Smoke Screen

[Matt]

Emila is currently been followed by a smoke screen.

One of my friends reckons its because she is running very rich based on the smell, and the feel of the condensed stuff coming out the back, however the smoke is white.... :s

Emila is as leaned off as possible whilst still being able to run, but this doesnt seem to be lean enough.

We changed pretty much the whole ignition system yesterday (except coil and and plugs, but i did the plugs 100 odd miles ago anyhow) and she would only fire on 2. So this morning i removed and cleaned up the plugs and put them back (black and sooty) and she still only ran on 2. I leaned her off as much as possible and she started back firing through the carb. I re did the tappets and everything seemed fine for a mile or so (hadnt touched mixture since backfire) then she started running on 2 again :s I took the plugs out of a mini and used them (NGK 6ES's) and she seems to run fine except the plugs are sooted up again and the smoke screen.

I have also been trying to get the timing right, so the timing might not be in the perfect place. Also when starting up after a brief period of inactivity (ie. shes still warm) she wont idle unless you keep the revs up for 30secs- 1 min :s

[JimK]

Just put a button on the dash marked "smoke" and try and kid yourself that Bond drove a Minor...

[Kevin]

White smoke tends to have water in it, normally associated with a head gasket starting to blow, but black sooty plugs indicate too rich a mixture, has it just started or been getting slowly worse for a while.

[Rob_Jennings]

may be piston rings,

had an s-reg fiesta with failed piston oil ring that burnt oil almost as fast as petrol and resulted in lovely white to blue gray smoke depending on engine temperature and demand

[Matt]

Well its all a bit of a saga...

I got her home before xmas and changed the head for another in stock because the car had been driven for a far few miles on unleaded, and the head I ended up putting on wasnt flat *doh* and that blew everywhere (between all the cylinders and oil ways etc) which is why I had major problems keeping oil in the car. Straight after doing that gasket I did a compression test which gave results of 180-200 PSI on each cylinder (running). No smoke evident. I think i caught it just before the gasket was about to give up....

I drove it back to London (80 Miles) and replaced the sump gasket because 2 gallons of oil had exited through the rear sump seal. Still leaking oil so played with the breathers. Improved the leak, but didnt sort it. Thats when we diagnosed the head gasket as mentioned before. The head has just been replaced with one which is definately flat and with no cracks evident. I havent been able to get the car set up right since. This new head is midly ported and had bigger valves.

The rocker cover cap is vented and the vent on the timinig chain cover is attached to the carb (HIF44)

[Packedup]

When running, how much pressure is there if you put your hand over the oil filler hole (having removed the cap)? ore than a gentle puffing at tickover is a "bad thing" IMO.

I'd pop the dashpot off and see where the jet is too - It should be a fraction (maybe 0.5mm or so) below the bearing give or take a little, if it's more or less with the engine at its smoothest, then something is very much amiss.

I also tend to block off the breather inlet in the carb and vent a hose so the fumes don't enter the cabin when trying to sort out a playing up engine - It removes any chance of excess oil mist ingestion or other breather system related malady from the fueling side of things

[Matt]

[/quote]When running, how much pressure is there if you put your hand over the oil filler hole (having removed the cap)? ore than a gentle puffing at tickover is a "bad thing" IMO. [/quote]

Its under vacuum

I have already run the engine up without vents attached, and it still runs rich!

[Willie]

I have just had the buyer of my saloon(3 years ago) ask for help as the car was running far to rich and very erratically. The fault was that the jet was not returning fully to the 'up' position after starting. Easy to check,
start with choke from cold, push choke in fully and apply pressure to the bottom of the jet. In this case there was a click and the jet flicked upwards. I oiled the various carb linkages and the fault disappeared.
Worth a try.

[bmcecosse]

Sounds like the carb is flooding over - check the needle valve - and of course the choke mech. Better still - try another carb!

[Packedup]

Worth a try.

But infuriatingly tricky on a HIF ;)

[Matt]

Interestingly, after my 5/6 mile drive home from the friends I have been able to lean it off enough, and couldnt before... can anyone make any sense of that? :s

[bmcecosse]

Flooding needle valve has cleared of grit that was holding it open ?

[alex_holden]

I have just had the buyer of my saloon(3 years ago) ask for help
...
I oiled the various carb linkages and the fault disappeared.

Impressive customer service.

[Willie]

Alex, he keeps calling round because he wants to buy my convertible!