306 lots of blue smoke

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 10:06
306 lots of blue smoke - hm
My 1995 (145K) 306DT decided to blow lots of blue smoke out of the exhaust and the dip stick this morning.

Any ideas? I was think piston ring, or maybe turbo. Some how the sump is being pressurised. I though piston rings go over time not suddenly?

Can any give me sone advice.

cheers

H
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 10:15
306 lots of blue smoke - M.M
Not turbo if the blow-by is venting through the dipstick.

*Just* a head gasket possibly?

Bear in mind a head gasket is sealing...

Combustion pressure.
Oil under pressure.
Oil drain-back channels.
Coolant.

The gasket can fail so that any of the above interconnect to give various symptoms.

M.M
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 10:18
306 lots of blue smoke - LongDriver {P}
Sounds like the head gasket to me, if you've got pressure in the sump.

Is the "blue smoke" actually mainly steam?

Have you got a creamy dipstick (no double entendre intended!) from emulsified oil/water ?
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 10:22
306 lots of blue smoke - Altea Ego
Broken piston ring possibly. Either way gasket or ring, compression test will tell you which cylinder.
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 12:05
306 lots of blue smoke - hm
Cheers gents,

there does not appear to be any steam, and the coolant level looks OK and the engine temperature was sitting at 80°C as always.

I will rip the head off tonight (after I have fix the wife's fourtrak, I only put a new engine in it yesterday, lucky, I needed it to tow me back this morning!)

cheers

H

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Mon 18 Aug 2003 12:07
306 lots of blue smoke - Hugo {P}
As MM et al say, check coolent, oil etc.

Then Take the head off and check the liners.

If they are all fine, your rings will be OK and a replacement gead gasket will most likely suffice. Double check the top of the pistons to make sure they are not cracked though.

If you find scoring on a liner, then chances are that piston is affected.

You will need - Piston rings, Poss a piston, Poss a liner and several hours labour.

It may be cheaper to source a low milage engine from a breakers, suggest Universal Parts.

H
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Mon 18 Aug 2003 20:52
306 lots of blue smoke - DL
No liners in the XUD engine I\'m afraid!

Do a compression test firstly, it could save you a lot of work....that head isn\'t the easiest to remove....
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