Did I overheat? Coolant......WHITE SMOKE. Gasket? Need advice

[Desert Bronco]

Here is the story in entirety for anyone that has 5 mins to read and reply. Thanks in advance for anyone that even reads.

I bought a 92 ford bronco XLT a couple months ago from someone here in SOCAL that has a new 5.8 litre 351 engine and tranny about 25k old. Immediately after, I took it to my mechanic, had about $1500 of additional work done to it (new shocks, brakes, fluid flushes, filters, etc) to get it in top condition.

Taken it out the mountains in the snow (big bear) and it performed clean and strong. I also took it on a few desert runs and it performed perfectly. The gauges on the Dash consistently showed it was at the lower end of "normal" range of all diagnostics which made me happy!

I took the truck out to the Desert this weekend (no offroading) just for a one nighter camping trip with my GF. I would imagine the whole drive was about 300 miles or so round trip, in 90 degree weather going about 65mph mostly highway.

I got back yesterday, unpacked the truck, took a shower, nap, and everything was fine. Later in the evening I went out to drop it off at my friends house, since i live in the city and cant keep it outside. On the way to his house (short 30 mph 10 min ride) I Saw that the temp gauge was slowing rising. I thought this was weird as I live in San Diego, at Sea Level, and it was in the 50's. Especially after running at 3,000-4,000 feet elevation in 90 degree weather all day without a hitch.

I noticed the truck idling a tiny bit choppy at stop lights, so when i stopped to park it, I popped the hood to see if anything was wrong. It appeared the coolant resoivor off to the side had overflowed as coolant was all over the right side under the hood. I couldnt see any leaks or broken hoses, and could hear coolant moving thru the engine sizzling. (This struck me as odd as it was such a very short ride)

I figured I would let the engine settle overnight, and then go back to check it out when the sun was out the next day. I started the engine to pull it into a parking space and had a ton of white smoke start coming out the tailpipe. A small amount came under the hood as well, so i parked the truck and turned everything off immediately.

My fear is that I blew a head gasket, but dont know what causes it exactly. I am concerned about that since the engine is still pretty young and should be able to weather a few road trips. But thats my own problem I guess.

Does anyone have any advice on where to look before starting it up again? IF there is coolant/water/ mixed in the engine block, i dont want to run it and ruin the valves and cause an even bigger problem.

My goal is two fold:

A. Find out whats wrong before taking it to a garage , getting to learn my Bronco hands on. Maybe its not a Gasket? How do I find out?

B. Ensure that my truck has the best coolant system possible to avoid future problems ( Cold air Intake? Bigger radiation? Different hoses?) Just looking for some advice from guys that know what they are talking about, since I am new to this. I plan on keeping this thing around for as long as possible for many camping trips to come! I want to go off roading in the Desert here and cant afford to have that thing die on me out there, any advice is greatly greatly greatly appreciated guys.

T

 

[Yardape]

White smoke is not a good sign, thats a sign of coolant in the cylinders. You sound like you saved it in time, do you have any signs of water in the oil or oil in the water? Are you losing coolant?

 

[Desert Bronco]

I am definately not losing coolant anywhere. Yesterday my buddy and I checked everywhere for leaks, and everything was clean and all the seals worked. The Valve Cover/Engine block is completely clean, no oil, coolant or smoke evidence of any sort. It was low on coolant and oil, so I refilled the overflow resevoir and put 2 quarts of oil back in. Our assumption was that maybe I made it run lower than it should have been, and it started burning more coolant than oil.

We started it a couple times, and there was still white smoke coming out of the tailpipe, sometimes more than others. No Smoke from the engine block, no leaks anywhere under the hood either. I didnt run it for too long though as I didnt want to create cylinder damage in case it was a gasket.

Its obviously a water/oil/fuel interaction of some sort..........somewhere. I just dont have the talents to figure out exactly what and where.

White smoke is not a good sign, thats a sign of coolant in the cylinders. You sound like you saved it in time, do you have any signs of water in the oil or oil in the water? Are you losing coolant?

 

[Bo-bo]

Quote: Our assumption was that maybe I made it run lower than it should have been, and it started burning more coolant than oil.

Not to sound like an a@@, but it should never burn coolant ever, and if your low on coolant you are loosing coolant somewhere

I had a 91 F150 that I got in the winter. I left from work on a 20 F day and my temp needle never left the cold side of the gauge. I was driving about 60 mph for about 3 miles and slowed for a stop sign. The truck instanly died and would not start. I tried to start it again, and to my amazment the needle started to clime and stopped about half an inch past hot. I lost the cam bearings and the engine knocked constanly till I got rid of it. I learned my lesson then. Anytime I buy a used vehicle now the first thing I do is replace the themostat, hoses, and water pump. I also seal hoses and the gasket surfaces with gasket maker to ensure no leaks exist. I absolutly eliminate the need to watch a ford temp gauges since the only work after the damage is done.

As for the smoke.... I suppose it could be anything from a head gasket to a cracked block. A cracked block doesn't need the bleed to the ground or in the oil. If that rebuilt 351 had been bored out .30 over or just been a thin cast to start with a little heat could causes a crack in a cylinder wall. A crack like that may flex with combustion letting in coolant. My advise would be to cross your fingers and have a mech tear off the heads.

 

[Desert Bronco]

Quote: Our assumption was that maybe I made it run lower than it should have been, and it started burning more coolant than oil.
Not to sound like an a@@, but it should never burn coolant ever, and if your low on coolant you are loosing coolant somewhere

I had a 91 F150 that I got in the winter. I left from work on a 20 F day and my temp needle never left the cold side of the gauge. I was driving about 60 mph for about 3 miles and slowed for a stop sign. The truck instanly died and would not start. I tried to start it again, and to my amazment the needle started to clime and stopped about half an inch past hot. I lost the cam bearings and the engine knocked constanly till I got rid of it. I learned my lesson then. Anytime I buy a used vehicle now the first thing I do is replace the themostat, hoses, and water pump. I also seal hoses and the gasket surfaces with gasket maker to ensure no leaks exist. I absolutly eliminate the need to watch a ford temp gauges since the only work after the damage is done.

As for the smoke.... I suppose it could be anything from a head gasket to a cracked block. A cracked block doesn't need the bleed to the ground or in the oil. If that rebuilt 351 had been bored out .30 over or just been a thin cast to start with a little heat could causes a crack in a cylinder wall. A crack like that may flex with combustion letting in coolant. My advise would be to cross your fingers and have a mech tear off the heads.

Thanks for your feedback. I guess my comment was misinterpreted. I only meant maybe because I was low on oil and not aware of it, that the coolant was overheated and caused the over flow from the resevoir. I am pretty sure we do not have any leaks anywhere, as I filled everything up and have let it sit for a day on clean cement, and we have no drainage anywhere. Still white smoke tho from the tailpipe only.

When I originally got the Vehicle checked out, the mechanic said that I may want to replace the valve cover soon, but it wasnt detrimental to me operating the vehicle, and I could still drive it without issue. Maybe that was part of it? Sounds like a problem waiting to happen and I should have handled it then. I only have driven the vehicle about 500-600 miles at the most since that complete inspection (at which time I had all the coolant flushed and replaced.)

I am considering having an oversized Radiator put in with an electric Fan. Maybe a new thermastat that keeps it around 170-175 degrees and a cold air intake K&N filter. Does anyone have input on that? Ive seen some helpful stuff no the forums, but have no experience with this. I figure a larger coolant system will keep me running good out in the desert. Any input is appreciated. Thanks Gents.

 

[Yardape]

The valve cover gasket has no effect on this problem, you need to determine if your gasket is blown, whether you drive it longer and constantly monitor your oil and coolant, watch for any signs of water in the oil. Or just take it to a shop, tell them you suspect a blown headgasket and be at their mercy.

 

[bidibronco]

I've long since learned not to watch the stock guages on my 94 Bronc'. I'm in the process of mounting all new guages right now. I would have to agree with Bo-bo about the cracked block. If you have the means I would definatly tear it down and have it checked by a machine shop for cracks or anything else that may be wrong. I did a re-ring on my motor and I have a decent little cam. Other than my truck being OOC for a month (no help and didn't want to do ANYTHING wrong) it was rather cheap. Something like

$750 including all maching work wich intelled cleaning/ honing block, shaving/ rebuilding heads, polsishing crank and new cam bearings put in. My re-ring kit was $105 and my cam was $80 thanks to e-bay. I did have hypereutectic pistons so I had to get new rings but I went with moly rings anyways so that was more "personal choice" sorry about the rambling but I had an over heating problem and coulnd't fix it so I rebuilt it. That fixes EVERYTHING! Keep on keepin' on and don't give up on 'er, she'll come around eventually!

 

[Cocobum]

I had the same problem, even the smoke exiting the exhaust, on my 93 suburban before I bought my bronco. I changed out the thermostat and it cleared everything up. Don't exactly know why it stopped the smoke out the exhaust but it did. Just recently my temp gauge in the bronco started to raise to the point of overheating, changed out the thermostat and it fixed the problem.

 

[Desert Bronco]

I had the same problem, even the smoke exiting the exhaust, on my 93 suburban before I bought my bronco. I changed out the thermostat and it cleared everything up. Don't exactly know why it stopped the smoke out the exhaust but it did. Just recently my temp gauge in the bronco started to raise to the point of overheating, changed out the thermostat and it fixed the problem.

Well, I posted an Ad on Craigslist out here in San Diego asking for a mechanic to look at it for me before i take it to any garage. You guys have any warnings for me? I rather pay somebody to fix it that will let me get involved and learn about my engine. I rather not just pay for a repair, I want the education.

 

[bobstrat]

hows the truck running? for 15 bucks you can pick up a vacuum gauge and try that. if you blew a gasket it should show up on that. as well as a myriad of other problems. they come with instructions as to interpreting the needle movements, if there are any.

 

[bluesman17]

Id say head gasket and try not to drive it more than absolutely needed. Why not change the oil and see if there is anti freeze mixed in, thats a very easy way to confirm if its bleeding internally. Most mechanics wont let you in the shop for insurance reasons unless you can find a super cool one, but your best bet is to pick up a haynes or chiltons manual and that will become the "bronco bible"