Clouds of white smoke and engine trouble!

[an_avenger]

Hiya -

I seem to be stalling on something which the Haynes manual doesn't seem to explain in great detail! Right....but basically I had to change the head gasket this week. After refitting a new gasket in the same week (the old one still leaked! ) she was put back together and is leak-free -

However after about 20 attempts to start the old girl up I've noticed the engine seems to have a miss-fire and out from the exhaust are clouds upon clouds of white smoke (Me thought it might be steam from yet another coolant leak into my cylinders, but no!) after adjusting the carb the smoke cleared however I seem to still have this miss-fire and the exhaust pressure seems to be greater (I mean sticking my hand close to the exhaust pipe gives some push than it did before). What is up with the girl.....it's driver unfortunatly is bogged down with flu so sorry for the sketchy details but I'll submitt more info when me finger joints don't feel to bad!

[Willie]

Lo, can only suggest that white smoke from the exhaust usually
indicates the presence of water. Unless there is an ongoing fault
the water will usually burn off and the smoke ceases. The misfire
could be due to a faulty(water wet) plug. Again this would clear
when the engine has reached normal temperature for a while.
All this is assuming that you are not experiencing water level
dropping in the radiator??
Willie

[an_avenger]

Yes, you were correct - eventually the water must have evaporated and after doing the tappets the car is running much better! After reading your post I have checked if the water level had dropped and it hadn't, so that was a relief of my mind! But thanks for the sound advice!