Leaking coolant and white smoke out of exhaust

How-to's and repair secrets for your 4WD can be found here. Have a question? Ask it in here!
Post Reply
Seattle_Tercel_Lover
Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon May 21, 2007 7:56 pm
My tercel:: 1983 4wd SR5 Bronze 5 door Tercel
Location: Seattle, WA

Leaking coolant and white smoke out of exhaust

Post by Seattle_Tercel_Lover »

My car overheated last week because of a blown radiator hose (I replaced the hose) and now is leaking coolant and belching white smoke out of the exhaust. I'm not very knowledgeable about car problems, but I fear the worst...

Anyone know what it could be?
User avatar
ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Leaking coolant and white smoke out of exhaust

Post by ARCHINSTL »

If you're "lucky," it is a blown head gasket.
If not, a cracked head (I know the feeling, as my Beloved Sister did this through inattention to my then almost new '83 T4WD...).
Tom M.
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
takza
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 4414
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 4:28 am
Location: Tibetan plateau

Re: Leaking coolant and white smoke out of exhaust

Post by takza »

A lot of evidence there? Try starting it cold...take the rad cap off....look for bubbles. See any....it means exhaust into coolant.

Means a head gasket...block seal doesn't work...I've tried.

I had a top hose go on another car...looked just fine...but I could tear it apart by hand...rubber and cord were gone.
Give a boy a gun-give a biatch a cell phone-and pretty soon you almost got yourself a police state.

Orwell said: War is peace! Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength...

Image
Highlander
Top Notch Member
Posts: 413
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:22 am
Location: Nederland, CO

Re: Leaking coolant and white smoke out of exhaust

Post by Highlander »

Where is the coolant leak?
If it's around the head/block interface, then you have a couple of possibilities, none too bad. Warped head due to the overheating with low torque on the head bolts- pull head and have it skimmed flat; Blown head gasket- pull head and replace gasket (have the head checked for cracks while its out).
If its at a point on the head- you've cracked the head - get a new used one.
An easy first pass to get close to diagnosis is to run a compression test. If you have two adjacent cylinders showing NO compression, then odds are that you've got a cracked head (one cylinders pressure bleeds into the next via the crack).
Either way, you'll need to pull the head- relax, pull it off (not too hard compared to a 460 V8) and look at the gasket -That's most probably the culprit.
Good luck.
'83 SR5-299K, -tRusty!
'85 SR5-265K--GOLD
'85 SR5-285K-- GOLD-New engine!
'85 SR5-238K -- Teal-Killed by a DD
'58 and '62 Austin-Healey Sprites
Post Reply