My 85 GSL-SE wouldn't start last night. I had driven it around quite a bit earlier in the day. I figured that it was flooded, so, today I took the plugs out, put oil in the spark plug holes and tried to start it. I cranked it for a long time, it kept acting like it was just about to catch, and it finally started. Thick smoke ensued, but unlike other times it wasn't black and it didn't go away. Very thick white smoke just kept coming and coming for quite a few minutes. I had to turn it off before the EPA came after me. I didn't smell any coolant but it's definitely white smoke.

Anyway, any ideas about causes other than coolant seals? Does that usually mean that my housing are shot or are they usually re-buildable?

Thanks
Tom

 

If you're blowing coolant out the back, you can normally smell it strongly... provided of course you have a proper antifreeze mix in the cooling system and not just staight water.

Coolant leaks make steam, not smoke. The difference is hard to describe, except that steam dissipates much more quickly in a closed space, and feels "wet".

 

Did you by any chance use Seafoam while trying to deflood your motor? I'm just asking because it is frequently used for that, and works great, but has the side effect of blowing lots of white smoke afterwards.