Packard Forum Index » Project Blogs

Quote:


Good to know. I assumed that it was head gasket, happy to hear it’s a manageable DIY fix.

Water vapor is a normal product of combustion and when the exhaust system is cold you will see the vapor and a fair amount of it will condense and drop out the pipes. If all of that continues after the car is fully warm, then you have something to think about.

Modern cars are less prone to this phenomena as the catalytic converter causes the gasses to be hotter and the vapor is more seldom seen.

I once had a customer threaten to sue me because his car blew sooty water droplets onto his garage wall upon startup. Later he was surprised and offended when I declined other work.

Also, it may be hard to tell in a car without a catalytic converter, but there will be a coolant smell to the exhaust. Don't knock yourself out though, if you can't smell it from far away then you won't be able to smell it from close either.

Coincidentally I was driving behind someone today with a failing head gasket and it reminded me.

This is good news. It doesn’t have a smell. I just assumed the white smoke and condensation had to be bad, I’ll drive it and listen to the engine and if I hear anything I’ll get it checked out

Hi again. This may be really dumb but is there normally an exhaust that comes out of the middle of the car?

Here is video showing the thing I’m talking about.youtube.com/shorts/YL45capClzs?feature=share

Sorry if this is really dumb. This thread should be called “guy buys car he likes, guy also knows nothing about cars”. Thank you all for your patience and help.

That’s the crankcase breather giving off fumes but that much may indicate that a ring and valve job is in order!

Thank you!

When I first got mine running it smoked quite a bit from the crankcase breather. It's gotten much better over time, and now I don't see anything coming from it unless the air is cold.

I think a few things helped to improve it. 1.) Running the car helped to clean out deposits or helped the rings and valves to seat better. 2.) I did new exhaust front to back, and I think the old exhaust (half was missing) may have had a restriction in it that caused back pressure into the crankcase.

I may be totally off on my assumptions, but at least the smoke from the breather has improved.

-Kevin

I’m hoping the more driving (like 100-200miles) helps. It runs well at highway speeds but it does have a rough idle after changing plugs, oil, etc. I need to fix the fuel float so while I’m at it I’ll replace the whole fuel system (tank, pump, filter., vacuums). Then go to someone for the valve job as that seems pretty daunting.