[Willy_g77]

lots of white smoke from exhuast!

When I start my 71 opel gt it does put out a lot of smoke at the resinator. but when it runs for 5 mins a lot of white smoke comes out. i noticed that the oil is going to needed changed, I'm doing that today. I also noticed it spits out water when i hit the gas pedal. And the heater is broke but it is not on. help, any way to make it go away???

 

[baz]

willy what colour is the smoke when you first start the car and is it using any oil or water when you run it

 

[Willy_g77]

white!!!

it is white smoke all the time. when i pull the car out of the garage it has a few drops of oil on the ground. the water in the exhaust, i think is condinsation.

 

[baz]

do you know if the water level in the rad is going down
does the white smoke smell of anything (water /oil /gas) ?
dose the smoke go away after a short while or is it constant?
if so you may have a blown head gasket

you said the oil needed changing is it creamy ?

 

[Willy_g77]

how much would it cost?

how much would it cost to have a new head gasket put on??? I have some gaskets from the guy i bought the car off of, i think it is a headgasket. how hard is on to put on???

 

[greensmurf20]

to change the head gasket, you gotta pull the radiator, manifolds, and head. you'll need special serrated sockets for the head bolts, i dont think they're that much money. its probably an all day job for most people to do.

 

[Willy_g77]

its not constant!!!

ok it doesnt have the smoke coming out alot when it just sits running. when your 8 feet behind it you can hardly see it. but i bought some ramps so i can change oil easy. and when i gased it up the ramps it smoked alot!! hope this can help determine anything. thanks for the help so far.

 

[greensmurf20]

giving a description of the smell of the smoke would probably help more than anything. like if it smells sweet, we could determine its probably antifreeze, and that you'd have a blown headgasket or cracked head. if it smells more of like a burnt smell, then we could possably lead you in the direction of burning oil, such as junk rings, bad valve guids/seals, things of the sort. you'd probably get alot better responses with that.

 

[N61WP]

Also keep in mind that if the rear seal in the brake master cylinder is leaking, brake fluid can be sucked into the vacuum line that goes from the booster to the intake. This will also produce white smoke.

Jc

 

[Willy_g77]

brake problems

i think that might be it, because my brakes are shot and will be redoing them soon. I hope so, well anyways im going to tell ya guys what it smells like tomorrow.

 

[Willy_g77]

i changed the oil

i changed the oil and the white smoke isn't coming out as bad, but it smells like burn't rubber, when it does come out.

 

[greensmurf20]

burnt rubber eliminates antifreeze. oil and the brake fluid theories are still in
..take the line from the booster to the intake manifold off, and plug the end of it, if it stops, then its the brake fluid int he booster, if it still does it, then its oil from somewhere.

 

[Willy_g77]

good news

I found the parts that the guys gave me when he sold me the car, it is a complete gasket set, including head gasket, water pump, exhuast and others. on the other hand i found someone that will put them on for 40 bucks plus a case of beer. But does the engine have to come out of the top of out of the bottom? Ive seen pictures of people taking it out of the bottom, does it have to come out this way??? and he told me it is only water and a little bit of oil making it make white smoke. he told me it was because it was sitting for about three months when it had a gas leak. yes i've learned my lesson... dont go for looks until it works right.

 

[kwilford]

Willy,

So your friend thinks it is burning oil because it sat for three months? Hmm, maybe, but I would be looking for a coolant leak. Either a blown head gasket or cracked head. Oil burns with a distinct blue smoke, water or coolant is white. I believe brake fluid burns white as well (being glycol based). Make sure you eliminate that possibility first by disconnecting and plugging the brake booster vacuum hose.

You don't HAVE to remove the engine, although it does make it tidier to work on. You could just remove the manifolds and head with the engine left in the car, and if the cylinders are OK, replace the head gasket. But you MUST have the head checked (dye penetrant or mag fluxed) for cracks. Opel heads are somewhat notorious for cracking at the exhaust valve seat if they are overheated even a little. I currently have TWO cracked heads, and they are generally not repairable. But used heads are fairly readily available.

If you do want to remove the engine, the Factory Service Manual says to drop it out the bottom, complete with the transmission. And so do I. A few on the list have removed the tranny and bell housing first, and usually the head, and lifted the block out the top. But it isn't very hard to drop it. Just raise the car 24 inches off the ground with a set of jack stands on 4x4 wood cribbing, measured at the front jack point, and 20 inches at the rear jack point. I had to replace a bunch of seals and gaskets on Katheryn McCoy's GT last winter, and I had the engine out and back in less time than it took to replace the seals.

A bit of a warning. If you do remove the engine, it seems like a "good idea" to do other things while you are there. And it is. But the list can grow quickly, to such things as a new clutch disk, a new rear engine seal, drilled and heli-coiled exhaust manifold threads, a new front engine seal, and more. Your friend might want more than $40 if you end up doing a fairly major repair.

Good luck!

 

[greensmurf20]

i'm with keith, it dont make sence to start burning oil becaue it sat for 3 months, it just dont work that way, they might smoke if they've sat for years and even then it only last maybe 5 or 10 minutes, so i'd agree with keith, and my earlier post, pull the vacuum line from the booster and plug it on the intake so you dont have a vacuum leak. if it still smokes its probably oil since you said it smells like something burning, not sweet like antifreeze. check the booster FIRST. still dont clear its probably a head gasket or cracked head, as keith had also already said. 40 bucks sounds way too cheap to put all new gaskets in any motor, unless its a little briggs or something . but if he'll do it for that much and you think hes got the skill and know how, power to ya, thats cheap.

 

[Willy_g77]

my bad....

I meant to say in the postbefore, that it was water in the tail pipe with a trace of oil when you stick your finger in the pipe and rub it against it. by the way how much do the other parts cost that you mentioned????? I know that he has worked on many MG's and other foriegn cars, and he told me you could take it out of the top. and every one just tells me that im obsessive over my opel and that the smoke isn't that bad. but it was bad when i tried to drive it up on ramps with out brakes and it rolled back when it was in first gear and it smoked really bad, that is why this post started. I will continue to restore my beloved opel. by the way, it idles pretty high, and when i pull the gas peddle up it goes down, any thoughts on this???? is it an easy fix?

 

[GTJIM (R.I.P.)]

Check the Barke Booster First!

I had a leaking brake booster and that put big white smelly clouds of smoke back out the exhaust.

Before you start pulling the engine out/apart make really sure it is not the booster as you mentioned bad brakes in an earlier post.

Before pulling the motor apart get hold of an Opel workshop manual like the one put out by Brookland Books (do a site search here with those two 'B' words as I loaded up a picture of the cover with the book's library number).

Retiming the Opel cam needs special knowledge and a correct diagram. Also the head bolts need a special "12-point" X 10mm internal socket and the cam boolts use a smaller "12-point" socket too, which you MUST have before trying to remove them.

 

[First opel 1981]

If you do have to pull the head, you will need a 10mm torx bit. Make sure it is a good quality one because it has to handle 65 lbs of torque

 

[baz]

they are not torx bits they are 12 point star drives and you need 2 one for the head bolts and 1 to take the cam chain pully off

 

[greensmurf20]

i tore a few motors down and rebuilt one, tore it back down and put it together without these tools, and it is not an easy thing to do at all. for the cam sprocket bolts and head bolts, i had to find 6 point allen that were close to the right size, and hammer them in there, not a good idea, i'd buy the tool, they are available. i got some now, the guy gave them to me when he gave me two GTs. they're a must have.