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Date:         Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:51:46 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
Subject:      Intermittent  smoking and rough running.. Inline 4 conversion
              engine, long..
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"

Hi all,

Recently I've re-commissioned my Vanagon (with a 1.8 l '92 Cabriolet motor conversion) after about 3 months of non-running storage. All was good, for a few trips, and it is a pleasure to be back into a Van, but something is not right sometimes..Here's the symptoms for anyone interested in helping me figure out what could be wrong..

I sometimes get big clouds of smoke and rough running on startup. Continues for a short time, perhaps a minute, maybe a little less. White-ish smoke, but a bit blue, too.. This usually happens after the car has been driven and is warm and then shut off. I noticed, once, a slight hesitation when cranking, like it was 'hydro-locking' slightly, perhaps. It also sometimes starts without the smoke but runs like one cylinder might be fouled slightly, but after a few seconds it begins to run clean. Yesterday, this smoke happened, then cleared up as I drove just a few blocks. Shut down and re-started within a few minutes and again, big smoke! Got some dirty looks from passers-by, I must say.

On the road, the engine runs strong and burns only a minimum of oil...perhaps half a quart per 1000 miles. The coolant level stays ok, and there is no oil in the overflow tank or moisture coming out the exhaust. No apparent water in the oil. I did have some issues with air in the cooling system a while back, but with the help of the list archive, got that bled out, without cooking the motor, after replacing hoses and waterpumps and boiling out the radiator, etc.

So, something seems to be getting into a combustion chamber somehow, is my guess. Perhaps a stuck lifter, a bad valve guide, a blown headgasket or cracked piston ring...something that can show up just sometimes after startup and yet not effect the performance of the motor when going down the road..

I am planning on changing to a slightly different camshaft soon. I would like to order whatever other parts might fix this 'smoke-screen' problem to have them on hand when I go into the motor for the cam swap..I guess lifters should be changed and perhaps a headgasket, though I have not heard much about headgasket failure on the Inline 4 motors as a frequent problem..

Anybody care to hazard a guess? Thanks,

Don Hanson


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