My beloved, somewhat rusting 91 coupe auto trans appears to have gone belly up. It's got 90,000 miles on the second engine. 168,000 total miles

I can get it started with the ATF trick. Engine revs pretty smooth and strong at top end. A little blue smoke blows after the cloud of white burns off but the instant RPMs go below 2500 it quits. Won't restart.

Cloud doesn't smell like much, so I'll assume it is an apex seal. Could I be wrong?

 

if the white smoke smells sweet, it's probably a shot coolant seal...

 

It doesn't smell sweet, but the add cooland light came on for 10 seconds and then went out. I did notice some exhaust, steam, coming from the back of the intake manifold when it shut down.

 

hmmm...check your coolant hose going to the TB...those like to split sometimes.

As far as the smoke is concerned, I couldn't tell ya. a little puff is ok if it's bluishblack, but white....I've always thought it was bad...

 

i was getting a lot of white smoke outta the tail when i cold started my 87 rx-7 (100k mi) but ony when i revved it above 3500 (when the engine warms up the smoke stops). i went to the mech and they told me its those seals inbetween the actuall rotors (the o-ring thing inside the rotor). i forgot what they were called but replacing them would mean tearing down the engine.

 

That would probably make more sense. If it were an apex seal, you would hear some real mechanical shredding, etc. as all that metal goes around the housing, I would think. Might be a small blessing, as it would be worth a rebuild, if I do it myself. Trouble might be getting the wife to let go with a $1,000 for the rebuild kit. Car needs a lot of little work elsewhere. She wants it gone now that I have my 3rd Gen.

 

oil seals. when the engine's cold, and the seals are cracked, oil seeps in and burns up in the combustion chamber. but when the engine warms up, the seals heat up and close up the gaps. yeah when i get enough money, i'm jus gunna drop in a new 13b