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White smoke on rebuilt B230

B

BabyBlue240

New member
Joined
Jun 14, 2005
Location
Mountain View, CA
84 242. Completely rebuilt 93 B230FT block with maybe 300 miles on it so far. Next in a line of strange occurences, the car is now blowing some white smoke out the back, and it doesn't seem to be going away after atleast 70 miles of driving. it might have been there the whole time, I honestly don't think I ever really looked for awhile. 99% sure it's coolant from smell/looks/feel. It's not coming out steam stack style, but it's definitely there, especially on gunning it after sitting at an idle for awhile. I guess I'm about to change the head gasket but it just seems unlikely to me that that's the problem so I wanted to get some opinions.

So, head and block were shaved/decked in the rebuild and a new Elring gasket was used, torqued exactly the way the Green book says. Also running a 15g and I suspected that as the first problem, so I capped its coolant hoses off and took it out of the system. Still smoking. It seems to only start smoking after it's warmed up. Crack in the head expands maybe? Plugs are very clean and even across the cylinders. no oil in the water or vice versa. none of the standard blown head gasket symptoms.

so obviously, the coolant would get pulled into the chamber on the intake stroke. but how can the vacuum created on the intake stroke be great enough to pull the water into the chamber, yet, when it's on compression and it's upwards of 150psi in there BEFORE anything ignites, there's no air bubbles in the reservoir, the radiator isn't blown up, the cooling system seems unaffected. i suppose a crack from the coolant to an exhaust port in the head would make sense of that, but other than that, what gives?
 
head gasket issues

To get a basic idea if you have an issue. Do a compression check and see what pressures you have. You can also get a dye kit to add to the coolant to detect the presence of exhaust gases. If they are in the coolant your head gasket is leaking. Are you sure the head gasket is installed correctly? I know, but I had to ask. A leak down test may also help with diagnosis.
 
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Are you 100% sure the head-gasket is on the right way?
It's possible to fit it upside down, starve the head of oil, and wear your valveguides so that oil gets in & burns.
Ask me how I know ... serves me right for trusting someone else to do the head gasket.
 
Forg said:
Are you 100% sure the head-gasket is on the right way?
It's possible to fit it upside down, starve the head of oil, and wear your valveguides so that oil gets in & burns.
Ask me how I know ... serves me right for trusting someone else to do the head gasket.
Click to expand...

I guess I couldn't say I'm 100% certain but I certainly wasn't hurrying through the job either, I think I remember double checking the orientation was right. Plus, if it was wrong, wouldn't it be completely starved of oil? There's definitely oil in the head as seen through the cap. and like i said, I'm pretty sure it's water. if i put my hand in front of the tailpipe, water condenses on my hand.

Tiebird said:
what sort of work was done to the block other than the decking?
hone & new rings?
Click to expand...

Bored .030 over, new pistons and rings, hot tanked. im an idiot and didn't pay to have either checked for cracks. that'd at least give peace of mind on that.
 
Tiebird said:
so... did you actually break the engine in properly?
let the rings seat down like they need to before beating the **** out of it?
Click to expand...

yeah, definitely. varied idle for 20 mins on the first startup, etc. i still haven't taken it over 4000 RPM or 5 psi.

i think im going to try the dye and go sniff the coolant and do a compression check.
 
BabyBlue240 said:
yeah, definitely. varied idle for 20 mins on the first startup, etc. i still haven't taken it over 4000 RPM or 5 psi.

i think im going to try the dye and go sniff the coolant and do a compression check.
Click to expand...

i just dont think the rings have set in properly and your burning a bit of oil
got a proper oil gauge on it?
whats it reading at idle and 3000rpm?
 
when oil burns in a turboed Volvo, it's a blue and/or black smoke, and it smells like ****. I blew my turbo, and kept driving it until the engine simply wouldn't start. I'm pretty sure this isn't oil.

if it's white smoke, it's condensed water vapour. of course, your observation of water collecting on your hand proves this further. according to my newbie Volvo knowledge (but a mechanical engineer), it's getting into the cylinder because you're running rich (byproduct of combustion is water), or coolant issues. on a completely different tangent; is your turbo water cooled? the chances of a breach in the coolant line is pretty slim - but I'll toss in the possibility all the same.

Sim
 
There could be the chance that your O2 sensor isn't working so the car is running rich. When such a thing happens white smoke will appear in the exhaust. It's a quick check too. So it wouldn't hurt
 
mulkeyr said:
There could be the chance that your O2 sensor isn't working so the car is running rich. When such a thing happens white smoke will appear in the exhaust. It's a quick check too. So it wouldn't hurt
Click to expand...

It's a brand new LC-1 and I'm getting good reasonable AFR's in Megatune now (after tuning), so I don't think so. plus, it's running very nice with no hesitations or rich symptoms.

On another note, all this talk of oil burning is going on. Is there any way it could still be oil, even with the water condensing on the hand thing? i sure wouldn't think so but maybe I'm wrong.
 
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