new head gasket and rebuilt head,white smoke tailpipe

[dmar155]

hey everyone well today i finished replaceing the head gasket and cylinder head on my car. i started the car up and there is white smoke coming out of the tailpipe and droplets too. i cant tell if its just water or antifreeze dripping out of my tailpipe. so is it normal after a head gasket and head swap for white smoke to come out of a tailpipe? i know white smoke is bad but im asking if any of you members swaped the cylinder head and gasket and still got white smoke and should it dissapear after runing it for a while. i only ran my car for a few mins and the smoke seemed to lessen with time.

another thing, the upper rad hose is leaking at the opening where i put the clamp on but the hose is seated all the way. should i have got new hose clamps or radiator hose because the old ones are used already? its a new rad hose also, i got it about 4 months ago.

[ON_N20]

If you are suspecting an issue with the headgasket replacement, you may want to test for potential issues.

A cylinder leak down test will pressurize the cylinder. If there is a headgasket leak into the cooling system, air leakage will produce bubbles in the cooling system (check at the radiator cap).

You can also buy test strips that will turn color under the presence of exhaust gasses in the cooling system due to a failed head gasket.

Also, what is the temperature where you live right now? If its cold, its normal for a cars exhaust to appear quite white, especially after its first started. And a product of normal combustion is water, so a small amount of clear water dripping from an exhaust drain hole, or the tail pipe should be considered normal.

As for the radiator hose, if you cannot get it to seal by repositioning and retightening the clamp, you should probably replace the hose and both clamps. Also check for corrosion buildup, and surface condition of the area where the radiator hose connects to.

[deevergote]

If you're blowing white smoke, that's coolant. Smell it. If it has a sweet smell, it's definitely coolant. Leave the engine running for a sort time and see if it continues. Check the condition of the coolant, as well as the engine oil. If either or both are milky, then they're mixing.
If it stops after a short time, you may have just gotten some coolant in the cylinders during the procedure of changing the gasket.

Did you follow the proper head removal procedure? Proper bolt order and torque specs? If not, you may have warped your head.
Was the engine allowed to overheat before the gasket swap? If so, you may have warped your head.

A warped head won't seal properly, and it would likely allow that brand new gasket to blow already.

[cb3frompoland]

He mentioned he replaced cyllinder head. So I suppose new one isn't warped due to overheating

[deevergote]

Ah, ok. I read it as he replaced the head gasket, and put the old head back on. If it's a new head, and definitely straight, than it removes two of those possibilities. Proper torquing and bolt order is still necessary for proper installation.

[92smokeaccord]

could be leftover crap from the head swap thats working its way out of the chambers..let it run for a good ten mins if it still does it then something is not right.

[92exa6]

Go drive the thing to get it up to full operating temp and burn off any left over crap. If you still have smoke (not to be mistaken for cold weather steam), then worry about assembly issues.

The hose may just be suffering an improper installation.

[KLEENKREW]

Did you resurface the new head you installed. A properly decked head is most important when doing a head and gasket install.

[toycar]

Did you have the sealing surface on the block inspected at all when you had it apart?


Its not impossible, if overheating ever happened, that the block is out of whack.


I would follow others suggestions first, but just keep this in the back of your head if nothing else answers your question.

[SOHC-FTW]

The only thing i would tell ya before tearing back into it is to run a heat cycle and re torque, sometimes this work's (On Dj_enders i suggested this on his old engine and it helped) sometimes it doesn't. It's worth a try, if all was done correctly as far as machining and the install process i'd bout bet it was due to old head bolts.