642jdub

1992 ES with 153,000 miles on it. My car seems to be burning some sort of fluid after heavy driving. After ignition is off, you can see some smoke coming from hood but engine is not overheating. Orginally thought it was my cracked radiator and leaking power steering pump but problem persists. I thought there might be some leftover fluid on manifold so I had my engine steam cleaned from top to bottom today. Smoke and smell still persists. Any help on this would be awesome

ArmyofOne

most likely the rear main seal. the oil drips directly onto the exhaust from there.

about $800 to fix.

mine is doing that, but from the valve covers. my exhaust is set up different from yours. the GEN I ES exhast pipng comes up over the top of the transaxle, while the Gen II ES's wrap around the underside.

642jdub

Since this is the seal between the engine and transmission, does the seal get changed if the transmission got rebuilt. I had my tranny rebuilt last year and maybe they will cover this in my warranty

mcelligott

Is the smoke coming from the front exhaust manifold? Other common ailments are leaking oilk cap and leaky valve cover gaskets. Hope its those and not the rear main seal.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

what color is the smoke and what does it smell like?

white smoke and a hint of maple syrup.....suspect coolant

blueish smoke and a odor of petroleum or rubber......suspect oil


look around all gasket seals. valve covers, manifold, cylinder heads, tranny, etc and see if anything is moist. Take a long drive, park and open the hood immediately. See if you can see where the smoke is eminating from.

steviej

642jdub

is the rear valve gover gasket and the rear main seal the same thing? My smoke seems to be coming from the front of the car between the radiator and the engine.

steviej

iTrader: (1)

no, rear main seal is between the engine and the tranny.


does the smoke have a strong petroleum odor? If so, it may be the front valve cover leaking oil onto the front exhaust manifold.

steviej

ArmyofOne

they should have.

Coolant+Oil burns Blue

here is the tricky part.

OIL THAT IS COMBUSTED burns black. oil that is burned from dripping on the surface of something burns white/gray. i know, everytime i open my hood after any drive more than 5 miles i have white smoke pouring otu of the hood.

as steviej said, if it smells sweet, its coolant. if it smells liek rubber, its oil.. smell/odor is a much mor eaccurate way of diagnosing a leak than looking at the smoke, because, as i just demostrated, if you drip oil on something hot, it will burn white, if you combust it, it will burn black.

my smoke comes from there too, the camshaft and crankshaft seals are leaking on mine. as well as the valve covers. they are leaking oil onto the header. and it comes out in between the radiator and the engine as well as in between the firewall a dn the engine.

642jdub

its definitely oil. I know my last service recommended valve cover replacement about 4 months ago.

I just got my order of Auto-RX and put the first bottle in yesterday so we'll see if that helps or not. Anyone else have any experience with this stuff