White Smoke coming out Right Bank...Need some help Please!

[Mr-Jack]

Ok...so I knew I had a problem with smoke before, but now that I got the truck lifted, I wanna drive it, but don't wanna hurt it, so I'm trying to diagnose what's going on.

Specs...350 sbc (long water pump), hypertech dizzy, new plugs and wires, new valve cover gaskets, sm420, weiand intake, Holley 4barrel, hooker headers with true duals.

I start the truck and within a minute or two, the right header is noticeably hotter than the left, and the right muffler is smoking, but the left one isn't.

I sprayed around the intake manifold with carb and seafoam, no spike in rpm. fuel pressure is reading steady at 3psi at idle. I'm kind of stuck.

I don't know if it's a head gasket or not. Haven't noticed any leak in the coolant, resevoir still at the fill line, and the thermostat reads around 190 warmed up. But smokes like a pig out the right exhaust pipe. not using oil, and i freshly changed the oil 2 weeks ago. Pulled the dipstick and it's still super clean. Haven't used any additives other than a seafoam treatment a couple of months ago. Since then i've drained the fuel tank flushed the lines and am using new gas. I adjusted the float bowl fuel level on my holley today cause it was flooding out the carb, but i don't know why just one bank is smoking and the other is fine. or why the right side gets hotter than the left.

I started pulling plug wires and cranking over the motor to see if i could isolate a cylinder but smokes with each one of the plugs off. (i pulled starting with #2 cylinder plug cranked, plugged it back in and then did the rest on the right bank the same way)

Can anyone guide me in the right direction.

thanks, Jack

[skip99]

sounds like it may be actually running lean on the smoke side, check how the carb feeds the intakes, maybe one side stopped up?

[Mr-Jack]

Haven't done a whole lot of carb work...so what's the best way to check for this...just pull the air cleaner and look down its throat?
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[storm9c1]

3psi fuel pressure at idle sounds low for a Holley 4bbl carb. I agree with the lean condition. Keep searching in that direction.......... I suggest you get the fuel pressure up to 5psi. Mine sits solid at 6.5 psi at idle.

[68gmsee]

More than likely if it's whitish smoke it's coolant. It may be a small head gasket leak, intake gasket leak or worse a cracked head. The antifreeze in the coolant makes a lot of smoke so keep monitoring the fluid level.

I have also seen whitish smoke from additives and when a buddy poured transmission fluid into his carb it was sort of grayish, so keep that in mind also.

[terry b]

Pull all the spark plug's. Lay them out in order. You can tell alot from how they look. If it's lean on that bank are all the plug's gray/white? Or only one or too. If you are burning antifreeze in that bank the plug's wii look clean like new. It will most likely only be one or two plug's. You can not tell by looking thru the carb if that side is plugged on the primary .All you will see is the shot from the pump.

[GASoline71]

A Holley 4bbl carb needs at least 6psi of pressure to run properly. You're way lean. For my street rigs with Holley 4bbl carbs I use a Carter "street" fule pump. It pumps a constant 6psi with no regulator.

Gary

[Mr-Jack]

I'm working about 15 hour days for the next few days, then i'll have a few days off to take a look at it. But I always thought my carb wasn't getting enough from what my friends have said. I actually even cleaned the pump a while back, but made no differance in pressure. And i'm just reading that off the pressure gauge on the fuel rail before the split.

I'm interested in this carter pump...is that something i'll have to order, or will a local part store carry that? And Looking around the net, do you have a specific part number for a small block 350?

Thanks for all the help guys...Kinda new to carb tuning, so all this information is helpful and appreciated.

Jack

[C-10 simplex]

Is sm 420 manual transmission?

[Mr-Jack]

Yes its manual...so no Tranny fluid in the motor
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[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by Mr-Jack

I'm interested in this carter pump...is that something i'll have to order, or will a local part store carry that? And Looking around the net, do you have a specific part number for a small block 350?

I just did a little diggin' on Summit Racing, and it looks like Carter is no longer offering the "street" super pump for Chevy's. The offer them for all other GM brands, so I wonder if those still have the mounting flange like a SBC.

Just checked Jegs, and they offer it in a polished version for the SBC for $152 bucks! Yikes! I only paid about $75 for mine about 6 years ago. If they stopped makin' them for reals... I'm gonna be pissed. I've been using those pumps for eons only becasue they pump the perfect fuel pressure for a Holley 4bbl carb without using a regulator.

The "strip" super pump os $85 bucks, but runs at 7 - 8.5 psi. So you'd have to run a regulator.

Gary

[storm9c1]

I've had a hard time finding the older Carter stuff these days. Seems like stores like Advance and Autozone sell Airtex/Master pumps now when they used to sell lots of Carters. Though I agree if you can find a Carter, use it. When I put the Street Avenger on my truck, I used a 80GPH Holley pump (PN 12-834) from Advance. Around $75.

[Mr-Jack]

Edlebrock sells a performance pump around 120.00 that pumps a constant 6psi w/o a regulator...any of yall use this pump before? I'd rather spend the 120 on a regulated pump than buy an 80 dollar pump have to buy a decent regulator for about the same price or greater than the pump...plus adding a regulator just adds one more part that can go bad that I'll have to troubleshoot later.
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[Gumby]

your fuel demands aren't outside the range of a stock GM pump as is.

[storm9c1]

Originally Posted by Mr-Jack

Edlebrock sells a performance pump around 120.00 that pumps a constant 6psi w/o a regulator...any of yall use this pump before? I'd rather spend the 120 on a regulated pump than buy an 80 dollar pump have to buy a decent regulator for about the same price or greater than the pump...plus adding a regulator just adds one more part that can go bad that I'll have to troubleshoot later.
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Yes, I use the Eddy pump with Eddy carbs. They work best since Eddy carbs need slightly lower pressure and those carbs are very sensitive to pressure.

But with a Holley carb, the 80 GPH pump I mentioned above is a Holley part and should not need a regulator. It's designed to hook straight up to a Holley carb.

I also agree that you can probably get away with a stock 40 GPH pump, so one of the Airtex/Master pumps from Advance/Autozone might also work. Problem is their specs for a '69 350 say they put out 7.5 - 9psi. I'd be worried about that. You might have to search for different years 350 and see if one puts out the range you need. 7.5 psi is max for a Holley. Mine hangs around 7psi.

[Mr-Jack]

Originally Posted by storm9c1

Yes, I use the Eddy pump with Eddy carbs. They work best since Eddy carbs need slightly lower pressure and those carbs are very sensitive to pressure.

But with a Holley carb, the 80 GPH pump I mentioned above is a Holley part and should not need a regulator. It's designed to hook straight up to a Holley carb.

I also agree that you can probably get away with a stock 40 GPH pump, so one of the Airtex/Master pumps from Advance/Autozone might also work. Problem is their specs for a '69 350 say they put out 7.5 - 9psi. I'd be worried about that. You might have to search for different years 350 and see if one puts out the range you need. 7.5 psi is max for a Holley. Mine hangs around 7psi.

I'll take a look at it...still shopping around a bit...but i must say that the 350 is not the original motor. I wish it was, but the casting numbers tell me that it's not...also investigating the vin# shows that it had the Iv6 so this motor i have in it, is stamped from 69-79. Wish I had more info on it, but i haven't investigated further at this point. I just want to get her running right, and am willing to try to get it all on my own. I really don't like taking my vehicles to anyone else, cause I don't trust anyone to work on my vehicles, so if at first i don't succeed...i'll definately go to the next step. Guess that's just part of the classic truck deal...I don't know the way it was kept, or what's been done internally until i find out for myself.

I'm an aircraft mechanic, so I would think this would be easier, but I learn new things every day, and makes me feel good!

[Mr-Jack]

So I went to the parts store yesterday on my way home from work...bought the holley p/n 12-834 w/o regulator...i'm gonna see how this goes. gonna install it either after work today, or tomorrow. found out my lower radiator hose has a huge leak coming off the water pump...(one of the universal hoses not a stock replacement hose.) looks like that's gonna have to be replaced) would you guys recommend adding a gasket sealer to the paper gasket that comes with the fuel pump, or just proper torque specs and the paper gasket? I'll inspect the pushrod as well when i change the pump.

[GASoline71]

All I've ever used on a fuel pump gasket is Gasgacinch.

It's all I use on any gaskets to be honest.

Gary

[Mr-Jack]

ok...so now i've got about 5.5-6psi fuel pressure...threw in a new Holley 12-834 fuel Pump...still smoking. I adjusted the misture screws and it idles nicely now, but still smoking out the right bank heavy.

i looked at the headers and there is some liquid around the number 8 exhaust port coming off the block. Not sure what this is yet cause it's too hot to get a finger in there, but it's not dripping to the ground, so i hadn't seen this before.

I don't know if this is a carb issue, or that it isn't...smoke still doesn't smell sweet. But it's bellowing out pretty good. What would cause liquid to come out of the exhaust port? I mean could a leaky exhaust manifold gasket cause this. They are hooker headers

Also...when looking at the carb, what should i be looking for to see if it's too lean? Just doesn't make sense that the carb could be feeding one side differantly into the intake (just thinking of the physical aspects of the carb and the intake openings to the block.

Jack

[Mr-Jack]

pulled the number 8 plug...can't tell what the liquid was, but it's smokey inside the cylinder...I manually cranked motor to see if any liquid would come out, but it didn't...is it safe to turn the truck over with the plug out of the block? just wanna see if something comes out when i crank...i either want the bad news or the reallly bad news now. anybody smell the problem yet?

[storm9c1]

OK, now I'm worried that your problem might be more severe. Fixing the fuel problem was a certainty, 3psi was no good. But now we have to dig deeper. I'm a little stumped too since your original post mentioned that one header and muffler was much hotter than the other and that indicates lean. But now I question that.

Does the smoke go away when the truck warms up or does it continue? On a cool morning, just about any engine will produce reasonable amounts of water vapor until it warms up. It's especially pronounced on vehicles without cats. And can occasionally be uneven per side.

Once the truck warms up, hold a piece of cardboard about 2 inches from your exhaust pipe exit. Does this white smoke quickly condense into liquid on the cardboard? If so, this is probably coolant. And that's bad. Pull all of the spark plugs on that side. Tell us what they look like.

While you are at it pulling plugs, verify your firing order. And wire routing. Double check and triple check.

Lots of other ideas come to mind such as your intake, etc. We need to tackle these one by one.

[Mr-Jack]

I'll do the cardboard thing now...and once the truck is warm, it gets worse...both banks did it at first only sputtering...then when the truck got warmed up, the left bank was clean and the right bank started smoking like a white bonfire.

[Mr-Jack]

ok...smoke condensed to water and got the cardboard wet...pulled the plugs and they look clean. Now...i haven't had these plugs installed long...cause i just installed them about a couple of weeks ago or so before i started diagnosing the motor. I didn't keep the old plugs, but they didn't look clean like these. Firing order is correct as well (Plug wires are super long)

The PO did have water in the radiator...I didn't think anything of it. but I do know that people trying to sell a vehicle with a motor problem can somewhat mask a problem like this to the seller. I got a screamin deal on the truck tho, so i was expecting a little bit of work. just trying to figure out what that work is at this point.

[Mr-Jack]

This is a shot of the wet spot on the header and block around the #8 plug

[68gmsee]

As I mentioned whitish smoke generally is coolant or water. Since it's coming out one side only you have either a leaking head gasket, leaking intake or cracked head. From the picture you posted I'd go with the head gasket.

Either way you're going to have to bite the bullet and yank the heads off. Lots of fun these old trucks.