Hey gang, Hank here with another novice help question. My 235 in my 1952 3100 P/U gives off quite a bit of acrid/strong-smellin' smoke exhaust most of the time while driving. I do get a little water out of the tailpipe on startup, but the engine has a new headgasket/seal on the head so i dont think waters gettin' in that way. Oil pressure and levels look good.

(I'm not blinding the folks behind me w/the exhaust but its more smoke than "normal"). any idears?? thanks guys.

-Hank

Was it like this before the head gasket redo?

What do the spark plugs look like?

Have you done a compression test?

Has this engine been rebuilt or had any other major work done that you know of?

What color is the smoke?

some water out of the tailpipe during warm up is normal condensation.

Hi gearhead,

1) it always has had some smoke, but it seems like alot more recently.
2) need to check plugs but they were checked (i believe) at last tune up back in feb. Would this cause a lot of smoke if they're bad??
3) the compression test was done, yes, and they confirmed there was some loss of pressure due to a small, cold-weather crack at the top rear of engine block, (really inaccessible spot) which dribbles a little anti-freeze when I drive her, SO i just back-off the rad cap a little to ease the pressure and keep her topped off from time to time, does the trick!
4) its not the orig engine and little is known about work done on her. As far as the numbers on the engine tell me, its got a '58-62 block with 848 series head ('56)
5) spoke is dirty-white, ash color and has strong odor--not black. It hasn't even been burning much oil, and only recently did the stick reach the "fill" mark--so I threw in a Qrt of 10-30.

If the combustion conditions vary from one cylinder to another, it will show up in how the plugs look, like if one cylinder is burning oil or water...

Does it ever got hot?

White smelly smoke is usually burning coolant.

If you have a crack in the block that affects compression and is leaking, then I would think that is the answer right there.

Pull the plug wire off #6 (I'm assuming) and see if the smoke disappears??

Most shop manuals have pictures in them of what different things look like on a spark plug.

I'd start looking for a new engine...

yeah, I have an ad on the inliners classifieds site "wanted" section for a new 235! No great leads (yet) in the Boston, MA area or close enough to drive to though. Ad has been up there a while.

thanks alot for the help.

But, I can't leave the plug wire off #6 i assume if this makes the smoke disappear.....?

I didn't mean all the time, just for a minute in the driveway to see if the smoke disappears, etc...

It's just meant to tell where the problem is...


Try an ad on Craigslist. Keep an eye on Ebay. Go to some swapmeets...