So, I'm driving home from work today (decided to take the 951) and all is well. Then I get to a stoplight...Shift down to first and notice that the car is now idling like a Harley. So, I'm one more light away from a Chevron and decided to pull in and fill up and get out and take a look...I had a little less than a quarter tank showing and didn't think that low gas or bad gas was the problem. I did use a 1/2 bottle of Seafoam on the FULL tank and was now at the bottom. But, I've used Seafoam at that mixture in a dozen engines and never seen it do that. And if it was that...filling up with gas certainly didn't fix the problem, which one would assume it would.

I leave the car running and pop the hood just to make sure nothing crazy is going on and notice it's idling rough. I grab the throttle cable and give it a pull and the engine revs...bogs down a little but not like it's going to die...and a huge plume of white smoke comes out the back. I was one more block from picking my clothes up at the cleaners...stopped the car there and when I got back in and started it up another huge plume of white smoke with the car still running horribly in low gear...

At the next few lights from first the car still ran horrible (was somewhat OK at 3rd and 4th gear but 1st and 2nd were like riding a harley with no power...the car bucks and shakes getting through 2nd gear) and more white smoke. Seems like the white smoke went away after the next couple lights.

Just went back out in the garage after being home for awhile and letting it cool down a half hour so. Started it back up...still runs the same...another huge plume of white putrid smoke. When I got home the first time I left the car running for 15 seconds or so in the garage to try to listen to the engine. When I got out the fumes (not any white smoke) were so bad it burned my eyes. Not straight gas fumes - but exhaust fumes.

A quick inspection under the hood shows nothing obvious out of place...any idea what on earth this could be or where to start looking??

I fear it's going to the shop next week and I'm just going to let Matt figure it out. Since I put that damn 951 Max chipset in, I've had nothing but weird problems...I'm going to pull that out and put the stock chips back in tonight, although I doubt very seriously that's going to fix this problem.

 

Unfortunately sounds like a blown head gasket.

Check for oil/water mixing in the coolant overflow tank

 

nope - i don't think that's it ( mean it could be - but I think I've driven it enough...several miles) that if that was a tell-tale sign, I'd surely see oil in my overflow tank, right?? I stuck my finger in there as well as sucked some of the coolant out with a baster and there's no oil/water mix. It seems pretty clean to me...

It smokes pretty heavily even just at idle after it's been off for a bit. If you goose it a bit it fills the garage up with white smoke...

 

Take a blunt object and give the AFM a couple love taps, happened to me twice over the years - barn door gets stuck......

 

oil in the head gasket is on way. watch and see if its burning coolant, is it low?

 

could have blown a turbo seal.
burning coolant?
you wont necessarily see oil in your overflow. you would notice contaminated oil first. if it your head-gasket is blown, it will all depend on where its blown where you would see symptoms.

check your oil level, then change it...see what ur oil looks like.

when i blew a turbo on my starion it SMOKED LIKE CRAZY, i got pulled over because they thought my car was on fire and i created such a thick haze that no one could see for a mile behind me

 

if it is the AFM i recently got mine and spent a long time cleaning it and everything so it worrks beautiful now. let me know if you want to pick it up from me.

 

yeah you can have coolant get into the cylinder without oil getting into the coolant.

 

I thoroughly cleaned the AFM the other night - car has run fine for several days with no issue (well, it didn't fix my hesistation issue which is what I was hoping for...but no additional problems).

 

is there any way to check the head gasket visually?

I'll check my oil - hopefully it shows up on the dipstick... guessing it would be 'milky'?

I'm not smoking that bad - it doesn't billow any smoke once you get going. That first hit on the accelerator though coming out of first puts up a nice cloud, but nothing like that afterwards. It just runs clunky...idle is right...but like I mentioned before, it clogging along like a Harley...

 

oh - if it indeed is the head gasket is the car ok to drive ~10 miles to my repair facility (I'm not going to attempt this one) or is every second I have the car on from this point causing me more damage?

 

OK, so I think it's gotta be the head gasket too...I took the lindsey boost kit and MAX chips out and replaced with stock...I miss the fast boost, but damn the car runs better...those chips were really messing with my car...hesistation, detonation...even with what appears to be a blown gasket it runs better. All of the major clunking around in the engine went away with the removal of the boost kit. It still runs rough, but stays on a 900RPM idle.

Anyway...I drove it around the block and didn't see a ton of smoke...but when I parked it in the driveway and let it run for a couple minutes I noticed the temp gauge climbed way up - hit the last white bar on the way to red...

Seems like that's definitely the head gasket huh?

 

you'll be ok driving the car, but she wont last long. (if it is a blown head-gasket) and if it is, it does not sound like a major break. On a BAD head-gasket, you'll end up not being able to get enough compression & combustion to sustain rotation of the motor.

Its not that those things were messing with your car, but your cars increased power made the symptoms more noticeable. If your temp gauge is rising that fast...its bad news bears. do not let her get hot!! such a bad thing on a turbo car, you could spin bearings and everything.

i would say change your oil just to be safe, but you will be able see whats going on in there based off the oil appearance and amount you get out of her. After that i say def take her into your shop and have them take a look at it.

 

Another update...

So, I had my car in the driveway and went out to pull it in the garage. I turn the key and the starter kicks for about a 1/2 second then just stops...not like it shut off stop but like it was grinding into something but the car never even attempted to turn over. I hit it like 3 more times and nada...I was like, WTF now??? So, I didn't want to screw with it...got out pushed the car into the garage and for ****s and grins turned the key again and it started up.

No clue what's up with that. I'm definitely leaning head gasket...after cold startup it doesn't start spitting smoke until after it's been running a few minutes. You can hear it missing (you can also hear my very noisy drivetrain...argh!) and then the smoke starts coming and the temp starts rising.

So, if I take it to my mechanic to have him fix it (assume this is going to cost me about $1500 *sigh*), what else should I have done while he's in there, if anything?

I'm guessing go with the wide fire gasket...not sure if I'm going to jack with the boost stuff again...either I got some funky chips or my car just isn't ready for boost...it ran horribly with the LBE.

 

i would go back to the basics with your car seeing as how she is kicking problems with you. No added boost or chips.

sounds like your started was sticking...might be on its last limb. which could be the source of your drivetrain sounds, not being able to extend or retract completely.

check your plugs/wires/cap and rotor/oil/compression/check all lines in the engine bay/all wires/coil pack.

the compression check will tell you if you have a bad HG or not.