smoke!

[bigbertha]

hey guys,

i was burping bertha for the second time this week and i noticed a burning smell but saw no obvious smoke. upon further inspection from various angles, I noticed that there in fact was a very light trail of smoke coming from behind the valve cover where it is closest to the firewall. i am guessing it is burning oil.

this is the deal: took bertha to toyota for a radiator recore after noticing redline heat readings and coolant leaks. re-cored radiator installed with new hoses and new overflow tank, (which PO removed,) new t-stat installed and the valves were adjusted.

started her up at toyota and she died right there in the lot. got her started on second try and her idle rpms are at 500, they said she had a vacuum problem due to cracked intake boots and now also has a rear main seal leak as well as some kind of side panel oil leak. New boots are now installed and she is still rough idling between 500 - 1000 and sporadically dying on us and she still redlines on big hills and now smells like hell with no obvious smoke (although there is a little if the hood is up and your head is in there). i noticed something, oil or water?, leaking sporadically onto one of the down pipes from the manifold and causing smoke, but there is smoke from the head/firewall area even when that moisture is not there. i have not fixed any of the oil leaks because we are broke and i suspect there is burning oil somewhere on this stuck pig. this work was done a month ago and we have been stressing about what to do since we cannot afford another vehicle and have invested a medium fortune in this money pit that may or may not now need a new head.

from reading various threads, i was gonna go and order a new FPR , fan clutch and Tstat but they will be pricey right?? i do not have an fsm but if you can describe things or tell me where and what to look for i can find them.

if there is anything else you guys can think of then let me know. we really can't afford to drop another 1000 now.


we just bought our first home and our cruiser is killing us. we are ready to junk her but we need her to run so we can work. i have been burping her as a last ditch effort to get her to run cooler but now the smoke and stench has begun and I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO...PLEASE HELP!!!


you have been so helpful thus far and i thank you all for making this forum where morons like me can get info and get inspired. We need desperately for this truck to make it through the winter so any and all suggestions will be considered seriously.

 

[NocalFJ60]

You seen any oil in your coolant or have you changed the oil and seen coolant in it? Sounds like you are really overheating and your temp guage is somewhat correct.

Has the water pump been replaced? Sounds like coolant is leaking around the head somewhere.You seeing any white smoke out the tailpipe. That would mean coolant is leaking into the cylinders. The coolant might just be leaking from head. Try and see where the coolant is leaking from head. Maybe you could pull the valve cover and check the torque of the head bolts.

Goodluck.

Also where are you located?

 

[bigbertha]

smoke

hey nocal-

there is only white smoke from the tail pipe when it gets really cold here. right now there is nothing visible coming from the tail pipe. seems like everyone has white smoke coming from the tailpipes when it gets cold.

the smoke coming from the head is whitish-gray and barely visible but definitely there. Engine oil is clear.

thanks for the suggestion.

to pull the valve cover should i get a breaker bar for the bolts and remove all hoses and whatnot attached to the cover first? do i need to get a new gasket?



FJ62 1989.
Southern Tier, Ithaca, New York Area

 

[lovetoski]

hey nocal-

to pull the valve cover should i get a breaker bar for the bolts and remove all hoses and whatnot attached to the cover first? do i need to get a new gasket?



FJ62 1989.
Southern Tier, Ithaca, New York Area

The valve cover bolts should not require a breaker bar - they are small, and can break if tightend too much. (Not that I'd ever be dumb enough to do that...)

The valve cover gasket is rubber, and intended to be reused, as long as it's not damaged.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Definately do not use a breaker bar on the valve cover. After 18 plus years, it becomes very brittle. The bolts are not brittle, the cover is. Just give it one or two more turns past hand tight, and don't ask why I know this.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I forgot to say that after my cruiser sat for a while, like a couple of months without running, the first five minutes of operation were very smoky. After that, it has run perfectly. Soon, I'm going to give it the SeaFoam treatment, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[NocalFJ60]

Remove the air cleaner and hoses to get to the valve cover. The bolts that hold the valve cover on only need to be snug. If you over tighten them you will crack the valve cover like said above. The best thing I think would after you get the valve cover off would be to use a torque wrench and see how tight the head bolts are first. I am not sure what the factory spec for the head bolts should be but you can look it up or search on here. I would make sure they are atleast at factory torque. You also want to tighen them in the approriate order so if they are loose you don't flex the head. There is usually a picture of the right sequence if you have a manual. You don't need a new gasket for the valve cover if the one looks good. Wipe it down and inspect it and then put some oil on it in place.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I put mine on dry, and it made a really good seal.

 

[Eric Winkworth]

is it diesel or gas? Sorry for my ignorence!

Is it the sweet smell of burning coolent (white) or the smell of burning oil (blue)?

What does toyota say? Was the truck running fine before they did the valve adjustment? I hope it is a trusted toyota dealer in Australia or something, I wouldn't let a toyota dealer in canada touch my BJ, they don't know any more than I do thats for sure.

You'll geter figured out, don't get frustrated.

 

[bigbertha]

Input please

hey yall-

OK... i got the valve cover off before the rain started again and I saw some things that I am concerned about.


1)when i removed the air intake boots and such to open up space over the valve cover, I saw that there is oil in the boots, throttle body and lining the intake manifold by the large valve opening thingy.


2)the valve rocker body and all the valve springs and whatnot are caked with a thin layer of gritty black residue gunk. it is not metal but almost like sugar, and i can scrape it off with my fingernail. there is definitely some buildup.

3)my valve cover gasket was cracked into 3 pieces which may or maynot be the cause of the burning smell and smoke as oil has been leaking out all over the engine through the cracks. ALDERMAN's Toyota in Rutland Vermont did that install... never go to them!!!


I assume oil in the intake is bad and that the gunk needs to be cleaned off the valve rocker and springs. ANY SUGGESTIONS as to the best way to go about dealing with this??? So far i have not taken anything beyond the valve cover ,part of the intake and all surrounding hoses off the truck.


Input please



THANKS!


:doh


PS. This is a 1989 FJ62, gasoline, single cat, craphole 2inch shackle lifted, milford barrier, long ranger equiped, no other mods trooper of a rusted truck that has gotten us out of some sticky situations.

 

[ben1be]

This is what I did on an 88FJ62 with the same crystalized black oil.

There was one 1/2" drain hole on the passenger side of the head, midway down the head. I cleaned out around that, ran a wire down it to make sure it was clear, then stuffed it with a rag.
With rags and a small spoon I cleaned out the easy stuff.
I had a gallon of Kreen that I was using as an engine treatment. Put that in a spray bottle and soaked everything. After it sat for awhile I started wire brushing,scraping and spooning out the crud. It took some time and it would have been better to remove the valve assembly, but I was already in the middle of a cooling system re-hab and wanted to get it back on the road.
When I was finished I sprayed a liberal coating of Kroil on the assembly, especially on the small holes in the shaft where the oil feeds.
I was careful not to poke around too much in the valve seals. Also cleaned the inside of the valve cover where it looked like a lot of the crud was crystalizing and then falling into the assembly.
Odd thing about this is that before this I had white smoke for about five minutes a couple of minutes after a cold start-up. never found any coolant and oil mixing anywhere so I figured it was leaky valve seals. Now no smoke at all.

 

[bigbertha]

will do

thanks for the input ben1be. i will get to cleaning when the rains stop.

anyone have anythoughts on the oil in the intake?