gentlmen (and women)

2001 4.6L V8 4x4 w 5 speed...

a couple of months ago, white smoke blew out all over the entrance ramp to the highway. I pulled over, took it in to the shop, and they ran every "test" they could to try to find the blown head gasket. No dice. I drove it home without problems.

Took it out the other day and took off quick (as quick as a 5500lb truck can) and smoke bellowed out again...whenever I get on it, it does it. Do you guys have any ideas? Head gasket? bad valves?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks mucho!

-dave

 

Maybe a cracked head? Only shows up under extreme pressure.

 

I was afraid "cracked" something would show up in the replies...I'm sure that's cheap to replace. Is that something I can look at and see? it doesn't seem that difficult to take the head off, depending on which side it is on...does it?

 

If your head gaskets check out good then I'm betting it's valves.. white smoke usually either means coolant getting into the cylinders (bad gasket / heads) or too little fuel + too much air (lean).

A bad injector (or two) would give white smoke under the conditions you describe.

Ask your mechanic about it, get it fixed asap.. running lean is very bad on the engine.

 

I have a link to taking and replacing heads with PI heads. It will give you a clue of how long what you need to get the job done.

If you give me an email address i will email it to you. Its a word doc.

Let me know if you want it.

 

hey guys,

So $180 later, my spark plugs are new (after only 3000 miles since the last replacement) and the boots and COPs have been replaced and the truck runs like new. No smoke, power, and no chugging/missing. No idea, but I like the single zero behind the 18 instead of two zeros...
thanks for the suggestions though.

 

That good to here but, what plugs were you using and what plugs did you use this time?

 

Motorcraft always. It sounds silly, but I figure you cant go wrong with Ford's brand of stuff. when in rome...

Also, I read alot of the posts on here and nobody ever complained about Motorcraft plugs breaking off, or puncturing the hood, exploding, etc.... we'll see. I still cross my fingers every time I start the truck, but everything's good, including the smoke that it used to cough out at first, no more of that too, so I'm happy.