Alfa Pages

Klc · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:10 am Post subject: light grey exhaust smoke when hot

Hello everyone Very Happy

Having fallen in love with a rusty 1.5 86 Alfa 33 on my girlfriends lawn, i decided to give it a new lease on life, and bought a 1.5 89 33 Ti with a non working motor, with the idea of installing the motor from the rusty one, into the nice body of the Ti.

Now up till then i knew nothing about cars and how they worked, howvere i wanted a project, and with a lot of reading and some help and advice from different people, i managed to pull it off (and was very proud of myself too i might add).

Now i thought all was well, untill i took it out for a small drive, and found that it wasnt as grunty as it had been in the rusty car, and after a couple minutes of driving, light grey smoke started pouring out of the exhaust..

I have been rechecking connections over the last week, but the smoke still starts pouring out, and cannot workout what could have happened when changing the motor over..

If anyone has ANY pearls of wisdom as to what the possibilities of the problem could be, i would be very grateful.

Eddie W · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 10:34 am Post subject:

Hi
Whereabouts in NZ are you? First suggestion is to make sure you haven't over filled the oil. It may sound unlikely but it has been done before. The second would be ignition timing if you had the dizzie out during the changeover. Any other signs of trouble such as temp. etc? The nore info you can pass on the better our chances of helping.
Regards Eddie
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Guest · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 5:20 am Post subject:

Im an Aucklander Smile

I havent touched the oil since i pulled the engine out, so that shouldnt be the problem (was planning to change the oil once everything was working!)

The temperature guage seems fine, but i guess theres the possiblity it doesnt work, and i am using the untested radiator from the newer car.. something for me to check on.

At first i thought it couldnt be the timing as i hadnt changed any part of the enuigine, altho, i did have to remove the distributer cap and leads to get the engine out (pulled it out thru the top, what a mission) so i guess i couldve put it back on wrong, or possibly even got it switched for the one from the other car.. very annoying having 2 of everything lying around!

Thanks for the suggestions, now for the process of elimination....

cheers

klc

Ben_nz · Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 6:11 am Post subject:

I'm new to Alfas, but I believe that with any car white smoke (except when cold) can mean radiator fluid being burnt, leaking into the engine through a failed head gasket or something. You should probably keep an eye on the level in the reservoir.

Guest · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 1:34 am Post subject:

Good sense from Ben, but a head gasket is usually evident on fire up as the water will collect in the cylinder producing white smoke and/ or fouling a plug. Nevertheless keep an eye on coolant as suggested by Ben. You can phone me on 2798748 if you like and we may be able to get it looked at.
Regards Eddie

Klc · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:01 am Post subject:

Yeah, the smoke is more oil/burning smelling, and the water level hasnt seemed to change (altho i havnt exactly driven it anywhere major!)

Have been trying to source a strobe light so i can do the timing, but no luck yet. Repco wanted $80 for their bottom of the range one.. think i'll try a little harder b4 resorting to that..

Also having a problem with the clutch... had to bleed it after i had put the engine in, but it keeps losing pressure i guess.. havnt seen any fluid leaking tho, i read in one of the other threads that maybe the seals could be had it, and air is getting into the system... a little frustrating, am tempted to go a little crazy and put silicon around every join Smile

Hey thanks for the offer Eddie, im all the way over in Torbay on the North Shore tho, but if thats not out of your range some help on the weekend would be most appreciated! am very anxious to get driving my alfa!

cheers

klc

Eddie W · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 10:23 am Post subject:

Hi Klc
I'm All tied up this weekend with the Auckland International Airport 3 Day Event and next weekend with showjumping in the Waikato so it's probably going to be a couple of weeks before I can get to eyeball the car. However in the meantime try this number 8387653, the guy's name is Glen and he's been my best friend for the past 35 years. He lives at his workshop at 112 Railside Ave Henderson (not too far away for you) and there isn't much he doesn't know about cars including Alfas because thats where I go to fix mine. I'm not trying to drum up business for him as he only does it as ahobby these days in his spare time or as a favour. Tell him you've been talking to me and you're stuck. Let me know how you get on , I think I already gave you my number. Always ready to talk 33s.Best of luck. Smile

Eddie
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