Hey guys, I have white smoke near the back of my passenger valve cover and on the side. Im think its just one of the coolant lines leaking, but could this be a bigger problem, i.e. leaking gasket or ? It overheated a while back, and I'm worried that coolant is somewhere it shouldn't be.... Can I just attach new hoses, or do I have to drain the whole system? Also, if the heater core is not operating (but still allowing flow through) , would this cause a problem in the coolant system? I live in So Cal, so I'm not to concerned about heat Thanks, Eric
leaky valve cover I just fired my Buick up since mothballing it for the winter. I had similar smoke. I dismissed it as a leaky valve cover dripping on the manifold. However, I'm replacing the engine this summer so I am probably less interested than you.
valve covers How difficult and how long would it take to replace valve covers? I'm a newbie at all this, but have been thinking about taking em off and painting them anyway... Any special tools required? Anything I should look for (or do) once they are off? Any recommendations are welcomed. Eric
nut drivers I took mine off Saturday. My engine is a '70. The valve covers are held on by 3/8 bolts (I think). I'll presume your's are similar. Two of the lower bolts have studs to mount the wire looms. A nut driver cam in handy to remove them. However, a box end wrench or deep well socket may get the job done. I would replace the gaskets while you're at it. Avoid the temptation of using silicon (IMO). The previous owner did and it made its way all over the rockers. Not good. If you do a search of the board, you'll find a number of tips on the correct red paint and sources for it. HTH.
All of the above AND: when you have all the old gasket scraped off , turn the each valve cover over and check all bolt holes . Tap with a small hammer till smooth again. In most cases they get bent from "over tightening " ! To seal the gaskets i use only spray permatex . No excess mess to have all over the valve covers !! Have fun and do not overtighten the bolts . You will not like yourself for a few days ! Good Luck !:laugh: :TU:
valve cover gaskets eric: use razorblade knife to scrape off the old gasket material . then clean off the surfaces with lacquer thinner . buy GOOd quality gaskets . the bolts are NOT torqued much . for 1972 , 350 v8 , according to the shop manual , the spec is 4 lb ft .
Thanks for the advice guys. I'm hoping this will do the trick and the problem isn't more serious .... The weather's starting to get nice out here and I want to get out on the road with the top down!:bglasses:
heh... I started reading this as if it was my White Smoke thread:grin: Interesting...good thing yours isn't a blown head gasket though. You'd end up sending the heads to a machine shop like me to get fatty valves stuck in them...but they already had themuzzled: What you have soulds like a leaky valve cover...Mine did this also until I replaced the gaskets. Took me about an hour - not counting the paint.
Eric, When you remove the valve cover, the gasket may stick to either the head or the valve cover. Make sure you remove all of the gasket material. If you have to scrape gasket material from the head, make sure none of it is left in the head. It can clog the drainback passages in the head, and oil will pool up in the head and get sucked down the valve guides during idle. This will make the car smoke from the exhaust.
Changed the gaskets this weekend. The old ones practically crumbled when i pulled them off. :shock: Took the time to paint the covers as well! Also, is a heater control valve in the heater hoses necessary? There wasn't one in the existing line when I replaced it.... Eric
Eric, The heater control valve is used in AC cars to stop the flow of hot coolant when the temp control in the car is set to cold. This helps the AC blow cooler air through the car. If your car doesn't have AC I wouldn't worry about it. Hope that helps.
