Tom Dobrowolsky

Howdy all,

Here's my story:

I bought my J-10 as a fixer-upper project last November off of a
guy who already performed some mods on it. It has the 360 V8.

I drove it home about 10 miles last November without incident and
parked it in front of my house. A few days later, I couldn't start
it. Eventually, about a month later, it started. It belched a bunch
of blue smoke. Since I was talking to my neighbor instead of periodically
goosing the accelerator, it cut out after a few minutes of running. Then
it wouldn't restart.

I had it towed to my friend's place because she had a nice off-street
parking spot. It sat there for several months while I tinkered with
the interior.

Finally, last Wednesday, I got it started. It took several tries and
quite a few shots of starting fluid. She ran without cutting out. The
exhaust was running clear, even, and strong. The engine chugged nicely
and evenly and properly tractorlike for a V8. The only troublesome thing
was some smoke/steam rising from somewhere toward the back/sides of the
engine -- from both sides. On that very first start, there was quite a bit
of smoke that came out after about 2-3 minutes. So I shut her down.

Subsequent tries to start her up were successful, she turned over with
what seemed like minimal cranking and effort of the starter (so unlike my
MJ even on the best of days). While I had the opportunity, I did spray a few
shots of carb cleaner into the intake; the carb is definitely in need of some
cleaning and rebuilding. But after about 2-3 minutes, though, that pesky
smoke/steam came out again, though nowhere nearly as much as the first time.
It looks a lot like it's originating from the exhaust headers -- which is
odd -- and it smells sort of like that not pleasant smell of oil and schmutz
burning off of a hot surface. However, the headers don't look excessively
grimy, though the engine is somewhat oily and dirty in some places.

Unfortunately, I can't trust the gauges at this point, so I don't know if it's
an overheating issue. The engine doesn't feel too hot to the touch and there's
no hissing like I typically associate with overheating. Usually, the gauges
don't register anything, though on two occasions both the oil pressure and
water temp gauges rose to full scale as soon as I started her up. I'm planning
on installing an aftermarket temp gauge to see what the true state of the
engine temperature is -- the t-stat housing has nice built-in port for an
aftermarket sensor/bulb. I checked the radiator and both the level and color
of the coolant seemed ok. The oil looks appropriately black and used and
without any froth. Tomorrow, though, I do plan on changing it and seeing what,
if anything, drains out with it. I'm also gonna check out the t-stat and
replace the radiator cap. (The previous owner had replaced the clutch fan
with a flex fan...which has no shroud)

But that white smoke bothers me, obviously. It didn't seem to do it before
either when I took possession of the truck or when I fired her up last
December. I need to vacate my friend's parking spot and move the truck into
my garage now that there's space. I'd like to just drive it over, but I
don't want to blow out the motor. I'm hoping it's not a pain in the *** sort
of thing like a gasket (though I'll try Mike Romain's test which he wrote
about in another overheating thread).

Any suggestions, ideas, comments, etc?

Cheers,
/tom


--
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( * ) ) ) there is no antelope ) )
|
Rev. Tom Mary Dobrowolsky | The Information School
http://students.washington.edu/agent /-\ University of Washington

Earle Horton

It sounds to me as if you have oil dripping on the exhaust, probably from
the valve covers. I don't think you would blow up the motor driving it a
couple of miles, but if the leak is large it could catch fire. :o(

Earle

"Tom Dobrowolsky" <agent@u.washington.edu> wrote in message
news:bfeses$tqi$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu...
>
> Howdy all,
>
> Here's my story:
>
> I bought my J-10 as a fixer-upper project last November off of a
> guy who already performed some mods on it. It has the 360 V8.
>
> I drove it home about 10 miles last November without incident and
> parked it in front of my house. A few days later, I couldn't start
> it. Eventually, about a month later, it started. It belched a bunch
> of blue smoke. Since I was talking to my neighbor instead of periodically
> goosing the accelerator, it cut out after a few minutes of running. Then
> it wouldn't restart.
>
> I had it towed to my friend's place because she had a nice off-street
> parking spot. It sat there for several months while I tinkered with
> the interior.
>
> Finally, last Wednesday, I got it started. It took several tries and
> quite a few shots of starting fluid. She ran without cutting out. The
> exhaust was running clear, even, and strong. The engine chugged nicely
> and evenly and properly tractorlike for a V8. The only troublesome thing
> was some smoke/steam rising from somewhere toward the back/sides of the
> engine -- from both sides. On that very first start, there was quite a bit
> of smoke that came out after about 2-3 minutes. So I shut her down.
>
> Subsequent tries to start her up were successful, she turned over with
> what seemed like minimal cranking and effort of the starter (so unlike my
> MJ even on the best of days). While I had the opportunity, I did spray a
few
> shots of carb cleaner into the intake; the carb is definitely in need of
some
> cleaning and rebuilding. But after about 2-3 minutes, though, that pesky
> smoke/steam came out again, though nowhere nearly as much as the first
time.
> It looks a lot like it's originating from the exhaust headers -- which is
> odd -- and it smells sort of like that not pleasant smell of oil and
schmutz
> burning off of a hot surface. However, the headers don't look excessively
> grimy, though the engine is somewhat oily and dirty in some places.
>
> Unfortunately, I can't trust the gauges at this point, so I don't know if
it's
> an overheating issue. The engine doesn't feel too hot to the touch and
there's
> no hissing like I typically associate with overheating. Usually, the
gauges
> don't register anything, though on two occasions both the oil pressure and
> water temp gauges rose to full scale as soon as I started her up. I'm
planning
> on installing an aftermarket temp gauge to see what the true state of the
> engine temperature is -- the t-stat housing has nice built-in port for an
> aftermarket sensor/bulb. I checked the radiator and both the level and
color
> of the coolant seemed ok. The oil looks appropriately black and used and
> without any froth. Tomorrow, though, I do plan on changing it and seeing
what,
> if anything, drains out with it. I'm also gonna check out the t-stat and
> replace the radiator cap. (The previous owner had replaced the clutch fan
> with a flex fan...which has no shroud)
>
> But that white smoke bothers me, obviously. It didn't seem to do it before
> either when I took possession of the truck or when I fired her up last
> December. I need to vacate my friend's parking spot and move the truck
into
> my garage now that there's space. I'd like to just drive it over, but I
> don't want to blow out the motor. I'm hoping it's not a pain in the ***
sort
> of thing like a gasket (though I'll try Mike Romain's test which he wrote
> about in another overheating thread).
>
> Any suggestions, ideas, comments, etc?
>
> Cheers,
> /tom
>
>
> --
> ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( * ) ) ) there is no
antelope ) )
> |
> Rev. Tom Mary Dobrowolsky | The Information
School
> http://students.washington.edu/agent /-\ University of
Washington

TJim

Hi, Tom,
While this group IMHO is a good source of info re: SWB jeeps and later model
mid-size jeeps, you might want to check out the www.ifsja.org for what is
probably the best collection of information and knowledgeable full-size jeep
owners.
(These are my impressions)
TJim
98 TJ SE
90 SJ GW

"Tom Dobrowolsky" <agent@u.washington.edu> wrote in message
news:bfeses$tqi$1@nntp3.u.washington.edu...
>
> Howdy all,
>
> Here's my story:
>
> I bought my J-10 as a fixer-upper project last November off of a
> guy who already performed some mods on it. It has the 360 V8.
>
> I drove it home about 10 miles last November without incident and
> parked it in front of my house. A few days later, I couldn't start
> it. Eventually, about a month later, it started. It belched a bunch
> of blue smoke. Since I was talking to my neighbor instead of periodically
> goosing the accelerator, it cut out after a few minutes of running. Then
> it wouldn't restart.
>
> I had it towed to my friend's place because she had a nice off-street
> parking spot. It sat there for several months while I tinkered with
> the interior.
>
> Finally, last Wednesday, I got it started. It took several tries and
> quite a few shots of starting fluid. She ran without cutting out. The
> exhaust was running clear, even, and strong. The engine chugged nicely
> and evenly and properly tractorlike for a V8. The only troublesome thing
> was some smoke/steam rising from somewhere toward the back/sides of the
> engine -- from both sides. On that very first start, there was quite a bit
> of smoke that came out after about 2-3 minutes. So I shut her down.
>
> Subsequent tries to start her up were successful, she turned over with
> what seemed like minimal cranking and effort of the starter (so unlike my
> MJ even on the best of days). While I had the opportunity, I did spray a
few
> shots of carb cleaner into the intake; the carb is definitely in need of
some
> cleaning and rebuilding. But after about 2-3 minutes, though, that pesky
> smoke/steam came out again, though nowhere nearly as much as the first
time.
> It looks a lot like it's originating from the exhaust headers -- which is
> odd -- and it smells sort of like that not pleasant smell of oil and
schmutz
> burning off of a hot surface. However, the headers don't look excessively
> grimy, though the engine is somewhat oily and dirty in some places.
>
> Unfortunately, I can't trust the gauges at this point, so I don't know if
it's
> an overheating issue. The engine doesn't feel too hot to the touch and
there's
> no hissing like I typically associate with overheating. Usually, the
gauges
> don't register anything, though on two occasions both the oil pressure and
> water temp gauges rose to full scale as soon as I started her up. I'm
planning
> on installing an aftermarket temp gauge to see what the true state of the
> engine temperature is -- the t-stat housing has nice built-in port for an
> aftermarket sensor/bulb. I checked the radiator and both the level and
color
> of the coolant seemed ok. The oil looks appropriately black and used and
> without any froth. Tomorrow, though, I do plan on changing it and seeing
what,
> if anything, drains out with it. I'm also gonna check out the t-stat and
> replace the radiator cap. (The previous owner had replaced the clutch fan
> with a flex fan...which has no shroud)
>
> But that white smoke bothers me, obviously. It didn't seem to do it before
> either when I took possession of the truck or when I fired her up last
> December. I need to vacate my friend's parking spot and move the truck
into
> my garage now that there's space. I'd like to just drive it over, but I
> don't want to blow out the motor. I'm hoping it's not a pain in the ***
sort
> of thing like a gasket (though I'll try Mike Romain's test which he wrote
> about in another overheating thread).
>
> Any suggestions, ideas, comments, etc?
>
> Cheers,
> /tom
>
>
> --
> ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( * ) ) ) there is no
antelope ) )
> |
> Rev. Tom Mary Dobrowolsky | The Information
School
> http://students.washington.edu/agent /-\ University of
Washington