13B T Swap White Smoke
 

Today I had my down pipe installed and the exhaust system fabricated, that was the good part :icon_tup:. This was the first time I drove my FC since I swapped in the motor and a chance for me to see how well the engine runs and the true condition.

I didn't even drive a mile before white smoke started comming from the exhaust pipes and the coolant warning buzzer started buzzing. All fluids were topped off before I took my FC to the tow shop I made sure of that. I immediatley pulled over and the radiator was not full so I added coolant until the fluid reached the top. The coolant buzzer went off, not even two blocks later more white smoke and the coolant warning buzzer came back on :scratch:. There are no coolant leaks from the radiator, or hoses.

Is that the sign of blown coolant seals? . If so I was sold a bad engine and I was told it was a good engine :icon_tdow. All that work and money was for nothing.

does the smoke smell really sweet? are you getting any bubbles in your over flow bottle? sounds like a coolant seals.

yea thats the coolant seals, does it smoke right away when you start it up?

QUOTE=rotary_bünta;11370154]does the smoke smell really sweet? are you getting any bubbles in your over flow bottle? sounds like a coolant seals.[/QUOTE]

The overflow tank gets sucked dry, I refilled it two times already. The smell is not sweet, it stinks like emissions. I tightened the air pump and power steering belts, so the motor idles better. I took it for another drive after putting some more coolant in the radiator, overflow tank and inside the filler neck. After the drive there was only some smoke, and the water tempurature stayed steady and low. The overflow tank is missing some water but not all this time.

It starts to smoke when the radiator is low on coolant, and it smokes a lot. This time around after I made the adjustments and refilled the radiator, overflow tank and filler neck it did not smoke. After I drove around and parked I let the engine idle, the temp stayed low and there was very little white smoke coming from the exhaust tips. I will drive my car some more tonight to see if it starts to smoke and heat up again. I'm thinking maybe because the radiator was empty, it needed time to fully circulate and fill the cooling system.

This video is from after I drove home from the muffler shop.


This video if from after I added more coolant, and tightened the air pump and power steering belts. Not that the air pimp and power steering has anything to do with the cooling system. I ran out of memory that is why my camera went out when I got to the back of the car.

All is Well
 

I drove around today for an hour, the smoking has stopped and coolant is now holding in the radiator and overflow tank :icon_tup:. I guess the cooling system needed three bottles of collant to fill the radiator and coloing system completely.

The engine runs ok, since I do not have a boost gauge I cannot tell how well the turbo charger is boosting. So far it feels as if I'm driving n/a I can't tell the difference even when I press the gas pedal hard from a standing stop, or a roll on gas pedal mash. I will take my vert to a shop and have them overlook everything and check the boost.

Sounds like you didn't burp the cooling system before you started to drive it. As for not boosting too well, I'd do a double take on all the intercooler hose clamps and anything related to the intake/turbo.

True I did not bleed the radiator, I totally forgot that step. I just put coolant and started driving, I bled the radiator since then though and everything is good. I will double check the intercooler and turbo intake hoses (should have done before dropping in the engine), it's possible they're cracked somewhere.

All kinds of stuff gets on/in the engine during installation and then burns off the first time the engine is started. Even new exhaust gaskets tend to smoke a bit. If it doesn't come back, you're in the clear.

Yep, no more smoke.

Always run your heater on defrost full blast for the first drive when you have an empty coolant system. The first fill up on a dry system only gets it about half full. Always idle it in the garage with the radiator cap off while squeezing the upper and lower hoses. Squeeze and hold, the air can take a second to make its way up. After its warmed up fully and the coolant stays at the top of the filler shut the car off and let it cool off. The level should drop some more after a couple hours. Top it off again, screw the cap on, and you should be done.

Thank you, I actually did the later. I let the engine idle in the garage while keeping an eye on the radiator coolant flow and squeezed the upper and lower radiators hoses pushing the coolant out of the radiator. I shut the engine off, then I restarted the engine and added more coolant watching the bubbles come up. I repeated these steps until the radiator coolant level held at the top of the radiator opening. I was freaking out for a little bit at first seeing all that white smoke and the coolant level warning buzzer coming on ha ha, but everything is great now.

Glad you got everything sorted out. :D

I'm not sure why it was smoking in the first place. It probably wasn't related to coolant. If it was white and smelled like emissions it could have been fuel or you could have had oil in your exhaust. Did you Seafoam or MMO the engine recently? Or dare I say...ATF? (Hopefully not ATF)

you can't properly fill the radiator from the radiator itself, use the filler cap on the engine next time.

the smoke could have been from the exhaust. many new exhaust pipes have a coating on them to protect against corrosion that gets cooked off.

Thank you! :)

I did not use Sea Foam, or any other additive, just 91 octane gas. The egnie only smoked when the coolant went low and the coolant warning buzzer sounded. And went away when I added coolant and the coolant warning buzzer went off, it is odd because the smoke did not smell like coolant. But I'm glad all is well now :nod:.

good catch. burping your system is really important and break in periods are essential for rotory engine. glad it all worked out for you. have fun.

Thank you.

I plan on taking it easy on the engine, but I will have some fun here and there ha ha.