[TR] White smoke out the tail pipe

[wbeech]

Tom,

There are a lot of answers, until you get into it it will be had to tell,
here are a few thoughts to consider:

Rings or valve guides are the most common culprits.  Neither being worn will
affect your oil pressure, unless you burn all the oil in the system.  Your
compression being good says that probably nothing is broken, the excess oil
in your cylinder helps the compression to stay high.  Are you seeing a lot
of blow-by at your filler cap or vent?

Obviiously, smoke is not a good this as it indicate excessive wear, can foul
the plugs and pollutes the air.  IMHO, if it is not too bad (ie..you look
like the DDT truck coming down the street) then I would drive it for the
next two good driving months and tear it down this fall.

Worst case: You have worn into an oil passageway into an oil galley that is
letting some oil seep into the combustion chamber.  You have a bad head
gasket or cacked block that is allowing both coolant and oil into the
chamber to be burned off (any water coming from the tailpipe?)  If so, park
it NOW and get your checkbook out!

Your coolant loss, depending on the amount, could be a small leak in a hose
or radiator that just opens up under pressure and does not leak when you
park it, check everything real good while it is hot.

Bill B
'58 TR-3A TS/30766 L (rolling restoration)
"A bad day in your TR just gives you license to go shopping on-line again!"




-----Original Message-----
From: triumphs-bounces+wbeech=flash.net at autox.team.net
[mailto:triumphs-bounces+wbeech=flash.net at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of tab
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 6:16 PM
To: triumphs at autox.team.net
Subject: [TR] White smoke out the tail pipe

TR List
My TR4 seems to have developed a large whiteish plume of smoke from the tail
pipe, most evident on acceleration but it seems like it is always there.
Oil pressure is fine 70 at speed 40-50 at idle when warm. Oil looks clean
when I changed it tonight. Compression is fine at each of the cylinders It
does seem to be "loosing" cooling antifreeze but there is no leak or puddle

Other than the smoke which concerns me as something new it seems to be
running acceptably.

So before I go more in-depth where should I start looking there is still
plenty of driving time this season which I would hate to loose but dont want
to damage anything too badly

Thanks
Tom
_______________________________________________
wbeech at flash.net

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