So, I love my little corolla. Besides the fact that when one thing breaks down, something else goes out after that. I just did the clutch and now I think either the head gasket or water pump is out. The heat in the car hadn't been working prior to a long puffy white cloud coming from the back of the car as im driving it. Nothing else happened. The car ran fine, other than the car was "breathing". Idling up and down while in nuetral. I never glanced down at the heat gauge...However I made sure the coolant resevior was full. It has a problem with starting up now. It runs really rough enough to shake the car a bit. Almost like its missing out but not quite that bad.. The last time I had the head gasket problem, the car puffed white smoke while doing the nearly missing out act. That was while running the thing. Right now if you give it a few seconds its fine. I drove it back home and I don't think any water was used.(Since it was white smoke, that leads me to believe water). I don't know much about water pump but its obvious what it does by its name. What can I do? I was told check the thermostat but I don't know where thats at and how to remove and check it.
Thermostat sits right next to the distributor. You should see like a spherical-shape bump on one the metal coolant piping. Think that's it.
Sometimes, blow head gaskets can reseal from heat expansion if it's not a big breach.
Your case, check your heater hoses, they could be leaking? Any coolant that sizzles onto something hot causes a white smoke. Unless the smoke is coming out the tail...
Yeah mine blows white smoke when its cold. Coming all out the rear wheel well. lol
Btw, does it still blow white smoke after its warm? Its normal for it to blow white smoke when its cold. What your describing sounds like a timing problem though...
depend where the cloud come from exactly, if its from under the car, water pump or a pipe
if its from the exhaust, headgasket
At first when I was driving along with the first puff of white smoke, it was coming out of the tail pipe heavily. Almost like a jet doing the tricks with white smoke making letters and stuff. The car seemed fine so I decided to keep going and get it home. Over the next half a mile the smoke calmed down and wasn't so heavy. When I got it parked and turned it off, the smoke smelled almost moisture-ous. If there was smoke out the tail pipe it wasn't enough to notice. With it stopped and the hood open, the smoke was definatly coming from the engine. I really couldn't tell where it was coming from the most. Most looked like it was coming from the exhuast manifold. It was definatly coming from the engine though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwint
Yeah mine blows white smoke when its cold. Coming all out the rear wheel well. lol
Btw, does it still blow white smoke after its warm? Its normal for it to blow white smoke when its cold. What your describing sounds like a timing problem though...
I notice a little smoke while its warm. The heat gauge starts rising really high. I mean REALLY high. Far greater than what it normally runs at. But I did put water in the resevoir for the radiator. It isn't using any of it and its not hot when the engine starts cooking.
Ill try and post a video sometime.
Can a failed head gasket cause oveheating?
Pull the spark plugs, and see if they are clean, if so there is coolent in comubustion chamber.....
Antifreeze is exellent de-carbonizer..., also that cyl will be nice and shiney(use a flashlight to look)
......, put paper towel over the spark plug holes, and crank if you see droplets then you have head gasket/ cracked part..
Do a compression test.................................
How do I do a compression test? And is it possible to set the ignition timing on the engine? I was looking at the steps for changing a head gasket and the only tricky part seems to be the timing.
How do I do a compression test? And is it possible to set the ignition timing on the engine? I was looking at the steps for changing a head gasket and the only tricky part seems to be the timing.
To do a compression test you need Compression Tester, like
Craftsman Model# 47089.
To set timing you need a timing light..... Tools needed; *3/8 drive 5/8 spark plug socket http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...7/IMG_0166.jpg
3/8 10 in extention and ratchet
Compression tester
Use "common sense". Mr.Nutcase is not responsible if you break something or hurt yourself or others, so you are warned, this just a guide. You need a healthy battery( and a charger) Warm up car.
Disable the Fuel system, by removing the fuel relay or removing all the wires going into the injectors
Disable the ignition system by removing the coil wire going into the distributor, or to distributer...
cap,
Block open the throttle body, using a screwdriver
Remove all spark plugs, see
Using the right adapter /compression tool, thread into cylinder one
crank 4 times (search four strokes cycle , ie intake, compression, power, exhaust, ), record.
Do all four cylinders
Do the compression wet test
Remove the compression test and POUR OIL, ONLY 1-2 Teaspoons into the cylinder or you WILL hydro lock THE ENGINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
In case you dont know what that means, It means the engine can not compress liquids, so you can bend a connecting rod, ect
NOT MY FAULT IF YOU **** UP,
If the compression goes up, then you many have worn rings,
If the compression stays the low after the wet test , then you have problems with the valves
If compression stays the low in two cylinder, then a you have bad head gasket or a bad block.
__________________
ECT,EGR,TPS,MAF,CMP,CKP,02,
Last edited by Mr.Nutcase; 02-24-2010 at 03:48 PM.
Judging by the sound of the video, you need your valves adjusted pretty badly. Thats what that ticking noise is. And yes, a faulty headgasket will cause overheating.
Don't be like me with my first car and let the temp get past the red zone. haha
The breathing thing can be a vacuum leak, or a tps sensor. I don't know if these cars have throttle position sensors so don't quote me on that.
Judging by the sound of the video, you need your valves adjusted pretty badly. Thats what that ticking noise is. And yes, a faulty headgasket will cause overheating.
Don't be like me with my first car and let the temp get past the red zone. haha
The breathing thing can be a vacuum leak, or a tps sensor. I don't know if these cars have throttle position sensors so don't quote me on that.
The grinding noise I dont think is the valves. The engine I had in it before this one made the same noise. Prehaps though you could explain to me about the valves, why they would cause this and how to adjust them? Sorry I ask questions like crazy.
About the valves, between the valve stem and the cam lobes (on the cam shafts) are shims. The cam lobes are suppose to glide over the shims and push down the valves smoothly. The shims become thinner as normal wear causing excessive valve clearances. With excessive valve clearance, the cam lobe is basically smacking onto the shim emitting a ticking sound.
Now, I may have a crack exhaust manifold that cause a "ticking" that sounds very similar along with the exhaust sounds (I have no resonator or muffler, but the sound is deep in the front area as well). If by any chance, have a car up on jacks, start/warm the car, and see if you can view from the underside of the exhaust manifold. Locate where that smoke is sourcing from.
These manifolds are well known to have cracks from heat. It'll have to be a crack, nothing else can explain why there's smoke coming from there, other than maybe a crack block that spewing coolant. If you do have a breached head gasket, the coolant could be going into the cylinder, burn up, and white smoke comes out through the exhaust pipe... or the exhaust manifold if there's a crack. My super guess....
alright if its ur head gasket causing the white smoke u will b able to smell a sweet type of smoke because of the coolant leakin to the oil and the breather problem might b cause with on of ur idle sensor iac etc. and i think runing rich will cause ur car to smoke on a cold day too correct me if im wrong hope that help and let us know
Check for check engine light codes. The light may not come on but codes could be stored. Those idle speed swings sound like a bad throttle position sensor. Keep an eye on the overheating issue. If you have a bad head gasket and the engine compression leaks into cooling system it can blow the heater core . How old is the antifreeze ? Here is a link on trouble light code retrieval.
Check for check engine light codes. The light may not come on but codes could be stored. Those idle speed swings sound like a bad throttle position sensor. Keep an eye on the overheating issue. If you have a bad head gasket and the engine compression leaks into cooling system it can blow the heater core . How old is the antifreeze ? Here is a link on trouble light code retrieval.
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