Problems with Engine
10-14-2006, 11:44 PM
#1
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Problems with Engine
About 2 weeks ago I gased my car leaving a stop sign, just enough to spin my tires.When I did this I heard a loud pop and my car died. Since then, I got it running (needed a new battery). THe only other thing I replaced was spark plugs. Now, there is white smoke coming from the tail pipes and there is a faint "click" coming from the engine. I read about symptoms for a blown head gasket and my car hasn't shown any of those. The only thing is that I have an oil leak so I don't have full oil (I had half according to the dipstick) in the engine. Could this cause the white smoke and what is the click in the engine? Thanks for the help.
10-15-2006, 01:59 PM
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I started my car today and there was no smoke. Car idled and ran normal. I checked my oil and antifreeze and both looked normal. My oil is a little low but that's because I have a leak somewhere. Only reason I'm still not ruling out a head gasket is the pressure in the radiator builds up fast. I let the car idle for about a minute then shut it off. I waited about 30 minutes then took the radiator cap off. SOme antifreeze spewed out. Think it may be the head gasket?
10-15-2006, 03:02 PM
#5
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you don't have to have oil mixing with the coolant (chocolate milk) to have a BHG. If it's a combustion to coolant blow, it will just push exhaust gases into the cooling system and a little coolant will mix go into the combustion chambers causing minimal white smoke...enoguh to not be noticed all the time or cause too much of an issue. The best way to test for a BHG is either a compression test and/or getting a tester from NAPA. I had to do this on my supra (sold by the way!!!!) and it showed I had a BHG. You replace your rad cap with teh tester and it changes certain colors, if there's combustion gases in the cooling system, it changes a certain color and tells you if you have a BHG. I'd do this test. OH, and white smoke IS NOT UNBURNT FUEL! black smoke is unburnt fuel! White smoke is burning water or coolant.
10-15-2006, 04:00 PM
#6
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i thought blue smoke was unburnt fuel black smoke was burnt oil white was coolant....hmmm...ok rule out the headgasket once and for all and do a compressions check on your cylinders....then you can know if engine is healthy or not...its a start...
10-16-2006, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by MellowYellow300
I'm going to test it tommorrow. What are good compression numbers?
10-19-2006, 09:04 PM
#14
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Well my numbers seem okay. I had 150,145,140,140,140,130. I'm assuming thats decent if not good. How would I test for combustion gases in the cooling system? The car still runs good and doesn't smoke as much. I guess I can pretty much rule out a blown head gasket?
10-20-2006, 12:12 AM
#15
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hmmm.... a bit unsteady....not bad...sept that 130...that would worry me. nothin is gonna suffer...but i would watch that cylinder make sure its not loosing more and more compression. i umm...doubt theres a blown headgasket though, youd get much lower numbers....the tinyest of leaks will result with huge compression loss...
10-20-2006, 10:11 AM
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Originally Posted by snwbrderphat540
hmmm.... a bit unsteady....not bad...sept that 130...that would worry me. nothin is gonna suffer...but i would watch that cylinder make sure its not loosing more and more compression. i umm...doubt theres a blown headgasket though, youd get much lower numbers....the tinyest of leaks will result with huge compression loss...
10-20-2006, 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by snwbrderphat540
hmmm.... a bit unsteady....not bad...sept that 130...that would worry me. nothin is gonna suffer...but i would watch that cylinder make sure its not loosing more and more compression.
Originally Posted by ZLover4Life
NA 142-187psi, TT 128-171psi
So, if the Factory Service Manual says 128 to 171 psi is acceptable for a TT, and 128 < 130 < 171, you can conclude that the cylinder is fine.
When I had a cracked piston, it still fired provided I was under 14 psi of boost, and it had less than 75 psi of compression.
10-20-2006, 08:21 PM
#20
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Yeah, sorry I never specified. I do have a TT.
I'll get the tester to see if there is gases in my coolant. I'm still having some minor white smoke coming out of the passenger side exhaust. I drove the car though and runs fine. That smoke just worries me.
I'll get the tester to see if there is gases in my coolant. I'm still having some minor white smoke coming out of the passenger side exhaust. I drove the car though and runs fine. That smoke just worries me.
10-21-2006, 09:41 AM
#21
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Ever think it might just be steam?
The products of complete combustion are water and carbon dioxide. Heat up water enough (like in an exhaust) and it becomes steam...
Of course, it could be coolant too, but if you do the coolant test and it comes back fine, it may seriously be nothing at all to worry about.
In the end, if this test shows that your coolant is not contaminated, just find a local shop that works on Zs and see what they say... if it runs fine, though, it's probably nothing major. If it were black or blue smoke, it'd likely be more serious.
The products of complete combustion are water and carbon dioxide. Heat up water enough (like in an exhaust) and it becomes steam...
Of course, it could be coolant too, but if you do the coolant test and it comes back fine, it may seriously be nothing at all to worry about.
In the end, if this test shows that your coolant is not contaminated, just find a local shop that works on Zs and see what they say... if it runs fine, though, it's probably nothing major. If it were black or blue smoke, it'd likely be more serious.
10-21-2006, 05:58 PM
#23
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Originally Posted by 91zxtt
Imagine that....a problem with a Z32 may turn out to be nothing. That has to be a first.
Once, after punching it down a strip of road in the forest preserves, after not driving the car for months (the first day it was out of storage), I lost a cylinder. Knowing that I had used ethanol gas recently by mistake, I suspected it was a dead injector that stuck open after I boosted hard. Tested the injectors the next morning, and they all read 11.3-11.4 ohms. One of my ignition coil caps had come loose due to engine vibration.
