88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So I was working on the 95 3100 Lumi the other day and I had her running to get up to the operating temp to bleed the air out.. I walked around the back of the car and saw a little smoke rising from the tailpipe. I'm not even sure as to how I saw it because you have to stand at a certain angle, and even then it is almost clear... So I bent down to look and I smelled a bit of a sweet smell.. Immediately panicking, I shut off the car and haven't started it since.. My Fiero always has a sweet smell for a bit after you start it, and it doesn't use a drop of coolant... Anyway, how do I determine what is causing this problem, and more importantly, how much will it cost (roughly) for a shop to fix it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So it wasn't up to operating temp yet? That would be a condition known as "cold start" when condensation is burning away through the exhaust. Absolutely nothing to be worried about. Now if it were at operating temp, then you MIGHT have something to worry about. Most likely it was the above though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangeStang Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Sounds like LIM gasket or a head gasket. I could not tell you how much it would cost because I do all of my own work. I can tell you it will probably cost you an arm and a leg though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangeStang Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So it wasn't up to operating temp yet? That would be a condition known as "cold start" when condensation is burning away through the exhaust. Absolutely nothing to be worried about. Now if it were at operating temp, then you MIGHT have something to worry about. Most likely it was the above though. The sweet smell would worry me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 On the gauge I would say it was about the quarter of the way mark... The car had been running about 10 minutes probably with the heater on full blast as I was trying to get it up to where the thermostat would open so I could bleed all the air out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So it wasn't up to operating temp yet? That would be a condition known as "cold start" when condensation is burning away through the exhaust. Absolutely nothing to be worried about. Now if it were at operating temp, then you MIGHT have something to worry about. Most likely it was the above though. The sweet smell would worry me though. My 3.1 ALWAYS has a sweet smell after start up and the compression is perfect, uses not a drop of coolant and never gets hot. It didn't run poorly before he worked on it, so why would it now? When you had the heater on, was hot air coming out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Check the underside of your oil cap, and check all your fluids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So it wasn't up to operating temp yet? That would be a condition known as "cold start" when condensation is burning away through the exhaust. Absolutely nothing to be worried about. Now if it were at operating temp, then you MIGHT have something to worry about. Most likely it was the above though. The sweet smell would worry me though. My 3.1 ALWAYS has a sweet smell after start up and the compression is perfect, uses not a drop of coolant and never gets hot. It didn't run poorly before he worked on it, so why would it now? When you had the heater on, was hot air coming out? Yeah, I think hot, or at least warm, air was coming out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Check the underside of your oil cap, and check all your fluids. What am I looking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm definitely going to say cold start. Nothing to be worried about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Check the underside of your oil cap, and check all your fluids. What am I looking for? If there is a white milky fluid, you have coolant in your oil. Which is more than likely a head gasket failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 The oil cap appears to just have oil on it, al least there is nothing white on there.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 So it wasn't up to operating temp yet? That would be a condition known as "cold start" when condensation is burning away through the exhaust. Absolutely nothing to be worried about. Now if it were at operating temp, then you MIGHT have something to worry about. Most likely it was the above though. The sweet smell would worry me though. My 3.1 ALWAYS has a sweet smell after start up and the compression is perfect, uses not a drop of coolant and never gets hot. It didn't run poorly before he worked on it, so why would it now? When you had the heater on, was hot air coming out? I started the LTZ afterward to compare the smoke, and the LTZ had smoke as well, but no sweet smell... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I would just keep an eye on your fluids. How is your coolant level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ManicMechanic Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Different engines react differently. My 'adopted' 1994 3.4 Cutlass 'vert does not have a sweet smell but does spew some white steam out on start up. My 3800 van does nothing on start up except make it's usual "I sound like I'm gonna blow up but it's completely normal according to the service manual!" noise. The 3.1 car I am referring to is my 1992 CS 'vert. All 3 cars are unmodified and mileage varies. The 1994 has the least at 93,000 and the an has the most at 150,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildbill Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm not even sure as to how I saw it because you have to stand at a certain angle, and even then it is almost clear... If you can barely see it, I wouldn't worry about it. Not all exhaust is perfectly clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm not even sure as to how I saw it because you have to stand at a certain angle, and even then it is almost clear... If you can barely see it, I wouldn't worry about it. Not all exhaust is perfectly clear. I wasn't worried about the exhaust nearly as much as I am worried about the sweet smell... EDIT--- Someone told me that I can pull the dipstick, and if it smells sweet than there is coolant in the oil... Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Ride Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 I'm definitely going to say cold start. Nothing to be worried about. X2, bleed the air out and drive it, unless you notice a serious smoking problem, (remember its starting to get cold so its going to smoke/steam more anyway) I wouldn't worry about it. These cars aren't show cars, they'll never be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 Alright guys! I am gonna refill my resevoir and bleed it once more tomorrow (to be SURE all the air is out), and I will drive it then.. I'll just make sure to check it often for the first couple hundred miles to be safe.. Thanks everybody!! You sure took a load off my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancho Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Keep us posted, but i highly doubt its an head gasket or LIM, my 3100 is always smokey at start up for about the first 10 to 20 minutes, its just usual from what i hear, sometimes it smells sweet too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BXX Posted November 15, 2007 Report Share Posted November 15, 2007 Alright guys! I am gonna refill my resevoir and bleed it once more tomorrow (to be SURE all the air is out), and I will drive it then.. I'll just make sure to check it often for the first couple hundred miles to be safe.. Thanks everybody!! You sure took a load off my mind. He he he he, he said 'load' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 I have another question for you guys.. When I was running it yesterday, the radiator cap did not seem to be getting warm... All the hoses and the radiator fins were warm, but the cap was "room temperature"... I still don't have any fluids mixing ( I smelled and tasted the oil, and it wasn't sweet, and the oil level is not rising).. I still have that sweet smell out of the exhaust though.. Also, I STILL have air in the system as the gauge is still going to half and then "sweeping" back to a quarter... This damn car is going to be the death of me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19Cutlass94 Posted November 16, 2007 Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 check the plugs... if your burning coolant the plugs will show it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2007 Ok... I read somewhere that the cats on these older GM's were larger and will make the coolant smell 'sweet'.. It also said that if it functioned well, then it would smell sweet and if it was bad the car would smell 'rich'... I guess at this point I am the most concerned about the radiator cap... Why isn't it getting hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88red4cyl Posted November 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2007 Well, the guy looked at the car for me today and bled my cooling system since I couldn't get it to cooperate.. I asked him about coolant maybe getting into the oil as well.. He said there was a "little moisture" on the oil cap, but nothing that he would worry about... Although I'm not sure what that means, it must be good... It appears that my cars cooling system just all took a crap at the same time... The water pump, thermostat, and the radiator fan all quit working (he found that one out), and they all work now. He also said that he didn't smell antifreeze at the back of the car, so I'm still not really sure what is causing the sweet smell, cuz it must not be antifreeze... I have one more question though... Before all this, my temp gauge would always be straight up and down with very little fluctuation... Now I get a fair bit of movement in the gauge.. Is this because of the new thermostat and coolant? Now the gauge rarely makes it up to the middle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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