Upper end rebuild white smoke

[ecgreen]

Hey guys,

Thanks to everyone here I rebuilt the upper end of an engine and got it running in the BII. When I start it up it lets out some white smoke (kinda stinks) and if I leave it at idle it goes away. I have only gotten it up to speed for a few minutes and it was blowing a bit of white smoke every now and then at higher RPMs. Is this normal for a rebuild or am I in deep S***? I am hoping it is just old oil and crap from the old engine. My fear is that its water/coolant.

My plan is to do the timing, get it running smooth and just run it and see what happens.

Note: I had the heads checked and redid all upper end gaskets.

 

[ecgreen]

Here is the "Blue Pig"

 

[Shran]

Super nice B2 ya got there.

Steam from condensation trapped in the exhaust is normal, continuous steam is not... condensation usually goes away after a few minutes but it depends on the weather.

Since you just got it back together, I'd drive it and get some miles on it while closely watching the coolant level, oil, and exhaust. If it's running OK, not losing coolant, and the oil looks like oil and not a milkshake, you're probably fine and it's nothing to worry about. You can also pull plugs after you've run it for a while and see what they look like.

I just pulled a 2.9 that would blow steam constantly and lost a ton of coolant but there was never any in the oil... you have to watch everything.

 

[ecgreen]

Good advice, thanks! So far no lost coolant or coolant in the oil or anything like that yet. I'll keep an eye on it. I have to get it running smooth first (timing, exhaust is not tight enough I think, etc), then I'll worry about it. I am new to building trucks, so everything is a lesson at this point.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

My guess is its condensation stuck in the exhaust. Espicially assuming the truck has sat a while.

 

[adsm08]

The other question is, how much coolant got dumped down the exhaust when you pulled the heads? On the 6.0s when they would blow a head gasket, or an EGR cooler, they'd get coolant down in the cats and it can take a while to get it all burned out of there.

 

[elscotto80]

I've got kind of a similar problem with white smoke from both of the manifolds lately. Oil and coolant levels are good and neither look bad (no mixing). Engine runs great, just have white smoke from the exhaust manifolds. New valve cover seals were installed over the summer and i checked all of the bolts - they are tight. I am seeing some of the baked on oil on the head cook so to speak.

It does smell like something is burning with the smoke, but cannot pin point what or precisely where its coming from.

My truck does sit for a while - its driven every few weeks. Perhaps a lot of condensation? Clogged cat? Perhaps some of the coolant passages in the head got clogged somehow and are not getting coolant?