I may be gone for a while...

[Chilliman]

Beastie, isn't well, the intermittent smoke and steam reared it's ugly head big style today. After holding her in third at 4k rpm for about 10 seconds or so the subsequent WOT produced a cloud that could have hidden a battle tank division. And it smelled like a steam locomotive. It's not the first time this has happened, and the fact that its intermittent makes it particularly difficult to determine the cause

So, I'm off the grid til I can sort this out.....

It's been a blast.......

Chilli

[jojackson4]

Head cracked ?
Head gaskit ?
C u next week


Good luck
Hope you get to the bottom of it or the top of it

[crisp500]

Nothing some low compression pistons won't sort out ;-)

[phazed]

Sorry to hear...............don't go away..........keep us informed.


As it's intermittent and the engine is really simple it shouldn't be too hard to diagnose.

What about,...............your catch tank is collecting water and a bit of oil and when it gets to a certain level it pulls it back into the manifold and it gets instantly burnt, instant panic!

I had something similar when I was experimenting with breathers earlier this year.

I drove to Neil Garners open day, started the car to leave and smoke poured from the rear.
I slowly drove a few country lanes and it faded.
When I got home I stripped off the plenum and the trumpet base was full of oil.
I drained the catch tank, (which holds about 2-3 pints) and it was brimming with oil!

Moral of the story.....................probably looks worse then it is

[Colin RedGriff]

Do you have power steering? Intermittent clouds of smoke could be a leak from the power steering pump on to the exhaust. There is an exhaust joint right below the power steering pump which can allow the fluid to make it's way inside the exhaust.

[Richard 858]

Good luck with that Chilli.

[QBee]

Given my head getting dripped on with your oil the other week, my money is on Peter's answer as the first thing to check. Take the car to Mat and get him to have a look. He's a whizz with engines, and has Rob on the end of the phone if it is particularly esoteric. Must be ready by three weeks today.....

[SILICONEKID343HP]

Is it still under warranty ? It`s done very low miles ..

Edited by SILICONEKID343HP on Saturday 26th October 21:57

[Sardonicus]

If it smells like a steam locomotive then the chances are its oil your burning & not coolant so this needs investigating further either lack of crankcase evacuation etc

[QBee]

Sardonicus said:

If it smells like a steam locomotive then the chances are its oil your burning & not coolant so this needs investigating further either lack of crankcase evacuation etc

He had oil pouring out of the catch tank the other day. It was up on the ramp at Mat Smith's to have the dampers changed and a four wheel alignment, and the underside was covered in oil, and it was dripping off. He had just driven about 40 miles at that point.

[phazed]

QBee said:

Sardonicus said:

If it smells like a steam locomotive then the chances are its oil your burning & not coolant so this needs investigating further either lack of crankcase evacuation etc

He had oil pouring out of the catch tank the other day. It was up on the ramp at Mat Smith's to have the dampers changed and a four wheel alignment, and the underside was covered in oil, and it was dripping off. He had just driven about 40 miles at that point.

Exactly what I'm on about, simples!

[phazed]

Richard, where have you gone? Your problems have probably been solved!

This isn't anything to do with the looming track day

[Chilliman]

phazed said:

Richard, where have you gone? Your problems have probably been solved!

This isn't anything to do with the looming track day

No If beastie's still unwell I'll be bringing Gollum (the Golf)

Shame no one's near me (Hmm, Harley?) it would be handy to have someone following me for a while when it does this, although visbility is reduced somewhat.. I've dropped Rob a text so may be popping up to Gosbrrmm in the week It's definitely not the puff of unburnt fuel that occasionaly occurrs at sudden WOT, and it only seems to be doing this at higher revs which does tie in with increased crank case pressure... if it's generating enough to get reverse blow by then I'm surprised it's not leaking oil everywhere! Oh, hang on No, I'm pretty sure the oil on the underside of the car is originating from the breather filter on top of the catch tank.... Popping out now to check coolant level, although I do this very regularly and haven't noticed any loss in the header tank to date....

phazed said:

What about,...............your catch tank is collecting water and a bit of oil and when it gets to a certain level it pulls it back into the manifold and it gets instantly burnt, instant panic!

Hi Peter, the catch tank vents straight to atmosphere, and it catches nothing, no return to the inlet side so not getting pulled back into the engine

Colin RedGriff said:

Do you have power steering?

No

SILICONEKID343HP said:

Is it still under warranty ? It`s done very low miles ..

No! And around 11k now since the rebuild..

Sardonicus said:

If it smells like a steam locomotive then the chances are its oil your burning & not coolant so this needs investigating further either lack of crankcase evacuation etc

Hmm, if it's burning oil due to crank case pressure it's either reverse blow by - coming up past the rings or it's getting down past the valve stems... Simon, I'm intrigued about the smell, I would have thought coolant getting in to the combustion chambers would generate a steam locomotive smell rather than burning oil? (not doubting, just intrigued..) It was my mate in his Mustang following me back from Cars by the Lake a couple of months ago that first said it smelled like a steam loco

Edited by Chilliman on Sunday 27th October 07:38

[Goaty Bill]

Chilliman said:

Beastie, isn't well,
...
And it smelled like a steam locomotive.
...
Chilli

Been running the old girl on coal again?

Seriously, good luck with working it out.

[Chilliman]

Goaty Bill said:

Chilliman said:

Beastie, isn't well,
...
And it smelled like a steam locomotive.
...
Chilli

Been running the old girl on coal again?

Seriously, good luck with working it out.

Thanks Goaty, fingers crossed it's simple and not another rebuild

[crisp500]

Richard, I am available to come and have a sniff from your back end next Sat 2nd (pm) or anytime Monday 4th, then back on shift. Just let me know if you need a hand.

Edited by crisp500 on Sunday 27th October 08:11

[skiver]

Same here Richard, I can get away during the week.

[carsy]

Chilli fingers crossed its nothing too serious. If your not loosing coolant my money is also on the breathing arrangement.

[carsy]

If the filter on top of your catch tank it clogged up with oil it aint going to breath at all.

Just to test things, do away with the catch tank all together. Replace your oil filler cap with a breather to increase breathing capacity, same as on the other rocker cover and just vent them both straight overboard with a run of pipe. Then see what happens.

[Chilliman]

Thanks for the kind offers and thoughts guys...

QBee summed it up at the megasquirt bash the other Saturday... I overheard him telling someone 'When you buy a Porsche you get a Porsche. When you buy a TVR you get get a TVR and 5000 new friends' I think he was exaggerating a bit on the numbers tho' (well he is an accountant )