Did I pop my engine?

[Stewart_H]

So I'm headed down the freeway and I come upon a new Nissan 300ZX wanting to play.

I proceed to lay the smackdown on him three times, never going much faster than 100, when on the third smackdown session, the truck falls over on its face and I lose gobs of power.

There's no smoke, not bad noises, no idiot lights and the oil and water gauges are all fine. I just have a lot less power.

Getting off the freeway, I come to a stop light and see all kinds of smoke coming from the exhaust, plus the idle is so rough it feels like I'm running on 5 or 6 cylinders.

There's no smoke under power (none I can see) but there's TONS when I'm only idling.

I get home and with the engine running, pop the hood. The engine bay looks fabulous. Nothing looks amiss. I pull the dipstick and the oil is clean, not even needing to be changed yet.

But there's a ton of white smoke pouring from the exhaust.

I got off the phone with Scott (Sinister) and he's thinking I might have burned a few plugs off, but I'm still stumped by all the smoke I have at idle, but not under power.

I'll pull the plugs tomorrow when the engine is cold and my aching back (from my endeavors on Saturday) has had an extra day to rest.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Stewart

 

[Screaming01L]

Pull the plugs and do a compression check too.

 

[203Cree]

Yeah, that's where I'd start. Plugs, compression test and leakdown. I've never had white smoke with a melted plug, but I suppose it's possible. Also reset the battery. Could've just gone into fail safe mode. That will make it idle rougher than shit, lol.

 

[Fade 2 Black]

Could be an i/c leak but white smoke = coolant/water for sure. Start by pulling plugs with #8, 7, 6, 5, etc. Hopefully it will be simple.

Similar happened to me last year but mine was a blown head gasket. No smoke when running under load/boost cause the cylinder pressure goes up (coolant pressure is 16 psi) keep us posted.

 

[bgstew6]

:cuss:

Not good bro...hope its not the case..

 

[BacNBlak]

White means water in the combustion chamer bro. Not to be taken lightly! Werent 99,00's know for intercooler issues?

 

[Stewart_H]

Similar happened to me last year but mine was a blown head gasket. No smoke when running under load/boost cause the cylinder pressure goes up (coolant pressure is 16 psi) keep us posted.

My first thought was blown head gasket too. But when my exhaust was clear under throttle, I couldn't figure out what was going on, because I've had blown head gaskets before and it smoked when under throttle or idle.

Either way I know it's FUBAR'd. I don't have the facilities to pull it myself and explore, nor can I have it down very long because it's my daily driver.

This is crap. I just scraped up enough money to have my hood prepped and painted. It's at the body shop now, getting finished off. I'm supposed to have it installed Monday or Tuesday.

That hood has been in my shed for over two years while I saved money to have it done.

Dang, dang, dang! I'm just getting out from under my credit card debt too.

Oh well, praise God anyway!

Stewart

 

[morrison_205]

good luck but sounds like headgasket to me.

 

[typhoon43]

Sorry to hear it Stewart! Hopefully it's not a lifted head! Keep us posted.

 

[throttle jockey]

Sorry to hear, man. White smoke usually would indicate a "no bueno" situation. As mentioned above... check the plugs and do a compression and leak-down test. Good luck with the findings... hopefully its nothing too severe.

 

[j0hn]

I saw white smoke once before I had my I\C replaced. When it was replaced I also did plugs, etc, and nothing was wrong.

 

[FordFanStan]

Stewart, can you send me an email please... Stan

 

[Nvr_Spds]

Yup, like everyone else said. Start with plugs, then compression, and start looking for water sources in the engine.

 

[Sinister04L]

I sure hated that call! When you told me it had white smoke coming out at idle, I figured it was bad. Hopefully it's something minor that you can take care of without spending a bundle. If not, make that call!

 

[LightningClint]

Is this an MSX motor?

 

[Stewart_H]

I guess I misidentified the car, it was one of these things.

A 350Z, not 300ZX, yes?

I don't know diddly about the imports.

At an autocross event last year, some guy was telling me he was driving an RSX. I asked what the heck an RSX was. He looked at me like I grew a second head out of my shoulder.

Stewart

 

[Stewart_H]

I sure hated that call! When you told me it had white smoke coming out at idle, I figured it was bad. Hopefully it's something minor that you can take care of without spending a bundle. If not, make that call!

I had to call you bro. Being second in line for your Whipple setup, I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay in line AND fix my engine. So I thought the only thing to do was to call you ASAP.

Stewart

 

[Sinister04L]

I had to call you bro. Being second in line for your Whipple setup, I knew I wasn't going to be able to stay in line AND fix my engine. So I thought the only thing to do was to call you ASAP.

Stewart

Oh I understand totally why you called, just sucks the circumstances around it. Never like to see an L brother down! And yes, that's a 350Z.

 

[afchad]

good luck but sounds like headgasket to me.

+1 Seen a few instances of that before. Everthing you said sounds like you lifted a head. Hope it something simple though Good luck.

 

[Derek2001]

Check the rear heater hose for leaks. they are subject to blowing up under high boost/age.