White smoke too...after an overheat

[ALFOS]

Hello again...wanted to get some advice as to what to check for when diagnosing what may have happened and the extent of the damage after an overheat. My GW runs and drives fine but I did notice a bit of white smoke out the tail pipe. Questions is:

1. What are the things toi look for to identify the extent of the damage if any?

2. If it appears to be a blown head gasket how hard is that for me to replace and what type of tools would I need?

I am a complete amateur mechanic but willing to get my hands dirty and learn something new.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeepadilly]

White smoke usually is steam and is a sign that you may have a blown head gasket. Blueish smoke usually means oil burning and can be caused by many many things. I assume that the white smoke is comming from the tailpipe. Does it smell like water (Steam) or oil?

A head gasket job is complicated from the standp[oint of getting everything back in the right place...hoses, wires, vacuum lines, etc. Otherwise...it is not too bad. Best to install some rebuilt heads from a reliable head exchange house while you are at it. A gasket kit...alot of clean and set aside...keeping all the rockers, pushrods, bridges, etc straight and in the same place...Get a good book...ask alot of questions here...get or borrow a good torque wrench and a decent set of tools...you can probably pull it off.

BIG HINT: take lots of pix with a digital camera...good luck and welcome to the board...

[Jeepadilly]

Do you loose water when the car is running? Is it leaking anywhere? Is there water in the oil..oil in the water? Can you do a compression test? These are questions that will help you determine the extent of the problem.

[Joe Guilbeau]

When she overheated, steam formed and the resulting pressure forced steam past the head gasket seals at minimum, worse is that the heads might have warped and therefore the gasket seal gave way, and now allows coolant to force its way past the gasket seals.

Sorry to hear it.

A head gasket is not the place to learn. mechanics, too many issues present themselves without some mechanical advice on hand.

A knowledgable experienced mentor is your best bet here.

Since you are posting to the board, I will suppose that you do not have one of these available, so another option might be calling a Mobile Mechanic and asking them if they can come and troubleshoot/diagnose the problem to narrow it down to a specific issue.

They probably will not want to take on the repair job, but may very well be able to pinpoint a diagnosis for you.

[gsmikie]

what year truck ????? atf is white vac line ........

[Evan Atherton]

I had to learn this the hard way. I had a Ford Ranger that overheated on a trip. I got it to cool down but obviously not enough. About an hour before my destination plumes of white smoke bellowed out of the exhaust (think James Bond in Goldfinger). The head gasket had blown and the blue book value on the car was less than the price to fix it.