84 2.8 blowing smoke

[bushmonkey]

so my 84 with a 2.8 is blowing white smoke all the time and doesnt get better as it warms up. the engine still runs fine even with the smoke coming out the exhaust. i researched a bit and it seams that its the valve seals? tried lucas oil treatment and it actually seamed to make it worse. also the spark plugs are black and burnt on the end and theres wet oil on the threads. does this seam like it actually is the valve seals

 

[70roadrunner]

white smoke usually indicates coolant in the cylinder(s). can you smell antifreeze? is the coolant level low? if it is clouds of smoke it isnt valve seals. with valve seals it will usually smoke at startup for a few seconds then clear up.

 

[bushmonkey]

the coolant is full and looks brand new. but i've only put about 200km on it since i got the truck so the previous owner must have put new coolant in. and ya the smoke is a constant thing, and it blows alot more out when its accelerating. the exhaust smells more like gas then coolant but im not totaly sure what burnt coolant smells like.

 

[wildbill23c]

If you are getting a lot of white smoke it is definitely coolant. I bet the previous owner changed the oil and the coolant in the truck to cover up the blown head gaskets, most sellers who aren't honest will do that to cover up major problems, that's what the previous owner of my Bronco 2 did, however the new head gasket set in the back seat was a dead give away as to one of the problems.

You are leaking coolant somewhere for it to be blowing white smoke.

 

[bushmonkey]

is there a way to check to see where/how the coolant is getting into the oil and burning?

 

[Andy D]

The OP described the plugs as dark and oily
. If the HG was bad . one of the plugs would have been steam cleaned. Borrow a compression tester and read up on how to use it. Condensation in the exhaust will steam for quite a bit. Generally speaking if the truck runs well other wise , valve seals are a cheap and easy fix .

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If the motor is stock I guarantee it needs new guide seals. Are you getting alot of blowby from the breather tube. Do a leakdown test well kind of a leakdown. With a compression tester fitting put each cylinder on the compression stroke TDC and put around 30 psi air pressure in the cylinder and listen for air leaking out the exhaust, carb or valve cover. Leave the radiator cap off a head gasket bubbles will come out the radiator, rings you will hear hissing out the valve cover, valves woud be exhaust hissing or out the carb for intake valve. If the valves are good and no bubbles out the radiator your looking at rings or valve guide seals. If the compression is good then yes it is valve guide seals. Get the engine hot and turn it off and wait about fifteen minutes if you get a puff of black smoke that is the oil dripping into the cylinders. When I changed my guide seals in the 2.8 the seals were not even touching the stems. You can change the seals without pulling the heads just use air pressure to hold the valves up. In the tech library under V-6 2.8l engine there is a section that explains how I purshased a palm spring compressor on ebay for around $20 and it took about three hours.

 

[bushmonkey]

yup the plugs are burnt/black on the ends and the threads are covered in oil. i didnt pull all the plugs though. just pulled out 3 saw they were all black and oily and put them back in. i will go pull the other 3 now and check for one that looks polished.


one more thing, i put some stuff into the engine that apparently fixes cracked heads/bad gaskets and it said to leave it running for awhile after. so because the truck has lots of gas i just let it idle most of the afternoon(like 3 hours) anyways now my battery is totally cooked, its boiling inside and has leaked alot of fluid out the top so its obviously no good anymore. so now im wondering what happened? does the 84's 2.8 alternators have the regulator thing that stops it from charging built in? or is it seperate?

 

[bushmonkey]

one other thing, if i rub my finger on the inside of the tail pipe it gets covered in a good amount of wet black oil

 

[bushmonkey]

just pulled the other 3 plugs so now i know all 6 are just burnt/black on the ends and oily on the thread. so does this mean the hg is still intact?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Are you talking barsleak all your doing when adding stop leak to a cooling system is it stops the radiator from leaking. Meaning your just clogging the radiator and heater core and block with crap. I doubt it has a head gasket leak and it has a external voltage regulator on the drivers side apron by the coil. What you need to do is find out what is not wrong if the compression is good within 10% between high and low numbers it`s almost sure it is guide seals. If compression is low do a leakdown and eliminate variables. Knowing what I know I would just replace the guide seals on a motor thats almost 30 years old the seals will crumble with your fingernail. If your running with the computer and need to pass emissions you will need a new cat all that burning oil will destroy the catalist it is all most likely ratteling around in the muffeler. Slap the muffeler with the palm of your hand. Another test of the exhaust it put your hand behind the tailpipe and have someone goose the throttle. The exhaust flow should increase with engine rpms, it will be obvious if there is a restriction in the system.

 

[bushmonkey]

the stuff was called stopleak or something like that, there was 2 types. one for fixing cracks in the head and head gasket. and the other is to fix valve seals. i used both. i cant imagine it would harm the engine or cooling system because its one and only purpose is to fix cracks in head and seal the valve seals. but who knows theres lots of useless products out there.

im wondering now if it will just be cheaper in the long run to go and get a rebuilt tranny for my 93 explorer and do the 4.0 swap.

 

[wildbill23c]

Stop leak of any type is garbage, you do more damage by plugging up oil or coolant passages along with the radiator and the heater core. Its a lot cheaper just to fix the problem. I haven't had a chance do do much work internally on engines, but usually white smoke is an engine burning coolant. Sounds to me that you have a major internal oil leak if you are getting oil from the exhaust. Is the oil level correct or is it overfilled? That happens sometimes, people overfill the oil and it will blow all that excess oil by the cylinders which I think must be fairly worn anyhow to be getting that much oil past the rings. Valves may be sticking as well which wouldn't surprise me as old as these 2.8L engines are getting to be.

I'm with the other's on here do a compression leak down test that will tell you lots about the engine's internals.