For my car that is...

It's losing coolant, hard to start and blowing white smoke in the morning. I figure it's only a matter of time before it gives out completely. I plan on driving it until the day comes and rebuilding soon after. Is is possible for me to damage else driving it in this condition?

 

if it's a coolent leak not much, unless you run out of coolent while driving then all hell will break loose.

 

My car is hard to start when it is cold.
My coolant always seems to be going down.
And it blows greyish smoke.
The smoke doesn't smell like coolant though, it just smells like exhaust.
Is my engine on its way out?

 

I would say no.

Just be cautious when driving it so that you avoid overheating it. Any time you over-heat a motor with coolant seals on their way out, the problem will build exponentially until it's undrivable.

I would start saving up for a rebuild. Who knows how long you can prolong it's life, but if you're careful you might be OK for a while.

All new coolant seals are like $150? Except you might want to consider a more extensive rebuild, with new 'compression' seals/springs etc. if the motor's going to be torn down anyways.

 

If it is first thing in the morning, and it is cold, you will have that smoke it the morning. I have the same thing but it goes away after the car reaches operating temp. You would know if it was coolant coming thru the exhaust because the smell is sweet.

 

Ok, that is what I thought.
My engine seems to be in fine working order, and never smells of coolant.
That post just had me worried.

 

Remember if you wait until you have to rebuild, (instead of when compression drops and you are just starting to have problems) you will need to replace more parts, and do more work.

The best engines to rebuild are the ones just out of spec, not the ones that have been completely used up.

 

is that cause its cheaper OR because they turn out to have better compression and are stronger? elab

thanks!

 

go to the 2nd gen archive I believe and there is a great writeup on rebuild parts/ costs for the 6port engines.

 

if a motor "goes" completely then there is a big chance of the housings gettin scard up severly, beyond a useable condition.

 

Thanks for all the info guys

 

if you have an internal coolant leak and you wait until it's severe to rebuild the engine, then all of the internals will be rusted and damaged beyond repair with the exception of maybe the stationary gears. if you just have a small coolant leak and you pull the engine immediately you might just need a new iron housing as far as large expensive replacement goes.

i've seen engines run to death with an internal coolant leak and the rotor housings had rusted and flaked and the side housing surfaces had marks and pitting where the seals came to rest for long periods of time and water/coolant had puddled. not to mention the rotors... they looked like crap and the seals were ALL stuck in position.

so yeah... i don't know why anyone here is advising you to wait or saying it won't cause a problem. it makes sense to do it ASAP, it will be a cheaper and higher-performing rebuild.

 

sorry to steal the thread but it seems that after fixing 1 problem things just get worse. well 2 day my starter was stuck so i hit it as a temp. thing but then i started the car after 3 days of non op and it blew a **** load of sweet smelling white smoke till it was warm then it stoped. then as i drove off i saw it was drippin a lil' liquid im thinking its coolant but not sure. then after i drove it around it was fine i think and the dripping stoped! so my question is does this sound like a internal coolant leak external or some thing else? o yea and its kind of hard to start it everytime i go to start it. it only turns on with my foot on the accel. plz some1 help thnx

 

If it is cold in the morning, shouldn't anyone see some sort of smoke coming out of the exhaust. I see it everytime when I start my car and it is cold. Lately it has been in the upper 20's. Once it reaches the operating temp range, the smoke goes away. I always thought this was just normal until the seals expanded.

 

Hmm... I'm not advising anyone to run their motor to death.

Simply put, most of us FC owners are on a budget and sometimes the necessary $120-150 for the coolant-seals won't just materialize out of thin air. That being said, driving the car carefully for a month with coolant-seals on their way out might be the only option for someone who has limited transportation. I am not advocating for this, but I want the original poster to KNOW that it's not a life-or-death situation.

I rarely ever post outside the sphere of my own personal experience (and if I do it's typically with a disclaimer of some sort).

I prolonged the motor in my '87 N/A with rapidly deteriorating coolant-seals for a little over a month. Upon tear-down I discovered no damage in the form of rust etc...

 

ps i havent seen my coolant level go down below normal in case some1 reads my post above.