So I'm hoping I don't have a blown head gasket but if i do won't be the end of the work you know. I have a 1966 Fury 3 with a 383 in her. Just got the car and not to sure on the history and what's all been done to her. So when I first start her I get a little white smoke untill she warms up. When I park her here and there I'll get a little antifreeze burp up out the reservoir.
Blown head gasket???
- Thread starter FuryDan66
- Start date
LocuMob
Fluid Technician with a hat
Blown head gasket would be constant, sounds more like worn rings or valve seats, they weren't hardened yet and todays gas eats them away. Coolant burping could be as simple as not enough coolant/air pocket.
Any good radiator shop will have a hydrocarbon test kit. A metering device is attached in place of the radiator cap. With the engine running the device will indicate if hydrocarbons are present. Hydrocarbons are the product of combustion of the air-fuel mixture and if present in the coolant they are an indicator of cracked heads or a blown head gasket. Napa also used to sell a test kit that utilizes a couple of drops of coolant to which a drop of test fluid is added. If the mixture turns color, hydrocarbons are present. White smoke when you engine is cold is normal, white smoke from a warm engine is not. The reservoir will burp if overfilled or if the radiator cap is bad.
Dave
Thanks guys, I did replace the rad cap but will also see if Napa sells that kit also. I need to drain the rad and put new fluids in it anyways. Just got the car and like all of mine plugs, fluids and so on all get drained and changed 
love the car tho.
love the car tho.
70bigblockdodge
Old Man with a Hat
That is most likely condensation in the exhaust but, it could be a head gasket. Burping in the reservoir (aftermarket?) Could be a bad cap or not correct style cap. Also look for milkshake kind of foam/froth on underside of the oil fill cap.
Another old school approach to leaking head gaskets is to start the car and take a wiff of the exhaust. A blown head gasket will usually leave a strong smell of antifreeze in the exhaust.
Dave
twostick
Senior Member
Taste the condensation/residue in the tailpipe (I know yuk!). Just touch it to your tongue and if it doesn't taste like antifreeze you should be good.
As has been said white out the exhaust on a cold engine is usually just condensation in the exhaust boiling off.
Burping is usually non life threatening also. If it was a head gasket/cracked head it would be blowing it out the overflow constantly and the coolant level would drop rapidly.
I had a 3406 Cat that the HG failed at #6 and it took over 10 gallons of coolant to go 1000 miles.
Kevin
As has been said white out the exhaust on a cold engine is usually just condensation in the exhaust boiling off.
Burping is usually non life threatening also. If it was a head gasket/cracked head it would be blowing it out the overflow constantly and the coolant level would drop rapidly.
I had a 3406 Cat that the HG failed at #6 and it took over 10 gallons of coolant to go 1000 miles.
Kevin
The coolant out the overflow pipe when stopped could be the result of the radiator being too full of coolant. Watch and see when it stops doing that. Then see what the level is in the tank. It'll probably be about 1/2 full when it doesn't do it any more, as I recall.
If it has some sort of aftermarket coolant recovery jug, there should be some general marks for "cold" and "hot" on the side of the container. Don't fill the radiator "to the brim" unless it has a coolant recovery system on it, but then heed the marks on the jug to watch the coolant level in the jug. Probably should be about 1/2 full when the radiator is full at normal operating temperature. With such a system, keep the radiator cap ON the tank, using the reservoir jug to check/adjust coolant level.
Concur that the "white smoke" is probably vapor as the hot exhaust gases pass through the cold pipe and muffler initially. "Condensate" that drips out the tail pipe until the engine and exhaust system gets to operating temperature.
There can be other indicators of a blown head gasket, as radiator hoses which expand due to the combustion gases getting into the cooling system. Plus a different color pattern on the adjacent-cylinder spark plugs, most likely.
CBODY67
If it has some sort of aftermarket coolant recovery jug, there should be some general marks for "cold" and "hot" on the side of the container. Don't fill the radiator "to the brim" unless it has a coolant recovery system on it, but then heed the marks on the jug to watch the coolant level in the jug. Probably should be about 1/2 full when the radiator is full at normal operating temperature. With such a system, keep the radiator cap ON the tank, using the reservoir jug to check/adjust coolant level.
Concur that the "white smoke" is probably vapor as the hot exhaust gases pass through the cold pipe and muffler initially. "Condensate" that drips out the tail pipe until the engine and exhaust system gets to operating temperature.
There can be other indicators of a blown head gasket, as radiator hoses which expand due to the combustion gases getting into the cooling system. Plus a different color pattern on the adjacent-cylinder spark plugs, most likely.
CBODY67
Thanks guys, it was doing it with the old rad cap so I replaced it. It only burps it up here or there. I may drive it a few miles and nothing, or maybe just back it out. The rad is filled just below the cap and nothing sits in the reservoir tho...
And the engine oil is totally black when you pull the dipstick out....right?
65Fury440
Senior Member
Just an FYI, the big auto parts store chains rent the combustion leak tester for free.
PontiacJim
Member
White smoke, as pointed out, could simply be condensation - if it goes away once the engine is fully warmed up (unless it is below freezing outside and the heat from the exhaust hits the cold air).
So, does it still do this once warmed up?
Have you run the engine up to temp with the radiator cap off to see if the coolant is flowing? Could be a waterpump failing on you. If your T-stat is stuck or is sticking (ie beginning to fail), the engine could actually be boiling over rather than the coolant circulating. This can cause the coolant to push out the cap. If you take the cap off, you probably want to put a piece of cardboard or something to block the radiator so it will not draw air through and thus heat up. Watch your temp gauge OR get a digital laser temp gun (very cheap purchase at the auto store). The digital laser gun is the best as you can "shoot" different areas of your radiator & engine to see what the actual temps are and know better the condition of your radiator or if you have any hot spots. It will tell you if your T-stat is not working correctly as well by checking hose outlets.
If you have an overflow tank, it should have a level on it that tells you where the coolant should be. If your car is not equipped with one, then you may actually have the radiator too full if it is just below the cap and when the coolant expands when it is hot, it will indeed overflow out. Then you think it is blowing out, you check your coolant level which is far lower, and you fill it back up and repeat the process thinking you have something wrong. You may want to simply let the coolant spew out and find its own level - which should cover the top of the radiator core tubes when you look inside. The normal water level may actually be about 1" or 1 1/2" down from the radiator cap depending on the radiator.
Pull your plugs. If you have a HG gone bad on just one cylinder, the plug may be "cleaner" or different from the others. A compression check may also detect a bad HG. Typically, but not always, you will have water in the oil or oil in the water.
Have also experienced in my car wrenching history an intake gasket go bad around a water port and it was leaking into an intake port/cylinder and being blown out the exhaust.
So I would not assume the worst yet, and do a few basic checks - to include the suggested exhaust gases testing and even a pressure test if the basics don't turn up anything.
So, does it still do this once warmed up?
Have you run the engine up to temp with the radiator cap off to see if the coolant is flowing? Could be a waterpump failing on you. If your T-stat is stuck or is sticking (ie beginning to fail), the engine could actually be boiling over rather than the coolant circulating. This can cause the coolant to push out the cap. If you take the cap off, you probably want to put a piece of cardboard or something to block the radiator so it will not draw air through and thus heat up. Watch your temp gauge OR get a digital laser temp gun (very cheap purchase at the auto store). The digital laser gun is the best as you can "shoot" different areas of your radiator & engine to see what the actual temps are and know better the condition of your radiator or if you have any hot spots. It will tell you if your T-stat is not working correctly as well by checking hose outlets.
If you have an overflow tank, it should have a level on it that tells you where the coolant should be. If your car is not equipped with one, then you may actually have the radiator too full if it is just below the cap and when the coolant expands when it is hot, it will indeed overflow out. Then you think it is blowing out, you check your coolant level which is far lower, and you fill it back up and repeat the process thinking you have something wrong. You may want to simply let the coolant spew out and find its own level - which should cover the top of the radiator core tubes when you look inside. The normal water level may actually be about 1" or 1 1/2" down from the radiator cap depending on the radiator.
Pull your plugs. If you have a HG gone bad on just one cylinder, the plug may be "cleaner" or different from the others. A compression check may also detect a bad HG. Typically, but not always, you will have water in the oil or oil in the water.
Have also experienced in my car wrenching history an intake gasket go bad around a water port and it was leaking into an intake port/cylinder and being blown out the exhaust.
So I would not assume the worst yet, and do a few basic checks - to include the suggested exhaust gases testing and even a pressure test if the basics don't turn up anything.
So I was re reading your reply, and I did notice that there is never anything in the reservoir can. Makes me wonder if it's blocked and not allowing any fluids to come up through it and that's what's happening also
PontiacJim
Member
Does your radiator have the correct pressure cap rating, ie 15 or 16 pounds? I don't know what the factory spec is, but sometimes the wrong pressure cap, ie lower, will allow the antifreeze to escape at the lower pressure when it should actually be higher.
On my '73 Fury, using it as my example on how this works, I have a 16 pound cap. I filled it right to the top of the radiator, then put the cap on. I then put antifreeze into the overflow tank and filled it about mid-way between add line near the bottom and full (maybe it says "hot) line near the upper portion of the tank. When the engine gets warm/hot, the expanding antifreeze will exit out the cap overflow tube due to pressure, and travel through the hose connected to the overflow tank, and spill into the overflow tank. The line that goes into the tank must reach near the bottom of the overflow tank to work correctly (sometimes this tube falls off, deteriorates, or is flat out missing). Now, when the engine cools, the antifreeze cools, and the fluid contracts. The radiator/cooling system creates a "suction", and antifreeze is then pulled from the overflow tank, back through the hose in the overflow tank, back through the overflow tube at the radiator cap, and back through the radiator cap itself until the radiator is full again. So the radiator cap not only allows antifreeze to exit under pressure, it also allows antifreeze to be drawn back in under suction. If not, when things expanded, you would be blowing out cooling system parts, and when things cooled, you would be contracting cooling system parts and they would be collapsing.
Your radiator cap needs to be of the pressure-type radiator caps which contains a relief and vacuum valve. So make sure you have one of these for the proper operation of an overflow system. Make sure your overflow line is not collapse, cracked, or sucking air. The line must go near the bottom of the overflow tank and you want to have an angle cut on the bottom as a flat/straight cut hose can suck itself to the bottom of the overflow tank and not allow antifreeze back into the radiator.
I assume yours is similar to mine in operation, but maybe someone here can chime in and confirm this. I suspect a Service Manual for your car would show this.
The replacement cap I bought was a pressure relief with the red tab top. Monday I'll check everything out like you said;) I'll also check the return line to make sure it's not cracked or has any issues ;) guys really appreciate all your help
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