White Smoke & Funky Smell

[skhochay]

Would this smoke be more pronounced (heavier) if the CATs are clogged? I have original CATs on my 92 and I'm guessing they are clogged up. Going to deCAT this spring when it's warmer.

CAT usual do not get bad unless they are physically damaged, but then you will have check engine on . first you can clean CAT converter.
take a bucket of water mix with laundry detergent so it feels soapy, unbolt CATS and soak them for 40 hr after 40 hr so you should be able to put them up and down in the same water so the water flows through those honey coned freely, rinse them in the clean water. Bolt them on - must have new bolts, ceramic gasket studs as your old probably so rusty and bad. When you bolt them on, fist do the upper bank mount to the engine pipe, do not bolt in the lower yet , you want to test if they are working well, so when you start engine after 3-4 min they will start leaking water that is a good indicator that they are working . That is all

 

[SmokingRocks]

what you are describing is a normal behavioral for this rigs. They do spit a bit of un-burdened fuel into exhaust system so when CAT converter is cold you will see this gray/blue smoke and smell of gasoline and burned oil when the CAT warms up smokes goes away but smell of gas or very nasty odor still present more noticeable during the colder weather, plus you have 170K so the rig naturally take a bit oil by design (manual page 201) with this millage tolerance are grated so it will burned that oil too. So as log you do not have smoke all the time and a lot of it, which is indication (see comments above). Coolant in the cylinder is a most common one because of the burned cylinder head gasket. But again we can't accurately diagnose based on few symptoms.

Unless you are talking about condensation then I don't agree with this at all, would you expect to see smoke at sub 200k? No, maybe after 300k. Smoke is not normal for properly running engines. A cat will not produce white smoke, it may allow black smoke to pass through if it is not functioning correctly and the engine is running rich.

Furthermore you cannot clean a catalytic converter. You can mask the fact that the element is used up temporarily but you don't clean the hydrocarbons out of it. Better to do it right and replace the component than trying to doing a garage fix that will just disappoint you later.

Fact is if you are getting smoke, white, blue or black you need to address the problem or you are just prolonging the fix which may cause more damage. Something is worn beyond spec and could become a major issue if left alone.

You need to preform some test to understand what is going on, don't write it off as normal. I would put money on bad valve seals. Check to confirm, get them fixed, make more power get better gas milage (haha) have a happier engine.

 

[skhochay]

Unless you are talking about condensation then I don't agree with this at all, would you expect to see smoke at sub 200k? No, maybe after 300k. Smoke is not normal for properly running engines. A cat will not produce white smoke, it may allow black smoke to pass through if it is not functioning correctly and the engine is running rich.

Furthermore you cannot clean a catalytic converter. You can mask the fact that the element is used up temporarily but you don't clean the hydrocarbons out of it. Better to do it right and replace the component than trying to doing a garage fix that will just disappoint you later.

Fact is if you are getting smoke, white, blue or black you need to address the problem or you are just prolonging the fix which may cause more damage. Something is worn beyond spec and could become a major issue if left alone.

You need to preform some test to understand what is going on, don't write it off as normal. I would put money on bad valve seals. Check to confirm, get them fixed, make more power get better gas milage (haha) have a happier engine.

my facts are from my own experience, what his exact problem I do not know. I can write something even better that you suggests - "Replace the engine" that can be ultimate solution.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Look @skhochay I'm not trying to make this personal I just disagree with you based on the countless engines I have rebuilt, worked on, had experience with and the and things I've learned from other mechanics. If he was talking about smoke on start up of an M96 porsche engine I would say that is normal because of the configuration and how the engine is designed. Smoke is not normal for 95% of the propperly maintained and running engines on the road - 1Fz-Fe included.

If, as you say, you don't know what his problem is then don't tell him it is normal. This section of the forum is dedicated to helping people diagnose problems, if you are experiencing smoke like the OP is then you need to run test on your engine as well. You are only lying to yourself by saying its normal engine behavior.

I am not telling him something ludicrous like replace the engine, I am telling him to run test to determine what is worn. More than likely its worn valve seals as I said before, which is not a major nor expensive issue but it can lead to one if not take care of at some point.

WITH THAT SAID... OP, blue smoke can be easily misinterpreted as white smoke. Often people see a puff of "white" smoke when it is actually oil smoke. If the smoke doesn't smell sweet I would guess its actually blue ish smoke. Do the OA and then a LDT and report back.

 

[skhochay]

Look @skhochay I'm not trying to make this personal I just disagree with you based on the countless engines I have rebuilt, worked on, had experience with and the and things I've learned from other mechanics. If he was talking about smoke on start up of an M96 porsche engine I would say that is normal because of the configuration and how the engine is designed. Smoke is not normal for 95% of the propperly maintained and running engines on the road - 1Fz-Fe included.

If, as you say, you don't know what his problem is then don't tell him it is normal. This section of the forum is dedicated to helping people diagnose problems, if you are experiencing smoke like the OP is then you need to run test on your engine as well. You are only lying to yourself by saying its normal engine behavior.

I am not telling him something ludicrous like replace the engine, I am telling him to run test to determine what is worn. More than likely its worn valve seals as I said before, which is not a major nor expensive issue but it can lead to one if not take care of at some point.

WITH THAT SAID... OP, white and blue smoke can be easily misinterpreted. Often people see a puff of "white" smoke when it is actually oil smoke. If the smoke doesn't smell sweet I would guess its actually blue ish smoke. Do the OA and then a LDT and report back.

...you are 100% correct on your opinion that "Smoke is not normal" from the exhaust pipe. I started my rig in the morning , and o my ... Coca-cola is coming from the exhaust pipe. Can you check on yours.

 

[SmokingRocks]

dude stop cluttering this guys post if you have nothing of value to add. If you have an issue with me then send it in a PM I will be sure to forward it to my complaints department.

 

[LouisianaRubicon]

@LFD2037 Did you ever figure out what this was?

 

[davesax36]

I've got white smoke on start-up as well. It lasts maybe 10-15 seconds, then everything looks normal. I'm going to take it to OTRAMM to have a full pre-trip check done, but I'm hoping it's not something terrible or major.

 

[SteveL]

Nice to have him so close. I enjoy watching his vids...