I got the red '86 Hatch to fire today, but it still won't stay running. With the gas to the floor and the ignition on, the engine fired and ran; but it belched thick white smoke out of the exhaust. White smoke means it's burning oil, right? I checked the dipstick and it was about 2" above the full mark. :-\ I reckon it was "topped off" before it was parked a couple years ago. Question is, having that excessive amount of oil, is that what's keeping it from running? IE: change the oil the right way and it oughtta run?

white smoke is steam ie water or coolant. Oil is blue or in extreme cases whitish blue, running rich is black.

 

my guess is that because of a bad headgasket, intake gaskets, or a crack in the head, you've gotten a piston(s) full of water. Change the oil and look for signs of water in the old oil. It may be milky and thick. Or may just have water suspended in it if you havent run the engine much.

Short answer, yes.

 

Longer answer, think of if the oil is two inches over the full mark it is lapping at the pistons. This would also mean the crank is sitting in the oil to some degree. Neither of these factors are conducive to easy and good running. So all of that oil is getting into the combustion chambers most likely. That sure isnt helping either.

 

 

So drain the oil, refill to spec, ~4 qts. Then youll have to run it a while to burn out any remaining oil.

 

 

PS. Id call this an "extreme case".

 

Alex

I got the red '86 Hatch to fire today, but it still won't stay running. With the gas to the floor and the ignition on, the engine fired and ran; but it belched thick white smoke out of the exhaust. White smoke means it's burning oil, right? I checked the dipstick and it was about 2" above the full mark. :-\ I reckon it was "topped off" before it was parked a couple years ago. Question is, having that excessive amount of oil, is that what's keeping it from running? IE: change the oil the right way and it oughtta run?

well white smoke usually means your burning water, however, ive also heard of cars that have been sitting a long time spewing white smoke for a while.

definately get that oil changed and filled properly.

 

is the engine a turbo xt motor. if so you should try putting in some good fresh gas, new plugs, definately a new fuel filter, and just a good tune up.

 

cant say much else yet.

 

tyler j

I know on extreme angles with my ea82 it starts to push blue as the oil reaches the level of the pistons. But it's never been white, just a fairly deep blue.

blue means oil, white means water or coolant(all though it would have a sweet smell to it if it was coolant)

Ah water in the engine. Originally, the motor was stuck because of water in the engine. I pulled the plugs out and turned it by the ignition to blow it all out. That seemed to fix that problem; but I guess there was still some water inside?

 

 

As for the smell, I can't really describe it, but it was nauseating!

 

 

I'll change the oil (probably Thursday) and try 'er again.

 

 

This isn't the XT Turbo motor just yet. It's still the 1.6L carb motor.

when im doing donuts sometimes my car spues white smoke, its a 90 loyale non turbo do you think it could be water in the engien also

ATF fluid burns white, just thought id mention that.

Alex, you beat me to the punch...A bad A/T modulator will give you the white plumes of smoke too.

 

However, you can't read too much into these symptoms if the car has sat so long with old fluids. I would change the oil out, and run the car in idle for long periods of time, while observing the guages, and checking fluids. Since white smoke is the main symptom, pay special attention to radiator and overflow tank levels, as well as ATF.

 

If the fluids seem to be holding up, and the car is not overheating, take it out on the highway and give it a good workout. Sometimes this is all it takes to blow out the cobwebs.

 

good luck, John

ATF fluid burns white, just thought id mention that.

Agh so... Dexron ATF, as in the stuff you fill powersteering with, will burn white too huh? Well in a way this is good news as i am starting to think my cars head gasket is okay but instead there is a leak in the PS somewhere.

well, I don't see how your PS fluid could be making it into the combustion chamber

Its not coming out the tailpipe for me, its coming from what i thought was an exhaust leak in the engine bay from the headgasket. But if theres a leak somewhere deep down its dripping onto something hot and smoking up causing it to look like an exhaust leak for me?!?! This is purely fantasy and probably not right and i am a terrible mechanic but for tonight i will be happy.

yeah sure I suppose that's possible. Headgaskets don't usually blow from the coolant passage to atmosphere. However oil burning on the exhaust will leave white smoke as well.

The ATF fluid could be leaking into the exhaust thru the A/T. A bad modulator can cause this.

The power steering system is totally unrelated.

John

Ok, my car's a manual, so no ATF for me, right? I'm still new to these old boxes.

That's correct. You can rule out a bad modulator as causing white smoke if you have a manual trans.

Bad news is that it's probably H20. (blown head gasket, cracked head etc)

John

That's correct. You can rule out a bad modulator as causing white smoke if you have a manual trans.

 

Bad news is that it's probably H20. (blown head gasket, cracked head etc)

 

John

...or no air filter/cleaner cover and years of condensation and possibly rain?

For smoke I go by smell. Colors are obscure and lots of men are partial color blind anyway Usually I've noticed white is coolant/water. Blue/white is oil. Black/grey is wasted fuel. Pure black is carbon.