My engine is smoking!
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I was cleaning my carb and choke and I decided to check the coolant level since my hoses seemed "empty" (bottom and top) I'm such an idiot cuz I shoulda known that if the lower hose coming out of the radiator doesn't have fluid, but the radiator does... something is wrong. I freakin topped it off anyway, closed up the filter housing and did a quick start to make sure fluids were flowing right. Started right up, but a few seconds later it sounded like it was running rough... maybe fighting something? At first I thought maybe I had screwed up the choke settings or idle or something like that... I got out and checked the exhaust which smelled a little rich but seemed to be putting out a hazy smoke. When I got to the front I noticed the same hazy smoke coming from behind my filter housing. Didn't seem to go far before it dissipated, so I'm thinking maybe it was from the coolant? I thought I let the carb cleaner evaporate, and I've never heard of it making an engine smoke before. Before I shut her off, I noticed that there was still no pressure or fluid in the lower coolant hose. Is my water pump bad? Blockage? I'm thinking no flow is causing the fluid to drain into the engine from the outflow hose (upper) and it is boiling or burning. Why would that make my engine run rough though? I'm so confused. Maybe I screwed up the mixture AND my pump is out. Damn, and I just had her running great this morning!
Please help me, I would like to get this figured out without having a mechanic come out... any shop work (or house calls) comes out of my Mod budget!