mike:

Hey Guys,

I picked up a b18b which I was told had a rebuilt bottom end, new piston rings, bearings , etc. but after getting everything together I had nasty white smoke at start-up and while accelerating. Not a little bit of smoke but a significant amount to where it clouded up my warehouse.

So I talked more with the "mechanic" and he said that he disassembled the block and everything was "in spec" so nothing was replaced but that the piston rings were definitely fine. So I changed the valve seals, and it still smokes. Not as much but still a considerable amount.


Compression is 130 across 1-3 with 125 at #4. Leakdown showed a tremendous leak so I didn't really get anything from that. 90 psi into the tester and the gauge showed at most 30 psi with the cam shafts removed. As you can probably guess, I don't do engine work but where should I be going with this witch hunt?


TL/DR White smoke after block assembled, leakdown test showed massive leaks ( I can feel air coming out of the front oil passages but not the dipstick) changed valve seals , less white smoke but still a ridiculous amount. Smoke is white but not sweet, fluids do not appear to be decreasing.


Thanks

MotorMouth93

iTrader: (1)

"Normal" ratings for a B18B is 199psi with 135 being the minimum acceptable value.

If the smoke is white, it's coolant. Are you 100% sure the head gasket is fine?

mike:

I don't think I have any means to tell if the head gasket is 100% fine but I am worrying more about this engine and the "mechanic" who rebuilt it. Next time I get to the warehouse I will do another compression test and leak-down test since I haven't performed either since replacing the valve seals.

I thought that if the coolant was burning then the smoke would be more"sweet". It has the white color of coolant burning but the smell of oil burning. What is the likelihood that I am burning both.

Thanks for your reply. I'll do the comp and leakdown test, check fluids again and try to get a more detailed write-up, maybe a quick video.

wunfstgsr

its most likley coolant burning in the combustion chamber or your head gasket is not sealing. Did you take the head off and replace the valve seals or did it whith the head on the block? if so did you use a new head gasket?

Also maybe you routed a coolant line to the wrong port getting coolant in the engine. Or you might have a coolant leak in the intake manifold leaking coolant into the engine.

mike:

I bought the engine fully assembled and I built a leakdown tester to test and hold pressure in the cylinders and changed the valve seals without removing the cylinder head. The process was pretty straightforward and I honestly don't think I could have messed it up and I've gotten pretty good at setting crank timing.

I'll go through everything again and try to see how I'm getting coolant into the combustion before I go and replace the headgasket. I bought the engine to avoid having to do all of this but now at least I'm learning something, whether I want to or not.

mike:

Slight update:

I started the motor and let it run (maybe 2 minutes tops) and got the obnoxious cloud of white smoke out of the exhaust along with a noticeable drop of fluid in the radiator. I pulled all the spark plugs and I had white smoke come out of cylinder 3.


I then redid a compression test after replacing all valve seals and the numbers are 200 , 180 , 180 , 180 (for 1 ->4). I'm thinking that my low comp #'s in the 130s are an outlier and can be thrown aside as this is when i had someone try to "help me".

How can I have ".. routed a coolant line to the wrong port getting coolant in the engine." What are these "ports" as to me that seems impossible, short of putting a coolant line into the valve cover? Radiator top and bottom, IM loop and heater hoses all go where they should.

"Or you might have a coolant leak in the intake manifold leaking coolant into the engine."
I checked the IM again and it is installed correctly.

Next step is to do another leakdown test but it most likely is the headgasket as coolant is getting into at least cyl #3.


Thanks guys

m4xwellmurd3r

There's two coolant ports off the head on the intake manifold. The iacv has two coolant ports, and the fitv has two coolant ports. Get any of those hooked wrong and you are now pumping coolant into the engine.