Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 i have been working on my 65 cadillac a lot and have started it many times but never looked at the back of the car while it was running until today and i noticed a bit of white smoke and water coming from the tail pipe. the car runs great. the carb does need a little work. but i dont that is causing the smoke. no coolant is leaking and the coolant levil does not seem to be going down in the radiator. here is a video of the smoke. so what do you think? head gasket leak? or nothing at all?fyi the ticking sound is because the exhaust pipe is a bit loose and is hitting the frame Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiser31 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Looks to be more like valve guides, maybe. Does it smell like anti-freeze or oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 Looks to be more like valve guides, maybe. Does it smell like anti-freeze or oil?it does not smell like oil. it smells more like anti freeze. i just started it again vary little smoke this time. but more water dripping out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5219 Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 I once had a 1965 Cadillac that was putting out antifreeze in the exhaust. The culprit was the heater control valve. The diaphragm had gone bad and the vacuum line was sucking coolant into the combustion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vermontboy Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 You are letting it warm up - right ? Like a 10 or 15 minute drive to let all the condensation dry out - repeated starting and never letting it get warm will load up the exhaust system with water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 A little water vapor and dripping is pretty normal until the car is fully warmed up. Water is a by-product of the combustion process and is why exhaust systems rust from the inside out in most cases. It is most pronounced when the car is first started as the cold steel exhaust system causes the water vapor in the exhaust to condense and come out the tailpipe, usually as black water that spits when you rev the engine. Totally normal.Now, if the car is still blowing smoke (white smoke = coolant, blue smoke = oil) after it's warmed up to operating temperature and driven a few miles, then you might have a problem. It's important to get the engine AND EXHAUST SYSTEM up to operating temperature before making a diagnosis. But a bit of vapor and some drips at start up and when it's cold is totally normal.Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 You are letting it warm up - right ? Like a 10 or 15 minute drive to let all the condensation dry out - repeated starting and never letting it get warm will load up the exhaust system with water.i had been starting it and turning it off a lot. as i was adjusting the carburetor. the longest i had run it for was for about 5 minutes, and there was still smoke. but not as much as when i first started it. and the car was not driving is was sitting. as there is air in the brake lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 A little water vapor and dripping is pretty normal until the car is fully warmed up. Water is a by-product of the combustion process and is why exhaust systems rust from the inside out in most cases. It is most pronounced when the car is first started as the cold steel exhaust system causes the water vapor in the exhaust to condense and come out the tailpipe, usually as black water that spits when you rev the engine. Totally normal.Now, if the car is still blowing smoke (white smoke = coolant, blue smoke = oil) after it's warmed up to operating temperature and driven a few miles, then you might have a problem. It's important to get the engine AND EXHAUST SYSTEM up to operating temperature before making a diagnosis. But a bit of vapor and some drips at start up and when it's cold is totally normal.Hope this helps.I agree with Matt on this. A little bit of water exiting the tail pipe on initial start up is normal.You said that you've been starting and shutting the engine off frequently with a maximum run time of 5 minutes. This probably is not long enough to thoroughly warm the engine, making proper carburetor adjustment difficult if not impossible. Of course initial carburetor adjustment (float level etc.) doesn't require a warmed engine; however final adjustment usually does. As to the smoke problem, I suggest a thorough warm up as Matt recommends, and then checking for smoke.A quick and "dirty" method of checking the condition of an engine involves wiping your finger in the tail pipe to detect the presence of oil or soot. An oily residue in the tail pipe indicates blow by, and a sooty residue indicates an overly rich carburetor. The best way to check for improper combustion or the burning of oil is to pull the spark plugs and "read" them.Good luck,Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 (edited) took a look at the oil dipstick today. it is a gray with streaks of lighter gray in it. no bubbles when i put the dipstick back in and pulled it out again and the oil looked fine. Edited September 8, 2014 by classic.car.fan (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 also has anyone here every tried that liquid head gasket repair? is that worth a try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Binger Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 I agree with Matt. Let the car fully warm up! Water condenses in the muffler and tail pipe every time the car shuts off. It also condenses in the engine. I always let my cars warm up enough for the oil to get above the boiling temperature of water and get rid of the water in the crankcase oil. If it isn't warmed up completely more and more gets accumulated in the exhaust and can eventually cause the muffler and tail pipe to prematurely rust through. Run the car for a good 15 minutes and make sure it is completely warmed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 took a look at the oil dipstick today. it is a gray with streaks of lighter gray in it. no bubbles when i put the dipstick back in and pulled it out again and the oil looked fine.Gray oil is never a good thing. When was the most recent oil change? When you pulled the dipstick the second time and " ... the oil looked fine.", was it still gray?Cheers,Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan at larescorp Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 also has anyone here every tried that liquid head gasket repair? is that worth a try?It's like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound. I would suggest going to your FLAP store and see if they have a cooling system pressure tester they could rent you. If the head gasket is leaking coolant then your system won't be able to hold pressure. If your head gasket is out the best fix for it is the permanent one, new head gasket. If it does hold pressure I would change the oil and let it run for about an hour. If you're not seeing any milky oil than I would guess it is just moisture build up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenHupp20 Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 One old school master mechanic on heavy equipment would start it up and watch the coolant in the radiator.With a bad head gasket it would slowly rise,burp,then repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Head gasket problems may be diagnosed with a compression test. You may even see a constant stream of tiny bubbles in the radiator if there is a head gasket leak (after the thermostat has opened, of course).Modern cars often run water out of the tail pipe on cold day start-up. It takes a while to warm the exhaust enough to evaporate all the ponded water. If it is dripping out of the tail pipe, the muffler(s) are probably full of water pretty much up to the level of the tail pipe exiting the muffler.Don't bother with exhaust-finger test after a lot of short runs. Get the engine fully warmed up first, preferably with a run of a few miles.With a diesel engine, white smoke means unburnt fuel - often after start-up or idling for a while. Our low-milage Canter did that. Not a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Don't do anything about the head gasket until you can drive the car and get it up to temperature. Like we've all said several times, water and moisture are collecting EVERYWHERE because you're starting it and stopping it without letting it warm up. The oil isn't getting hot enough to drive out the moisture in the crankcase, so it's just getting wetter and wetter. So stop worrying about some miracle liquid to dump into it and get the sucker running and driving so you can run it down the road for 30 minutes or so. That's the only way to get it hot enough to evaporate all the water out of the crankcase and exhaust. When you return from that drive, if it's still spitting water and making gray smoke, then you might have a problem. If you're really worried about it, the tool trucks sell a head gasket tester. You put a special liquid into a tube which fits on the radiator neck. Start the engine and use the bulb to create a vacuum to pull air (not coolant!) into the tube. The liquid changes color in the presence of carbon monoxide. It's sensitive enough that you can breathe on it and it will change color. I bought one years ago when I had a supercharged race car that I would drive hard and worried about blown gaskets. I think it is unlikely that you've blown a gasket, but shooting in the dark will get you nowhere fast.A blown head gasket will make your oil look like a chocolate milkshake. Gray is just moisture. THAT is your problem, and it's all because you can't (or won't?) drive the car to get it properly warmed up.My advice? Get the car drivable, change the oil, actually drive it, get it up to temperature, drive it some more, then re-evaluate. Right now all you're doing it chasing ghosts because you can't get it warmed up properly. Idling in the driveway won't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 To really sort it out you can pressure test the cooling system both cold and warm. If you haven't done that you may find a heater hose or coolant hose that is seeping as well. It should be tight and hold 15 to 17 PSIG.Leave the pressure tester on the radiator and start the car with the pressure relieved. It should not increase quickly.If any vacuum device has a diaphragm with another fluid on the opposite side it should be tested. All should hold 20" or better.Especially on the Caddies, be sure the exhaust manifold bolts are correct originals after any engine work. The manifold bolts and head bolts are 90 degrees to each other and a slightly longer manifold bolt from a hardware store can press against the head bolt. Years ago I serviced a 1959 Caddy that smoked white and ran rough. After the professional engine rebuild the engine was installed in a body shop. The exhaust manifolds were installed with hardware bolts, then the accessories were installed. The exhaust manifold bolt pressing the headbolt damaged the threads when it was removed to install the power steering bracket. Then it was re-installed with an air wrench and stripped the block. You could hear the water entering the cylinder when the cooling system was pressurized. I saved the block with a heli-coil and used a stud to avoid having to remove it in the future.Just be aware of that kind of thing if the engine has been serviced and don't be afraid the take apart anything that looks like someone else serviced it. An old engineer told me the odds of previous work being done correctly is 50/50 every time; either they did it right or they did it wrong.If you took the time to ask and make the video that makes two of us that are suspicious.Bernie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capngrog Posted September 8, 2014 Share Posted September 8, 2014 Matt,+++++++++ on what you said. Diagnosis of a problem on a running engine as described by the original poster can't be done if the engine isn't allowed to reach and maintain its operating temperature. Starting an engine, running it for a few minutes, and then shutting it down is hard on an engine, for the very reasons you outlined.Cheers,Grog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 i changed the oil a few weeks ago. when i pulled the dipstick the second time the oil was not gray it was golden. just how it's supposed to look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 thanks for all the advice guys. i will be bleeding the brakes this weekend. and will take it for a drive and see how things go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest classic.car.fan Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Gray oil is never a good thing. When was the most recent oil change? When you pulled the dipstick the second time and " ... the oil looked fine.", was it still gray?Cheers,Grogi changed the oil a few weeks ago. when i pulled the dipstick the second time the oil was not gray it was golden. just how it's supposed to look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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