grey smoke billows when i rev it...clean at idle

campsite428 · Post by **campsite428** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:12 pm

got this 85 terc 4wd manual SR5 6 speed fed 3a-c..........it had been sitting for a bit...but i drove it home (sort of)...turned out to have a bad #2 exaust valve 30lbs compression in #2...removed head...had valves done, (new #2 exh)..seats ground. everything matched well...re assembled with rebuilt carb (wrecking yard, i rebuilt, but i consider myself proficient)...all emmissions equioment quickly checked and everything seemd to work fine....fired beautifully and smoothly...have rechecked everything and retorqued...have fired it a few times so its properly broken in......but it smokes out the tailpipe.......looks to be mostly WHITE at first and if reved at lower rpms...but if i rev it at higher rpms it sends out plumes of darker smoke...doesnt look blue at all...mostly greyish- blackish.......and if i stop revving it, drop it down to idle, it clears out and runs clean...ill have to check more, but i think it would run clean if i slowly brought the rpms up...it was the REV-REV-REV that would send out plumes, not just higher rpms......it also seems to have a tiny bit of a hesitation issue coming up from idle...and ill have to check more with a tach but it seemed to be surging rpms when at around 2000+...+ or - 200 or so.........any help would be great...i wonder about the air bleed system...or the egr (havent cleaned, but it seems to work just fine...carbon deposits cause this?) or maybe the caddy converter?...its the kind with the air suction tube coming off of it going up to a reed valve and filter...could a bad converter or stuck reed valve cause this?...can i slap in a non air tube converter? (i have one from another tercel)...do i need the air suction system at all?.....float level? (ill check through the sight hole here shortly).....any help?

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:58 pm

White and/or grey-ish smoke would seem to be coolant related - at least that's the way it was on my Ram 50/Mitsu that had a cracked head...
You are not alone with the surging from 2300 down to 1900 and back (more or less the range, anyway). I've received no answer from the MOthership - Search for some recent and 2005 threads on the subject on an at least a temporary fix.
The air suction tube is for Federal (non-CA or Canada) vehicles. Removing it would probably have no effect on the engine, but probably would on emissions.
Tom M.

campsite428 · Post by **campsite428** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 9:25 pm

well...definitely not the float level or air bleed...or either A or B switch....still wondering if the caddy converter will help...have to get under the darn thing to do that.....wonder if the emissions will be all too bad.............do have a thoght... i forgot to drain the block of coolant when i took the head off....i changed oil twice (first time i fired it there was a little whilteness to it..yes i had canged it before firing)...now it looks clean on the dipstick....ill see about changing it and the filter again...could a little residual coolant in the oil be the culprit?....would old gas do it?... i know its at least 3 months old............pretty sure its not a cracked head...just had it off and inspected...but is it still a possibility based on the symptoms?