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Yeah +1 on NGK/Denso iridium. Those things are brilliantly resilient. You getting any smoke when you start it? Just mentioned it because one of the things that can happen from worn valve seals or guides is when it idles, some oil leaks down into the combustion chamber, then burns off as smoke when you hit the gas. But usually thats accompanied by smoke on startup also. Though, not always. Could be some sort of rare issue, it could even bring enough oil in to mess up the plugs a bit, but not likely.

Ah ok then. Yea, I heard mixed things about E3s. Bad stuff from a guy and his supercharged truck, then he went back to Densos. But then again I heard that I would not have to worry too much about them heating up as mine it a nonturbo. Might get NGKs as I listened to a 3s on youtube with them and I liked the sound the engine gived off. But that might just have been a custom exhaust. I can't find the video... but it was a 3s revving in the dark with it's lights on.

No smoke that I can see when I start it. Just when I hit the accelerator. Or back up... then I end up backing up through the remains of my own smoke lol. I don't think nothing's wrong with the oil... I did a oil change 4 (3?) weeks ago. The trannys very good and I have yet to see any puddles of oil on the driveway.

And yay! I found and am downloading the maintenance manuals. All two volumes! And the 1st volume alone is 1308 pages >.<

If you were a turbo I'd say your turbo shat itself (smokescreen city!) but since you're N/A I'll go with Tygur's suggestion. What color is the smoke, exactly? While not a hard-and-fast rule the colors for exhaust smoke generally go like this:

Colorless/grey: Normal. If you've got a lot, stop driving a diesel. Just kidding, but you're running rich so seriously stop that.

Blue/black: Oil oil oil, and you're burning quite a bit. Seals, seals, seals.

White: Generally this is going to be coolant entering the combustion chamber. Coolant passages don't connect to the combustion chamber, so if you have coolant in there it's because you're blown something. Head gasket? Head gasket.

So if you've got a bunch of white smoke billowing out and it kinda smells like maple syrup...I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but a head gasket ain't one.

It was defintly white. I am thinking it is a gasket. I didn't smell anything then... and this morning it was not smoking a lot, if not at all. It has been good all day. But ill have to find the part number later and order utterly.

Yep! Here you go. This is what I had. Plus wires to secure them to random corners of my car for full low quality audio experiance.


And this is what I have now. I wish my buttons on my steering wheel worked for it, but no...

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And because legroom for the back seats came up in a recent conversation, that's what a 3s has back there.

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This post has been edited by Tuskano on May 7 2013, 03:16 PM

So today I picked up my dresser myself from the furniture place. With how long it was on backorder, I had no complaints. It was in a box though, so I had airflow from the back during my drive home on the highway.

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As for the smoke prolbem... it is still there, though just less of. Most people I have been asking about it are saying it looks more blue then white. So I may check the head gasket this weekend. Hopefully that will take care of things.

This post has been edited by Tuskano on May 14 2013, 08:35 PM

If it's blue and leaves a weird residue on your hand when you put your hand near the exhaust, that sounds like you're burning oil. If it kinda smells like maple syrup it's coolant.

Ahh... I am not sure. I'll have to check tommorow. Thank you!

So in the end I found I was burning oil. So after a recommendation from my roommate, I seafoamed the engine to see if I could kill any carbon that built up in it. It seemed to have worked... I think. No big puff of smoke, but it got late so I let it sit more until I had to drive to work and have it work its magic on the way. Then proceded some more in the parking lot on base as I waited during my breaks. I have video, which I might post later I think.

Today I cleaned the car some more. At first, it was going to be just touching up the plasti-dip on the rims. Then I ended up cleaning and detailing the whole car. Then because I was getting into the small areas in the engine (and using Gorilla Glue to resecure some of the hood seals), I ended up removing the heatshield to see how clean it was. Then I cleaned that. Awesomeness followed.

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Still has all the info stickers which a first car driver like me regularly reads.

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Trimmed all the parts falling off the heatshield before I put it back on.

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My little caged engine light.

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Does said light actually work? I remember how happily surprised I was when I discovered my old Z's light worked. Sadly Ford didn't see an engine bay light as a necessity back in the 70s...

It does! But I have to turn on my side lights for it to kick on... it does not turn on alone. It surprised me too when I found out it worked.

Well... I have some good news, and some bad news.

Good news is I found the smoking prolbem after taking the 3000 to a shop to diagnose.

Bad news is that they are saying I might have to replace my valve stem seals and maybe also the valve guides. It might be better just to get a remanufactured head that includes those instead of trying to deal with the one I have now... as it might be just as old as when the car was fist bought. They also said my catalytic converter was... melting and my o2 sensor was inop. Might go with a custom exhaust if that is the deal if I am already replacing exhaust parts.

So... on the followup of bad news, I would not want to risk any long drives with the 3000. Before I can get any major work done, I need to worry about a temparary pair of wheels I can use. Something economical that is new so I would not have to worry about smog or inspecting for awhile.

Its times like these where saying "I told you so" feels mean but ... I don't mean it that way.
Sorry to hear that. If the cats melting, you're running rich somehow probably, and thats likely caused by the O2 sensor. Likely an new sensor and maybe a new cat is all you need. V engines get pricey on head work because double the parts and labor. Hope you get it all patched up.

Origionally, when I bought my 3000, I had wanted to take it to a shop and have some work done so this wouldn't happen. But... with work and me having to have a car, that was hard to organize.

I think I found a car that my roommate likes as well (as he is in the market for a small secondary car so he can have his car in the shop... he was origionally thinking Prius... but he wasn't too enthustiastic of the thought), that we might share back and forth when one of our cars are in the shop. Say hello to something we will be checking out sometime today (if we get in contact with the owner)

SPOILER

A 1990 (92?) Corolla. Some sun damage on the trunk and the roof but easy stuff to fix if we wanted to. Plus, it is in a color we both like. Going to stick with the theme of everyone having black (badguy) cars with my 3000 being the only white (goodguy) car. I am super excited it has popup lights.

It has a bad coolant leak somewhere. Not looking for a car that you have to worry about working on. So me and my roommate were looking through craigslist again. Decided it would be cool if we were able to get our hands on smog exempt cars like a 1972 MGB GT we saw. Waiting on the owner to respond to the email now.

If all goes well, I can get it temparary stickers for this week so I can drive it on base. Then try to schedule for next week a drive up to Van Nuys where the 3000 specialty shop is at.

This post has been edited by Tuskano on May 19 2013, 02:46 PM

Not looking for a car you have to work on cancels anything old and british lol.

Yea, but alot of what we are singling out have already had their engines reworked and parts replaced. If anything, we are looking at cars that already have work done and for the most part, finished. My roommate has also been looking into American muscle from the 70s as he is familiar with those cars. Anything newer we are at least making sure are smogged already.

70s cars are awesome. I happen to be an expert on this topic, having owned three.

Nice! We were looking at the dimentions of the car too... it is very small, so once my car gets up and running again, it will be easy to find parking for it that is out of the way on our driveway. Or even in our cramped garage. The MGB already had its carbs rebuilt, a recent valve job, new tires and its registration is still current. So that is alot of the hard engine work already taken care of.

Oh wait it's an MG?

...

lol

Lucas electrics. Also check for rust everywhere you freaking possibly can. It doesn't matter that it's lived in California...it'll rust. If you find a particularly bad rothole (or rot on structural components) it's time to walk away.

Lol... I think I just saw some enthusiasm die slightly.

My friend who knows more about cars will try to be checking it out during the weekday while I am at work. He'll most likely be testing everything if he is able to get a test drive in it. I'll let him know about possible rust or rotholes before he goes though. Thank you!

Let's see... my 3s is still not in the shop yet. But it does not smoke a whole lot anymore. Still see a wif of it now and then when I idle too long, but it is not too bad. Though I still smell it. The valve seals need love stat.

The MGB is doing well. Redid the rear brakes, and the E-brake now works. The only thing now is we may need to have the drum brake cylinders replaced as we suspect them of leaking. The transmission also leaks, but we got a new gasket and parts coming in the mail for everything. And the good part is it is only a 2 day wait in our area.

Now for some pictures!

Saturday's car meet. The first time the MGB came. Of course everyone turns their head when they hear it, expecting it to be some sort of monster muscle car. We were there for a short time though... and most of the crowd was around a new mustang. Pff..

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And Sunday's meet in another location that I ended up visiting before I went to work.

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Some drifting action.

SPOILER

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And some picture mashup that another guy did. I like how mine stands out.

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Oh man. Tusky, the car looks amazing in the last picture! I hope you get it to the shop soon and everything gets fixed in time for AX. If not bring the MGB!

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I hope so too. And lol, if I come in the MGB, chances are I am still getting used to driving it. I haven't had a whole lot of seat time in it. But the good news is we just got a box with gaskets and seals in the mail. So I know what I'll be doing either this evening or next weekend

Ah, and it had brake hoses. Kinda important.

So if you've noticed, I altered the name of my thread to also include the MGB GT I have. It is easier to take care of only one thread then two. I said most of the stuff on the "bored thread" but I can kinda mirror it here.

Good news with the MGB, it has new brake lines and a new E-brake line. So all that works perfectly. My roommate and I took it to Hometown Buffet where we ate breakfast and looked at a MGB part magazine. Then he took it on the highway to see if it's rpm would drop at a certain speed. It had that issue before, but he had tuned the engine and wanted to see if it disappeared. Well, it did. We got that little car going 100mph on there and got some thumbs up from other drivers seeing it zip past them lol.

Once back, I had drove it and learned more of how different it is from other manual cars. All I need is practice, but I can say that I am more confident in driving it from one part of town to the other if I need to. Just need to get the hang of letting the clutch go while also applying the gas ever so slightly to get it first going.

Then we washed it for the first time. Got some degreaser and also attacked the engine. Then my roommate drove it around the block to airdry it.

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You should've had the joyous experience of driving a car with no synchros on 1st or 2nd.