wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

didn't know which section to put this in, because i can't tell if it's an external or internal problem.

yesterday, randomly, my car started idling like poop when i come to a stop sign, or when i'm parked, but i put it in gear. after it warms up, when i put it into gear, it's really rough like it's got a big cam in it, and it feels like it's gonna die. while driving, i can see a little bit of whitish smoke coming from the exhaust. turned it on once and something popped, and a small poof of smoke came from under the passenger wheel well, but i didn't see anything leaking.

sometimes it's hard to put it into gear, like it's really sticky. i checked trans fluid, oil, coolant, plugs, hoses, and everything's hooked up fine. please help asap because i'm leaving for pre-deployment training today and i'd like to get some kind of idea of what it is before i leave.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

also, the fans are kicking on before it's even warmed up. hasn't done that before, then again it's getting into the 100's here.

Camaro396

iTrader: (14)

My car did that back when it was stock when I broke a vacuum line that goes into the front of the intake. Just took a new peice of hose and put it on, and problem went away. It sounded pretty cammed up though until I fixed it.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

my friend took it home and scanned it. turns out there was a misfire and the driver's side front o2 sensor is bad.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

but what would cause the "pop" and poof of smoke?

plaf713

iTrader: (8)

bad o2, would cause the pop, probably running rich

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

but it popped with smoke up front, and my exhaust is dumped over the axle.
makes sense why it would have done it, but i'm trying to figure out where the smoke came from.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

hopefully this weekend i'll be able to change out the o2 sensors and hope it's up and good. what should i check for if my trans is still sticky? like i said all fluids were good

99NMB

iTrader: (7)

Possible blown head gasket, have you checked the coolant level?? White smoke and cooling fans coming on way early sounds like a blown head gasket to me.

socmguy

iTrader: (18)

could be head gasket, time for H/C!!!

03Sssnake

iTrader: (20)

I agree as the same thing happened to me. The car idled like it had giant cam in it, and it was apparent that there was a vacuum leak, as there was a very loud hissing noise under the hood. Turned out the PCV plumbing that goes from valve covers to the intake had a huge hole burned into it at the back of the intake manifold.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

well buddy found out that the #8 spark plug boot was a little off, so that cleared up the misfire (which i don't understand because it ran fine and it's been about a month since i changed plugs). hoping the o2 sensor will fix it up. so checking the head gasket, you gotta pull the heads i'm guessing?

jg_98ghost

iTrader: (12)

do a pressure test on your car with all the plugs out. if a cylinder fills up with antifreeze youll know your head gasket is blown. alot easier then pulling the head. ive got a similar problem with my car and checking the head gasket with a pressure test tomorrow.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

how do you go about doing that?

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

bump for knowledge on pressure testing. (search rewarded me with little info)

and a reason why the trans would be sticking so bad.

wtomlinson

iTrader: (6)

ttt...

i am getting a day off from training so i'm gonna go get my car on a lift today. any ideas on this pressure test? or how to do one?

also what should i look for if my trans is sticking (besides fluid, i checked that)?

ShortChevy

iTrader: (21)

This is going to be very hard to explain. They make a tester that is a clear tube that you put a special liquid in and it fits in place of your rad. cap. You then hook a vacuum pump to the tube and run the car. While pumping the vacuum pump if the liquid turns a yellowish green color from its original blue, that means you have combustion gases in your cooling system (bad head gasket, cracked head, cracked block) You can find these kits at Napa, Carquest, I'm not sure of Advance or Autozone becuase I don't go there much. Or you can do a compression test. Hopefully you can understand the garbage I just said.