Chevy 350 white smoke, stings your eyes

Hey all, maybe you guys can help me out. I have a mild 350 that doesn't seem to have any major mechanical problems, but its apparently way out of tune because it produces excessive white smoke out of the exhaust and the smoke kinda makes your eyes sting. It also has a bit of a stumble off idle. Otherwise, it idles smoothly and doesn't knock or ping.

The fix might be obvious to some. Carb adjustment, timing, ignition? Any ideas?

 

if it's rich, then it would make black smoke, which might be mistaken for gray smoke. If it's actually white smoke, it's antifreeze....not good....

 

unfortunately white smoke = equals water.... You might have a bad head gasket or a crack in the cylinder head??? Have you tried a compression test? Any water in the oil??? Milk shake look to it?? It could also be morning condensation. Is it burning very white after it is warmed up?

 

could it be sucking brake fluid, through an internal servo leak, check fluid level.

 

Or ATF from a bad modulator if car has a slush box.

 

If you have a turbo 350 or 400 in the car, check the vaccum
modulator. If the diapham is blowed it will suck the transmission
fluid and blow white smoke.

kcl

 

it obviously has some internal mechanical problems, either anti freeze or oil burning........usually the antifreeze burns my eyes, the oil burning, not so much....sorry to hear this.....try to figure out which pipe its coming out of if duals, and go from there....

 

it's probably water. a common leak is at the intake manifold which is an easy fix.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. The car does have a turbo 350. I've never messed with automatics so the modulator info is news to me. I'll look into that.

It is possible that the smoke is from condensation. The car is an O/T project, and I only fire it up to move it in and out of the garage. So I'm not sure what its like when it gets fully warmed up. But it does make your eyes sting, so that kinda indicates something else... The smoke is definitely white, maybe a very light gray.

 

Im with them on the tranny fluid sucking.

 

The stinging eyes could be from unburned fuel. Water (coolant) in the chamber means some of that gas is not getting burned and it's being pushed out the tailpipe. Smoke and sting may not be connected.

 

yeah,yeah yeah......tranny modulator......definitely white smoke, burning the eyes, and if the motor is good thats a very good possibility.......just disconect it while idling for a few and see if the smoke clears up.....easy fix too..

 

I've had both happen. But anti freeze smelled a little sweet. The trans fluid left a little residue in the exhaust pipe on mine, and smoke was "blue-ish"....Hope for the modulator.

 

Gotta go with the ATF. If it was antifreeze, you'd smell it. Pull the line off the modulator and fluid will likely run out.

I worked at a car dealer in 1975 and a customer bought a 71 Lincoln Continental. One day I saw a huge cloud of white smoke coming a couple of blocks away. The Lincoln comes flying in and slides to a stop. The guy is pissed and claiming we sold him a car with a cracked block an he's going to sue. I could tell by the smell that it was tranny fluid. Put it on a hoist, pulled the line off the modulator and fluid ran out. 15 minutes later I had a new modulator installed and no more smoke.

If you want to create a James Bond smoke screen, put ATF in a windshield washer fluid reservoir and connect it to a vacuum port through a valve inside the car.

Some claim that ATF will help burn off carbon deposits.

 

If you ONLY crank it to move it in an out of the garage then the mufflers may be very wet from accumulated condensation. Exhaust soot+time+water=acid. The fumes off that will burn your eyes. I wouldn't get too excited about it yet. Those mufflers won't be lasting too long though.

 

Neighbor thought he was a car guy with his ot 71 'vette.All he did was start it up and move it in and out.One day he comes over and described what you are saying.White smoke and running poorly.I listened to it and nodded at all he said.He was pissed at the car and offered to me for a song.I bought it and while it was still in his driveway fired it up and kept feathering the throttle until it started to show decent heat on the temp gauge then matted the throttle.Amazing things started to happen.The car started running better and better and the water/fuel vapors slowed down and stopped and the engine sat purring like a kitten.He was really pissed when I went out for a drive.He never waved at me anymore when I drove by.
Do a leak down test.That will help determine if it is a head gasket.Check for leakage or seepage on block.Disconnect the modulator hose.Personally I think it's just from sitting too much.

 

What and where is the modulator hook up?

By the way, I let the car run for a while today and the smoke lessened a bit once it got warmed up. It's really not that bad overall, but I noticed it only smokes out of the right tailpipe.

 

This is where my money would bet...

 

Oh this thing?

 

yeah , that's the modulator