HELP! YJ is smoking badly. UPDATE!!!!

Quote from "DrJ"

Coming home tonight from class, I could see a lot of smoke coming out the back of the YJ. I know the headlights of the car behind me make it seem worse, but it was BAD!

In Dover, who/where is a good place to look at an engine? This is way beyond me, and I will pay someone to fix it, but I'd like someone's expertise on where is trustworthy. My guess is the main bearings (Quadna suggested that, I'm just repeating it).

Anyone know a good engine shop?

...and yes, if it is smoking badly tomorrow in the daylight as well, and it can't be fixed by Thursday PM, I won't be going Friday morning.

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I don't see how bad main bearings would cause smoke out the tailpipe. I'd guess valve stem seals or rings. I doubt either would be fixed by Friday.

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...and yes, if it is smoking badly tomorrow in the daylight as well, and it can't be fixed by Thursday PM, I won't be going Friday morning.

Won't Robin let you use the KJ anymore

You can't back out now. Everyone is depending on you.

Quote from "DrJ"

I did put a new valve cover gasket on earlier in the week, and I thought it was actually sounding better, more solid. The oil pressure gauge jumped up to pressure quicker, etc. But now this. I also put a quart of oil in it when I did that.

Hmmm... what if it had too much oil in it? Would it smoke badly?

Is the gasket leaking, that'll usually cause it to drip down on the exhaust.

Quote from "DrJ"

No, actually it might have been before I changed it, but not now. now that you say that though, I'll double check the bolts in the morning.

How about the overfill thing? Could that do it? When I checked the oil, it was really hard to tell the level. I knew it had been leaking a bit in the driveway and garage, so I added a quart anyway. It is running smooth, but will buck occassionaly. Idle is smooth most of the time.

Overfilling is not good, I guess anything is possible.

Daylight will make troubleshooting easier.

Quote from "DrJ"

Main SEAL...that's what Chris said. Would that explain it running relatively smoothly, but smoking heavily? Could a shop fix that in two days?

Yes and yes.

Quote from "DrJ"

Main SEAL...that's what Chris said. Would that explain it running relatively smoothly, but smoking heavily? Could a shop fix that in two days?

whew...i was reading down this thread thinking..."doh, rear main seal steve, rear main seal!" that's where it looked like it may have been coming from that one day...more at the rear of the pan than anywhere else. sorry i can't help look at it tonight - gotta get icky's roadworthy too. i've heard decent things about joe's garage...take a left when heading out of your work, right at the light on gov's ave, about 200 yards up on the right. only place i can think of right now (toooo early).
chris

I don't think it would be the rear main. The rear main will cause it to leak on the other side of the inspection plate (inside the bell housing). Any "throwing around" of the oil will be inside the bell housing. It will then drip out the bell housing bottom. It could then be blown onto the exhaust as you drive down the road but will also be smeared across everything else.

I'd double check your valve cover gasket to make sure it isn't leaking down the back. Regardless, it shouldn't be throwing out THAT much oil to cause all the smoke you describe.

Are you sure it's engine oil burning off the exhaust? Gear oil would have a distinctive smell (sort of like sulfur). What color is the smoke? Blueish smoke typcially means you burnt the rings. Blackish smoke means your running rich, and whitish smoke can mean a water leak into the combution area (If you run antifreeze in your radiator the smoke would probably smell sickening sweet).

Check the oil level today, let it idle in one place for a while and watch for drips. If you have to, you may have to clean the engine bay down so you will only look at the fresh leak.

i just did the rear main on my yj.

there was lots of smoke and lets just say that the entire underside of my truck is now WELL lubricated. Jwalk aslo got a good cropdusting driving behind me from Jack Frost a couple of weeks ago.

GREAT COOL... glad to hear it was minor!!!

Quote from "DrJ"

How else would burnt rings manifest themselves?

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Regular wear is the most common. Or if you have a leak in your intake gasket it can suck in extra air, create a hot spot and burn out the ring and piston. That's what happend to me last year. I never did find the leak but it seems to be running fine. I had the head redecked.