smoke in engine bay?? HELP

[Bonzi Lon]

We used magnesium in a ductal iron foundry. Once caught on fire you could drop it in water and it would still burn. It is an impressive burn when 750 pounds of molten iron hits 10 pounds of mag, blinding. Lloyd Bridges used magnesium sticks in "Sea Hunt" to light up the darkenss of the deep. Close to here, in the early 80's, some dirt trackers were in a wreck and the mag wheels caught fire, killing 2. Mag wheels were then banned.

Bonzi Lon

[FastWoman]

Blinding, yes! Magnesium was the stuff that flash powder, flash bulbs, and flash cubes were made of. (For younger folks: Those were early photographic flash technologies.)

It's funny to think that my cameras have magnesium bodies. May they never catch on fire!

[Jetaway]

I'm not gonna lie, it is pretty grimy, haven't gotten to cleaning it yet, I'm just trying to get it running reliably first. and from what I've noticed it has only smoked once or twice, but the smoke was thin enough that I'm sure I wouldn't have noticed it with the hood closed

Yoshi, I'm going to suggest that you are doing this backwards. If the engine is grimy enough, the actual location of an oil leak could be four feet away from where you spot the oil. With a clean engine spotting the source of an oil leak (or identifying just what the heck it is that is leaking) usually becomes a trivial problem. If you are worried about a fire, bare metal is pretty damn difficult to ignite, especially compared with a nice, rich hydrocarbon coating. Finally, figure how much time you spend wiping off gunked up tools, or parts, or searching for dropped nuts/bolts/washers that manage to stick to the side of the engine or suspension. Or not having to clean your driver's seat when a smear of grease travels without your knowledge from your arm to your leg to your butt.

Quite seriously, the amount of time that it takes you to knock 95% of the crap out of the engine compartment will be saved back within 3 months by making repairs that much easier on yourself.

Chris

[FastWoman]

^^^^ Agree!

You can achieve quite a lot, just with dishwashing detergent, a disposable scrub brush, and a garden hose with a spray nozzle. Just scrub the engine down with lots of detergent. Don't get too aggressive with the cleaning around electrical parts. You can clean them, but try to use as little water as possible. Wipe down the whole mess with rags when you're done, and give the engine compartment plenty of time to dry before trying to start it back up. It would be well worth your time, and your engine will thank you.

[ajmcforester]

Gibbs penetrating oil and a tooth brush does a good job getting the hard to get areas, and acts as a protectant. It cleans the wires well also. Ya it might be $15 a can, but I fell in love with the stuff. If I let it get that not wet feel to it, it only lightly smokes for less than five minutes when it gets on the cat. It looks natural on the car, it's clear and does not yellow, and it melts the grimy grease.

It was invented by a motorcycle mechanic. He wanted a product that can oil joints on the bikes and keep aluminum corrosion down.

By the way don't use engine cleaner it tends to damage aluminum

[yoshi_w]

Hi again, so I tried to take a more in depth look and I think I pinpointed the smoke problem. It seems like oil from the rear carb, the one closest to the windshield, is leaking oil onto the exhaust. I attached a picture of a flattop carb (not my carb) with circles around where I felt the oil. Any idea how to fix this?

[Jetaway]

Hi again, so I tried to take a more in depth look and I think I pinpointed the smoke problem. It seems like oil from the rear carb, the one closest to the windshield, is leaking oil onto the exhaust. I attached a picture of a flattop carb (not my carb) with circles around where I felt the oil. Any idea how to fix this?

Clean the engine. I'm no flat-top expert, but I'm thinking what you think is oil is either: a) oil, but engine oil migrating through the grime or: gasoline going through the grime and becoming oily.

I guess it could be carb oil, but I have a hard time imagining how such a shattered carb could even function.

Chris

[yoshi_w]

Ill try that when it stops raining, thanks for the advice, I hope thats all it is!