got the red rail home.

[dsrace]

So I got the fuel pump swapped out. Replacement isn't leaking so thats a hug plus. Fired right up and idles smooth. Found the issue with the fan control wire and the fans turn on and off. Let it run until the fans cycled twice. It started blowing gray smoke out the left tail pipe. Only after sits a solid 1 to 2 mins at idle and you goose it. If you ease the throttle in it doesn't blow gray smoke. It does not smell like oil or raw fuel. My first thought was the brand new fuel reg wasnt working correctly. If that were the case it would be blowing gray smoke from both sides.  If it were valve guide seals it should smell like oil especially with this short exh. I got a gut feeling its coolant and these intake manifold gaskets are known for leaking coolant past the intake gaskets.  It looks like its been changed before but no way to know for sure anymore.  Really need to work on the front too. Technically il the front end could make a trip but wouldn't be great. 

My old blue 3.8 v6 neverbhad that issue but the intake manifold was bypassed on it. No need to heat the manifold up if I am only running it in the summer, unlike a car. Scott plumbed the temp sensor into the intake so no matter what the coolant has to be drained again.

[dsrace]

Could also be valve guid seals i suppose. Its weird cause its only when you goose it. If you ease into the throttle it doesn't smoke. Idles smooth and throttle response is dead on just goosing it. It started doing this 8 years on Scott's last trip but I thought it was black smoke.

Doesn't do it on cold start up, not until there is some heat as in 90* is heat. Does not do it on hot restart. Only when you let it idle for a min or two and goose it.

[fabr]

Pull the plugs and post pics if you wish. Pull them after idling for a bit as you said but do not goose it.

[dsrace]

Cyl order for left side, crank pulley to bell housing, is 2, 4, 6. 

so what i see is one plug looks shiny brand new white. either it's sucking coolant and getting a steam bath or the other two are burning a touch of oil. the one looks like some oil but smells like varnish. all of them smell like varnish except the bright white one. the only thing i couldn't replace was the fuel rail and i cleaned it out as best as i could. fuel was still liquid in it but smelt very bad. new inj's as well and supposed to be a matched set...... i say supposed to be as who actually knows. no 02 sensor so it runs in open loop and a tad on the rich side.  i unplugged each inj, one at a time and each cyl is firing.

#2 drivers side




#4




#6

[dsrace]

All new plugs, cooling fan has cycled 5 times with them in. Let it idle for 5 min at temp before I pulled them. Only smokes after its got some heat in the motor. Does not on cold start or primary warm up.

 the Side that isn't smoking.
Cyl order crank pulley to bell housing #1, #3, #5

#1



#3



#5

[dsrace]

[fabr]

Dead give away on #4 burning water or coolant. If you had a bore scope to see inside of cylinder the combustion chamber/valves will be quite clean as well.

Are the new plugs ran only at idle?

[dsrace]

Dead give away on #4 burning water or coolant. If you had a bore scope to see inside of cylinder the combustion chamber/valves will be quite clean as well.

Are the new plugs ran only at idle?

I have an inspection cam that will fit down the plug hole.  #4 is steam bath white alright lol

So the oem paper lower intake manifold gaskets are. Known fIlure point. Felpro makes a metal replacement version and I picked one up. This issue was starting when Scott made his last run 8 years ago but I thought it was black smoke.

Briefly, Spoke with enemy about it last night. It does need to be run as there is def crud built from sitting and possibly a sticky ring or 2. It fires off in 4 to 5 cranks, no pulsation or surging during cranking like a weak cyl. Idl3s smoother then my 2005 lesabre commuter car 


#2 looks like it a touch on the dark side to me. That cyl was one that had a bad coil so not sure how much build up is in the cyl either. A lot of unknowns when engines sit too long.

I have not driven the rail yet. I have only started it, let it idle and rev'd it as seen/heard in the video. It has hit operating temp 5 times before last night.  The 3 plugs on the pass side were interesting with tan coloring on only half the  ceramic, front to back and not top to bottom.

[fabr]

Dead give away on #4 burning water or coolant. If you had a bore scope to see inside of cylinder the combustion chamber/valves will be quite clean as well.

Are the new plugs ran only at idle?

I have an inspection cam that will fit down the plug hole.  #4 is steam bath white alright lol

So the oem paper lower intake manifold gaskets are. Known fIlure point. Felpro makes a metal replacement version and I picked one up.I would use a thin coat of either permatex ultra gray or hylomar on both sides of it. This issue was starting when Scott made his last run 8 years ago but I thought it was black smoke.

Briefly, Spoke with enemy about it last night. It does need to be run as there is def crud built from sitting and possibly a sticky ring or 2. Many years ago a Chevy service procedure was to run a fully warmed up engine at a high idle around 1800 IIRC and use a spray bottle of water to put a heavy mist into the carb/throttle body for something like 15 minutes to clean out crud like that/carbon and free up stuck rings from bad fuel or whatever. It fires off in 4 to 5 cranks, no pulsation or surging during cranking like a weak cyl. Idl3s smoother then my 2005 lesabre commuter car 


#2 looks like it a touch on the dark side to me. That cyl was one that had a bad coil so not sure how much build up is in the cyl either. A lot of unknowns when engines sit too long.

I have not driven the rail yet. I have only started it, let it idle and rev'd it as seen/heard in the video. It has hit operating temp 5 times before last night.  The 3 plugs on the pass side were interesting with tan coloring on only half the  ceramic, front to back and not top to bottom. Seen that lots of times. Not out of the ordinary with likely injectors that are fouled from sitting. Mix some ethanol into the gas to maybe around 20 percent and run it for a while. It will be a bit lean but should run OK and clean some of that old fuel deposits.Drain fuel and refill with fresh. Might likely make a big difference.

[dsrace]

inj's are brand new.

i like the idea of a mist of water in the intake to clean it! i bought a can of sea foam i that basically does the same thing.

i started working on the front end last night and a decision has be made by friday night! keep it or cut it off and install the updated version. frame is a lot narrower then i want to work with. up and down frame section not width wise. width wise is the issue with the current front end. that's 100% my fault and i learned a lot since i designed and built it. it has suffered some damage since then but the core design is an issue and was the 3rd i built. swapping to my latest proven front end will change the look of this rail and add 8 to 10" of length. there is no way around that unless i swap the foot pedal to hanging with remote reservoirs. i don't think i can tame down the current front ends bump steer issue to a tolerable or what i consider a tolerable level. already bad enough i will be losing eps but $hit steering too no 

[fabr]

How much  bump steer are you seeing and why are you losing ps ?

[dsrace]

Scott never eps , mine does.

So back when we built the last set of a arms for his rail, I thought the bump was all toe in. I stated back then that we just need to cut the frame and install the new a arm cradle. His frame is narrow from top to bottom and would have to cut a lot of supports out as to not change the overall look. I stopped caring about the overall look last night 

 
I really don't know if I want to answer the question of bump steer  I don't know how he managed , especially w/o eps !     1" of toe out to 1.5" toe in. Thats worst case scenario imo. 2 days work to swap front ends, 1 days if its not mine 

[fabr]

That much bump steer total or each side?

[dsrace]

That much bump steer total or each side?

combined

i have not set anything straight lines to measure per side. 

[dsrace]

So I really messed that answer up. So each side has 3" of bump steer. It goes from toe in to toe out.  I spent the entire day Sunday working on the right front only. Made small changes and even set up a straight edge to measure it for sure. 20" wheel travel with 4" ground clearance at full bump. 1st 1nch of stroke and last inch are major jumps. So if I could reduce stroke by those 2 inches i could keep it straight on the payment with a finger. Thats not going to happen  The absolute best I can adjust out is down to 1.75" toe in and no toe out. I can reduce that to 1.25" toe in but I wind up .5" toe out and again this is just one side. I have an extra eps on the shelf so cutting his bump steer roughly in half and adding the eps should be fine in the sand.