knowledge/experience than I have made themselves known and are helping you with your problem. Good luck and hope you can find the source!

 

[cllake]

Serious loss of coolant + ONE wet spark plug + White steam = Blown head gasket.

You will not always have significant signs of water in the oil when you blow a head gasket.

I'm going to bet that it's not the warming up of the truck that causes it to stop smoking, but rather the coolant gets too low and is no longer making it to the cylinder with the leak. It could also be a leaky intake manifold gasket, but that normally affects more than one cylinder....

Have you pulled all the plugs and looked at them?

Be ready to pull apart the top end

Thats exactly what I was thinking until my grandfather(mechanic of 30+ years) gave me the other idea.

It losses about half the coolant over the course of a week and a half. I also thought it could be a leaky intake but it was fine. All the plugs were fine except #3. This motor has around 160,000 on it so I will most likely be swapping in a lower mileage 4.0.

 

[BlackBII]

Swapping in a new motor seems pretty drastic for just a blown head gasket..