Was driving home today and the 85 gl hatchback decided to spew smoke. Two lanes wide. Within a half mile it cleared out. Got home did a quick preliminary check and nothing seems to be amiss. Should I be worried?

If its an automatic check your modulator. Coolant is known for Its smoke screen abilities as well (intake manifold gaskets carb base gasket and heads). Oil is the next culprit but doesnt usually make a huge screen.

Manual 4 speed.

Watch the coolant level very closely.

manual 4 speed 85 ? An EA81 then being 4 speed ?

 

smoke or steam ? oil makes smoke, coolant makes steam

 

is the drive home easy, no hard work on engine, long flat straight road ? Or did the smoke occur after a tight bend in road, up hill or down

 

what was low when you checked the engine immediately after ? You did check yeah ? Time for a check up maybe ? Comp test to make sure no blow by , or maybe you went tight bend, slopped up some oil via the PCV hoses off the rockers ... a catch can install can help with that ......

Was on a gradual downhill offramp. Comp check is on the list of checks definetly. The pcv was dry, was the first thing I checked when I got home. I'll monitor coolant for a week or so before I really start worrying.

When I was leaking a bit of oil, it used to pool up somewhere under the car, and when I went around a long corner at higher speeds I would leave an awesome smoke screen.  I was formerly also in Eugene, the car would do it on the long corner coming from LCC merging to 30th and then on the 115 in the long corner by the delta hwy exit .

It did it on the off ramp from belt line to division ave. I drive that at least once a day first time for the smoke. I made the 90 deg turn on to Hunsaker a bit hot but nothing drastic. I'm just buying time till I get the 2.2 in it.

Same here.  Just acquired my 2.2.  Its got low compression but I plan to go through the whole thing anyway and do a full rebuild.  But I replaced my crank seal and the smoke screen went away.  Give it a couple days and hit those corners hot again.  It would usually take me a couple days to pool enough oil for it to splash and smoke.

Will do. Are you still in Eugene? Who do you have doing your machine work on your motor?

I'm no longer in Eugene.  I'm from Medford, was up in Eugene for school.  I graduated in march so I'm back down in Medford.  I'll be doing all the machine work.  We have a world class machine shop at work, so this winter when things slow down a bit I'll be able to have the guys do some work on the side for me.  I'm really looking forward to getting back up there to see some friends and have another go at some of the trails I couldn't clear before I got the car lifted with bigger tires.

 

I don't know about the cars from 85.  But EA82 TBI / SPFI engines had a factory upgrade mod to fix a problem like this.  A long high G turn would shift the oil to one side of the engine, and it would get sucked into the intake.  The mod involved a bigger hose and a T to make the vents and routing the same for both rocker covers.  Totally fixed the problem on my cars.

Edited September 7, 201510 yr by DaveT

... maybe you went tight bend, slopped up some oil via the PCV hoses off the rockers ... 

 

I Agree that certain amount of Oil could have been swallowed via the P.C.V. Valve.

 

Worth checking it and its connections / P.C.V. setup.

 

Kind Regards.

I'm no longer in Eugene.  I'm from Medford, was up in Eugene for school.  I graduated in march so I'm back down in Medford.  I'll be doing all the machine work.  We have a world class machine shop at work, so this winter when things slow down a bit I'll be able to have the guys do some work on the side for me.  I'm really looking forward to getting back up there to see some friends and have another go at some of the trails I couldn't clear before I got the car lifted with bigger tires.

Haha I've got a few lifted foresters and a jeep for the trails.

I Agree that certain amount of Oil could have been swallowed via the P.C.V. Valve.

 

Worth checking it and its connections / P.C.V. setup.

 

Kind Regards.

Will do. I did forget about the connection down low on the intake manifold. Will investigate that farther tomorrow.

I'll take a guess.....it could be a faulty brake booster randomly sucking brake fluid into the manifold and burnt.

 

I had this in a Lotus powered Ford Escort. Totally random it was. A cop car followed me 20 miles in my city and was still behind me. I used to get a small rattle just before it started to smoke really heavy. And the rattle came as the lights went green so I took off pretty quick. Just as I hoped, the cop car was swamped with so much smoke he couldn't follow and by that time I headed off in a side street

 

So it could be brake fluid.

 

ps does the engine rock a little when it smokes?

 

I'll take a guess.....it could be a faulty brake booster randomly sucking brake fluid into the manifold and burnt.

Or faulty leaking master cyl that wrecked the boosters seal. I would think there would be an audible hiss from the booster, and at the least bubbled paint and evidence of a DOT leak on the booster.

Came home tonight did it again in the same exact spot. I'm leaning more to the oil getting sucked in the pcv valve. I tend to run the oil level high and that seems to compound the problem. Going to add a catch can and see if the issue persists.

Think you are right. Catch can should stop it completely IMO

a service bulletin non subaru came out once on EA82 - running oil level over the sticks full mark can lead to frothy oil ....

 

a service bulletin non subaru came out once on EA82 - running oil level over the sticks full mark can lead to frothy oil ....

Good info to know.