- Joined
- April 1, 2012
- Messages
- 391
- Reaction score
- 42
- City, State
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1993 Explorer
I did a motor swap in an older bmw many years ago, got it in and running letting it get good and warmed up. About the time the temperature was at operating temp, my buddy noticed a big cloud of smoke behind it (it was dark out and didn't notice right away). Sat there letting it run while I scratched my head for a while trying to figure out how the good running motor, that we even drove in the other car before pulling it, went bad from putting it in this car! All the while its putting out a steady, heavy stream of thick smoke clouding the whole neighborhood, I finally figured it out. The old motor had dumped a bunch of water/antifreeze into the exhaust and it was just burning up as the exhaust got hot enough, sure enough it quit smoking after probably 20 minutes running. It scared the crap out of me at first though!
True words Birdy! I wish that was the case with this guy, unfortunately it was producing the smoke instead of just burning crap out. Definitely a fair amount of stuff that is getting burned out of the tail pipes. I imagine I will have a faint amount of burning for a week or two with all the stuff that fell in from me, let alone what got in it while at the junk yard!
You said it BuckWild! Aligning and being super careful are the keys to this intake manifold gasket! From everything I've read it is a PITA to do right and requires lots of elbow grease.
Well, started by rolling the old gal out and assessing the remains of the previous intake manifold. Took a few hours to get everything scrapped off, but was rewarded with a nice clean surface to mate to. This is super critical in getting any sort of a seal out of these 390's!
Next I put down a seriously good layer of Grey Ultra Sealant. Around all the water jackets, intake ports, and bolt holes. Next I went got the new aftermarket Edlebrock gaskets in place and bolted them down lightly snug with short screws and the biggest oversized washers I could find!
I let that sit over night and cure. The critical part here being that I have a gasket that doesn't slip on me as I put down the manifold + that is given every chance it can to seal with the addition of the sealant. Next Dave and I soaked the hell out of the top of the block with about a hole dang tube of Blue gasket maker and a healthy 1/4" bead of ultra grey around the openings on the top of the gasket. Now, for those who don't know, the intake manifold weighs about 90 pounds. With a steady hand and an engine hoist we gently seated the manifold on as carefully as possible, maintaining alignment and ensuring an even crush.
Finally got her all assembled and put together again.
Gave it a whirl, realized it already burned the gas we'd put in it, put in more gas, and VROOM! Boy does she sound good! Just ran her for 10 min or so, nothing crazy, but the white smoke is gone and the miss/engine stumble is cured as well! Sounds heavenly
Dave and Gale approve Who knows, maybe by some unforeseen force this junker will have a shot at making it to Moab