TODAY IT WAS 45 DEGREES SO I DECEIDED TO TAKE A SHORT RIDE. THE SPEEDSTER HAS NOT BEEN STARTED IN 2 MONTHS AFTER ABOUT 3 MILES ALL OF A SUDDEN LOTS AND LOTS OF WHITE SMOKE THEN BLACK SMOKE. I WENT DIRECTLY HOME 1 MILE. CHECKED THE OIL AND ADDED A QUART OF OIL THE OIL IN THE CAR WAS SO CLEAN I HAD TROUBLE READING THE DIP STICK AND OVER FILLED BY QUITE A BIT. I LET THE CAR SIT FOR 1HOUR STARTED IT AND IT IS RUNNING FINE ONLY A LITTLE WHITE SMOKE PLEASE ADVISE WHAT I SHOULD HAVE CHECKED I DO NOT WORK ON THE CAR MYSELF. THANKS DAN
Replies sorted oldest to newest
U MUST BE RELATED TO ME
Drain the oil to the proper level.
Too much oil can cause significant frothing of the oil which could starve the oil pump causing low oil pressure and engine damage, it can blow out the seals making a mess, and as you've found, it can suck oil from the crankcase breather into the carb and burning it causing white smoke. Oil in the cylinders could then cause a misfire leading to the black smoke.
If that doesn't clear it up, you'll have to start looking into the engine.
Dan---that serves you right for living tn CT! (We still miss New Canaan)
Sounds like it's related to just sitting for two months. Try to drive it at least every other week. It's cold too here (45-50 so we're not suffering) but I try to find excuses to drive my Speedster at least every other week. That's a hard thing to do in CT but it will help. And drive it far enough to get it up to operating temp.
--Looking forward to catching up with you at Carlisle---not too long until that great event!
If you did not over fill w/ oil make sure it does not smell like gas ( the dip stick ) if the valve on top of the carb stops working the whole tank of gas can end up in your crankcase ( ask me how I know ). It will wash all the oil off the pistons/rings - not a good thing.
schu brings up a very pertinent point - especially if you thought the "oil" line on your dipstick was very hard to find and then ended up over filled.
Pull your dipstick and smell the end down inside where it shows the oil level. It should smell like oil. If it smells like gasoline, you probably have a leaking pilot valve in one of your carburetors which should be fixed.
Gas in oil can also come from a bad mechanical fuel pump diaphram Both the fuel pump and carb gas leakage are made worse if tail end of car is lower than front (gravity).