2.3L ('83-'97) smoke coming from passenger side of engine

[97ranger22bronco]

I was running the engine for a bit today and noticed that there's smoke coming from the passenger side towards the firewall. The smell that's coming from it is not the same as regular exhaust (I think it's not anyway).

I think I'm missing a bolt on the exhaust manifold but wasn't sure if that could cause such a leak? It was a steady stream of smoke.

Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[scotts90ranger]

If it's missing a rear exhaust bolt and exhaust is leaking bad enough it could melt the heater box, mine's normally melting from the turbo... On a '97 there's the oxygen sensor wires running back there and the EGR tube and flow sensor and related wires and stuff, could melt some of that...

 

[superj]

it could also be a slight oil leak from the valve cover dripping on the exhaust manifold too

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Which side is the exhaust manifold on on a 2.3?

Could be a leaky valve cover dripping oil onto the manifold and burning off,

 

[MT_PLS]

Which side is the exhaust manifold on on a 2.3?

Could be a leaky valve cover dripping oil onto the manifold and burning off,

Exhaust manifold is on the passenger side on the 2.3.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Exhaust manifold is on the passenger side on the 2.3.

Could be oil dripping out of a leaky valvecover, hitting the manifold and burning off.

If my 2.9 sits for a while itll look like its on fire. Real fun when you pull into a loaded gas station

 

[Blmpkn]

As long as it doesn't sound like it's leaking from the manifold, I'd put money on it being the valvecover gasket dripping oil.

A manifold leak is pretty obvious, especially with a stone-cold motor. Lots of times it'll only be audible when the motor first starts... then as the manifold gets some heat in it and expands it'll quiet from a clack to a slight tick.. or go away completely.

 

[97ranger22bronco]

I was hunting for it and noticed that the EGR pressure valve bracket has a missing stud on the backside


Could that be the source of the exhaust leak? I'll record it next time i run it and listen for any noise specifically.

 

[97ranger22bronco]

Here's another angle