Need help with 3.8 bird so I can work on my TC!

When i did the last head gasket on my TC bakc in August. When i first started her up she smoked for about 15mins but after driving it ti cleared up, i was otld it was all the oil and antifrezze in the exhaust and intake tubing being sucked in, but claered up and head gasket is till good as of today, even tho i ahve excessive blow by on piston #2


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Brian J Larkin
1988 Turbo Coupe 5spd, dark blue and shining like a peice of polished glass.
http://crazydriver358.5u.com

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1987tc:
[B]I have just finished getting an 88 Tbird running ( V6) and it has been sitting for probably close to a year. I changed both head gaskets even though only one was just starting to seep a little. It runs and starts right up but I have a real big problem..... SMOKE

My '84 Turbocoupe got "topped off" with oil at a garage. when I got on the interstate, it was like a white cloud pouring out behind me. So much so that 3 cars pulled over behind me thinking it was on fire! The garage had put waayy too much oil in when they "topped it off" --anyway I got it drained down to the correct level and it ran fine with no damage thank god!----Just a thought [Image: smile.gif]

i just would like to say that after 158K on my 1988 T-Bird 3.8L, i have not had the common 3.8L headgasket issue.

Now with that said, i better schedule some time for an upcoming headgasket replacement.

JT

I am trying to attach a few pics. The first one is of the car before I start the engine.
The second is after about 30 seconds . The third is after about 90 seconds.

I just noticed that it is running rougher then I thought. I think I have one cyander that is not running. I am wondering now if I have an injector that is stuck open and dumping raw fuel into the cylander? If I rev the motor it seems to smooth out some. Then when I let it idle it loads up again. The smoke gets thicker the longer it runs. Or at least it seems that way to me. Maybe it is just because it collects and forms a cloud!
The smoke doesn't have any antifreeze smell at all.

I just went and pulled a couple of spark plugs. The two plugs on the front of the drivers side are black! Strong smell of gasoline too. These plugs are new when I put the engine back together. Only run durring the tme I have been trying to sort this out. Fuel pressure is around 30psi koeo
and around 35 koer. Can the fuel pressure regulater be bad and still show what look like normal pressure?
What is the prssure rated at for a 3.8 bird?

I am reallllly stumped on this one! I got to thinking ( a dangerous proposition at best!)and remembered that the verry first time I started this it didn't have the exhaust bolted up on the driver side at all and onlu partly on the passengeer side. I rember this because the smoke came up into the engine bay on the drivers side shortly after I started it up. I had just figured it was the normal smoke from handling everything with greasy hands. I know now that is wasn't.
I will look underneath the car today and make sure it doesn't have a vacuum modulater on the transmission. I am pretty sure it doesn't though since none of my catalogs at work list one for an AOD. One of my commercial accounts had suggested that perhaps the master cylinder for the brakes was leaking into the booster and sending brake fluid into the motor. Doesn't look like it is though since the mastercylinder is at the normal leval.I will look into some of the vacuum hoses today and see if any of them is wet. If something IS getting sucked into the engine perhaps one of the vacuum hoses will show it.
Sorry for all the trouble but I am in a big need to get this car on the road so I can do some verrry much needed work on my TC. I do not relish walking to work!

Here is an update on the sick bird story.
I just found what "looks" like oil in the throttle body.
The plugs are fouling pretty bad now too and the engine is running rougher. Still no loss of coolant in the radiator.
Where could oil come from to get into the throttle body. I left the intake air hose off since it is a speed density system. Wanred to see if anything was getting pulled in from the air filter housing. There is a line that runs from the oil filler over to the air filter housing. I am going to unplg it and see if that makes a change.
Actually with out the air hose on there it shouldn't matter. There is noi oil or anything in the intake hose at all. Clean and dry.
HELP!

Here is what I think.
1)First headgasket blew. Antifreeze in exhaust and coated Oxygen sensor.
2) You fixed headgasket. Antifreeze still in exhaust causing smoke. Coated O2 causes rich running condition which might be causing fouling at idle.
My SUGGESTION:
Take it out for some "spirited" drive for 10-15min. This should dry up the exhaust and possibly help the O2.
Josh

It smokes even with out the exhaust system hooked up. I had first run it with the passenger side only partly hooked up and the driver side not hooked up at all. Smkoe came out both manifolds. The passenger side is still not completely hooked up and it does look like the smoke comming from there is darker.
I tried something today as an experiment. I pulled one plug wire at a time off from the distributer cap. When I pulled a wire off the smoke lessened but did not go away. Did not matter wich one I pulled off.

Any chance one or both heads is cracked?

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NATO Member
88 TC X 2, 86 SVO, Main TC with K&N, 3"DP to 2.5"duals through Dynamax, Ric valve at 17+ and disconnected KS. Elite Bodega 16" chrome wheels. Autometer pod w/ A/F and Vac/boost gauges.140 mph Motorsports Speedo New engine: Total Seal rings and TRW pistons, ported and polished head w/ cc'd chambers,1.59"exhausts, SS valves, gutted upper, knife edged lower, A-230 cam, Race Engineering Adj Cam Sprocket, Crowlers, ARP head studs, and rod bolts. Walbro 255 HP pump and Kirban adj FPR, T-3. Centerforce II, KB subs and jack rails.