what causes smoke?

[hotrod ford]

what causes engines to smoke? i have seen this but never had it happened to me.

[BobbyFord]

Generally,...Blue smoke = oil, white smoke = trans fluid (bad modulator), white steam = coolant, black smoke = fuel (rich condition). All of which will eventually cause your wallet to smoke...

[hotrod ford]

i have heard if it smoke from the engine (valve covers) you have bad rings. is that true? also if the modulator is bad will that also keep the tranny from shifting good? if its a manual it would'nt have a modulator? maybe?

[James72]

I had an old Volvo with a remote booster that started leaking and the engine was sucking in brake fluid, now that makes smoke, unbeliveable white smoke for miles and miles

[Fordlorn]

Smoke blowing out of the valve covers when you take off the oil fill cap is usually rings (blow-by). A bad modulator will cause the tranny to not shift into second, you can rev it to the moon and it'll never shift! And it can let tranny fluid up into the carb and cause smoke too. The little diaphragm gets a tear or hole in it and the vacuum hose/pipe will suck tranny fluid right up into the carb.

[hotrod ford]

Smoke blowing out of the valve covers when you take off the oil fill cap is usually rings (blow-by). A bad modulator will cause the tranny to not shift into second, you can rev it to the moon and it'll never shift! And it can let tranny fluid up into the carb and cause smoke too. The little diaphragm gets a tear or hole in it and the vacuum hose/pipe will suck tranny fluid right up into the carb.

how does that work? how would the tranny fluid get in the carb? this problem is on a manual truck, i thought auto's only had modulators

[FORDification]

Yes, only automatics have modulators. This problem wouldn't occur on stick-shift vehicles.

[willowbilly3]

You must keep the smoke inside, especially on electrical components. Once you let the smoke out of any electrical component, it won't work anymore.

[fordman]

also bad valve stem seals will let it smoke like crazy out th exhaust. but that isnt your problem. in case anyone says it might be.