White Smoke

[No Worries]

This happened yesterday in my Jeep, but it's interesting. I was about a half mile from my house when I saw billowing white smoke in my rear view mirror. First I cursed, because I thought I blew a head gasket. White smoke coming from the exhaust is usually antifreeze that's gotten into the cylinder.

I pulled over, about 20 feet from a Fire House. That's when white smoke started coming from under the hood. I shut off the engine, opened the hood, and clouds of white smoke billowed out. I expected the fire engines to come out, but they didn't. I brushed the smoke away and saw what happened. A heater hose got a hole that sprayed exactly on the exhaust header.

I got some duct tape and wrapped it around the hole. Luckily I also had a hose clamp to tighten around the duct tape and then drove home. I bought some heater hose and antifreeze for less than $10. I didn't have to curse after all, but it's good to stay in practice.

[smileyman]

It has happened to me alot. Being son of a professional mechanic I got to see and fix alot of coolant related smokiness. On time a radiator hose blew, but was held together by the hood. Once we popped the hood the hose unwound, dousing us both in screaming hot antifreeze!

Another time I didn't get a heater hose clamp on well enough. The motor ran down the road until the thermostat opened and when it did it poored out onto the exhaust headers. I always used new clamps and hose after that Just in case...

[p00kienrayray]

its more likely that a hose would go bad than your gasket being blown.

[Gas Man]

That's why I hate older cars.... always somin stupid

[BobTheBiker]

Least it wasnt a major problem, and you didnt suffer serious damage. ya know?

but it IS more likely for a hose to spring a leak than a headgasket to blow(unless you're driving some old beatup ex racecar running boost.

[No Worries]

Here's my beater. A 76 Cherokee Chief with only 239K miles on the stock motor. Four-speed with a granny gear. Stock 1/4 inch steel plate protecting the vitals underneath. I've taken it up most of Colorado's mountain passes, to many mines, and I've pulled out a bunch of stuck vehicles with my winch. I especially like going up trails that have crunched mufflers and locking hubs strewn along them. Here it is above timberline, on the paved road going up to the summit of Mount Evans (14,260 feet):
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/5109/img0772dm8.jpg

In the 70's, when manufacturers put aluminum heads on iron blocks, blown head gaskets were very common because of the different expansion factors. Plus, I'm a pessimist.

[Gas Man]

That's a bit different then what I'm saying... that's straight old school. That's back when Jeeps were Jeeps. Now they're just chrysler junk.

[No Worries]

The main problem with new 4x4's is that nobody wants to take them off road. Especially rough roads. And especially if they are being leased. Plus, it can cost well over a grand to rescue a vehicle that's stuck way off road: http://www.mhjcontherocks.com/Community/Trips/1282.aspx

I'm a big believer in using-up, reusing, and recycling. If my engine blew up in the boonies, and I couldn't fix it, I would strip off the carb, distributor, and winch and haul them out. The body is half-way to rust now, so it wouldn't take too long for it to return to nature. Then I would look for another Chief. Maybe I could find one with less than 100K miles.

[BobTheBiker]

Yeah, I hear ya man. I keep reusing something until its completely used up and theres nothing but a void left. its cheaper in the long run, and I just keep finding good deals on concours motors to swap in, so I'm good with it.