# Smoke from under Hood, (un)familiar Smell.. I can describe location



## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

Hello Board. I am thrilled to be using my Nissan like a normal 240 after the fuel pump got changed - yeah, the difference is that serious. (There is *still* a Ghost of hesitation, mostly when the car is cold, and it is for anywhere from 1 to 3 seconds when I forst start to accelerate, I'd say "entering first gear.." beyond that, nada.) I need to report that there is *some* kind of smoke from under the hood, and I am not sure what it is.

It comes from the very front of the engine, like "Cylinder 1" - closest to you if you are standing in front of the car. it comes from where the top and bottom of engine seem to meet, like what "may" be the Valve Cover Gasket. At first I thought it came FROm the distributor! Seems like it came from above that... as I said, front of the engine, around that cylinder... so I cleaned off some grease from around there with a Paper Towel because I DID blast the pulleys in the front with PB Blaster Parts Cleaner (there was no WD40 in the store,) and started it back up... it is so weird!

The car runs fine, and I cleaned it off a little again... Oil level is full, we just did an oil change, and there is a foul smell with this smoke. I say again: Car runs fine... and I guess it vas very cold outside, because the 2nd time I turned the car off I thought I heard what sounded like Rice Krispies-sound from that metal piece on the driver side of the engine. 

What is this smoke??? I'd call it "new" within the last 500 miles, even intermittent... Help!


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

does it smell like burnt gear oil or rotten eggs?
could be a leaky head gasket...


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## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

AsleepAltima said:


> does it smell like burnt gear oil or rotten eggs?
> could be a leaky head gasket...


It does indeed have this smell. I heard you say "Head Gasket!" Any other way to tell?

- Would this impact how much heat comes out of the heater control, if this was the case??? (And if it is a leaky head Gasket, does that mean the head gasket has to be changed?)

I will do what I can to assist in diagnosis, is there any thing else it could be or what i coudl do to find out?

(And is there a Valve Cover Gasket on this car?)


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

check your il and see if there is water contamination and do the same for the coolant system.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

could be a couple things right now...
you either could have a warped head and/or a bad head gasket. 
you could even have a bad valve cover - yes, your car has one.
BUT, i dont think its a valve cover gasket because you wouldnt have that infamous odor along with the leak. 
if indeed it is the head gasket - yes, it will have to be changed and the head shaved/milled/decked (whatever you might call it).
you dont by chance have any milkiness to the oil or to coolant do you?


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## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

If its towards the intake..There is a little water hose that goes from the intake to the Engine block...I had that spring a leak on mine and had me looking for it for a week. Its kind of hidden


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## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

Trippen said:


> If its towards the intake..There is a little water hose that goes from the intake to the Engine block...I had that spring a leak on mine and had me looking for it for a week. Its kind of hidden


OK, now I am happy to have the Board's responses!

AsleepAltima: I like your analysis so far. Should I mention the car had its head gasket changed about 4,000 miles ago, and the idiot (i don't like to call names but check this out) was supposed to have installed a --USED GASKET-- to complete the Head gasket Job? (I give credit to the guy because that solved my Head Gasket problem, car no longer overheated with AC on, or had bubbling coolant,) but this head gasket, though used, never seems to have acted up, and this smoke started only a few days ago. (That wasn't even a Blown head gasket that was replaced with the "used" one, that was leaky as well, but obviously it is gone, and has been Head Gasketing ever since..)
But IMPORTANT, as the REPLY TO YOUR POST (I know i give info I do Not have milky residue in my coolant. Nor do I have bubbling coolant. There is also no Water, or watery residue, in the oil as fat as I can tell - because i just go tthe Oil and filter Changed, so the Oil is still a nice, light brown, as opposed to the dark brown changed from the old 10W-30 Valvoline maxLife, which was 1500 miles overdue. (AFAIK, these are signs of the Head gasket being OK. The smell does irk me; it does seem to arrive with the smoke, but it is not that strong, ismell it hood-up, looking at the smoke.) The car is acting normal; only a strange, mostly Cold, 1 to 3-second hesitation/acceleration stumble (whichever you call it) from Drive to 1st, when I first start to move, and even that seems to go away.
(Pardon all the info, I'm just posting it so it can help.)

Trippen: Can you describe more of this? And a WATER HOSE?... (The source DID seem to be in kind of a recess on the engine, I could take a pic but I have to wait to post it..)

Car runs fine, but i will double-check the coolant is not bubbling or milky. (The oil is neither, and I have seen no water on dipstick, just new oil.) 

P.S.: If it was "leaky Head Gasket," I am trying to keep the surface as clean as I can, because so far nothing has dripped down. 

Question to lead into replies, aside from all the info and response above: Isn't a Valve Cover gasket easy to do, and the Head Gasket the one that costs $600 labor at a skilled shop? If so, I could get a NEW Valve Cover Gasket installed, and report the results... (Can Smell originate from That?)


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## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

Sorry AsleepAltima, didn't read that the Valve Cover Gasket would not produce smell. Perhaps I should have someone change it anyway. 

Although, it hasn't been determined yet, but... If the Head itself is bad (why is the car running fine and strong like a not-problemed Engine???,) are there Performance things that can be done to a new Head that can then be bolted on (of course a New Head gasket would go on here?) Of course, this is at $1000 and up, so I won't worry my head is bad, I hope it something Else-small, so that's my quick-update, and I log back on tomorrow to see..


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

the head could be slightly warped or even cracked in that area. using a used head gasket is a big no no. they compress once they are torqued down so using a used one is not conducive to good sealing. have you had to add any coolant at all? is the coolant level staying consistent?
check the spark plug closest to the leak. see what the condition is. a spark plug thats getting hit with heated coolant coolant usually has an oily look to it. at the very least, it will look different than the others. from an idle, you could have a slight hesitation if the spark plug is being dampened by coolant.
the valve cover gasket is extremely easy to do. just be sure to not overtorque the fasteners when you reinstall the valve cover.


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## Trippen (Feb 21, 2006)

Ok this pic is a basicly where that hose is. This pic was taken about 3 days after I got my car last year...Yea go figure duct tape... I was trying to identify a Plug. But this area with the blue box is where that hose is or with in a few inches...Goes from the intake to the Block. Mine smelled and steamed for a bit before I could figure out where it was coming from. Its 3/4 inch hose if i remember right and about 4-5 inches long. 

But reading your description again this is on the other side of the motor. But the info is still good just may not be your issue. But sometime in your cars life you will need to know there is a hose here.


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## Madmaxfl (Oct 22, 2005)

You say the smoke it is coming from above the distributor and below the valve cover and has a unfamiliar smell. They you said you sprayed some PB blaster on the front pulleys. Did you get some PB blaster on the exhaust manifold? Did you get PB blaster on the belts. Maybe the smell is the belts burning as they slip on the pulleys? A used head gasket, no I think I have heard it all. I do not think you have a head gasket problem you just have a bunch of gunk on your engine and the some is probably dripping on the exhaust manifold. Then there is the PB blaster on the pulleys. Why would you do that?


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

jcorbi82 said:


> It comes from the very front of the engine, like "Cylinder 1" - closest to you if you are standing in front of the car. it comes from where the top and bottom of engine seem to meet, like what "may" be the Valve Cover Gasket. At first I thought it came FROm the distributor! Seems like it came from above that!


Possibly it's the PCV system. Check the PCV hose on top of the valve cover for cracks. Also the PCV valve itself may be plugged up causing blowby to leak out.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

all good points - the head gasket may not be at fault, but we have to rule it out. that funky smell is usually a good indication. like it was said though, you could have some gunk burning on the manifold too though. id say that if youre not losing coolant or leaking oil into the coolant and vice versa - it may not be the head gasket. certainly, using a used head gasket is not the best solution - ever. 
my advice - thoroughly clean the engine and make sure its not a leak. then do a cylinder leak down test. that will eliminate the head gasket completely.


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## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

AsleepAltima said:


> all good points - the head gasket may not be at fault, but we have to rule it out. that funky smell is usually a good indication. like it was said though, you could have some gunk burning on the manifold too though. id say that if youre not losing coolant or leaking oil into the coolant and vice versa - it may not be the head gasket. certainly, using a used head gasket is not the best solution - ever.
> my advice - thoroughly clean the engine and make sure its not a leak. then do a cylinder leak down test. that will eliminate the head gasket completely.


... Before I post my reply, let me say: the quality of info on this board is SO good, it makes you want to really shoot 2nd-rate mechanics that will simply say anything (lie Aamco! lol.) 

Trippen: Great Pic! You are correct.. I looked at that, and that is the Passenger side of the motor/car. The stuff I'm describing sure is on the driver side. Good pic and point, though. 

AsleepAltima: You are very correct about one thing: The area around that Spark Plug DOES look kind of Oily (before the PB Blaster got there, i am getting to that.) I should pull off the Spark Plug wire, then how do i put it back in? (I am extra-novice at this, all I know how to do is change Oil and Tires and I have to buy all my tools and work on it curb-side.) However, you are right about the procedure. i will try cleaning the engine off as best i can - should I use a degreaser of some kind?, and then do the "Cylinder Leak-Down test"... because there is no indication of a bad Head Gasket other than that Smell (what the hell is that? If it even Smells like head Gsket, I don't like it! And it stinks) - Coolant level HAS stayed the same, i confirmed that yesterday by taking cap off cold, hasn't gone down at all.. no water in oil, no milk in coolant... no bubbling... just stinky, barely visible whispy smoke from that fromt of engine, I hope I can take a pic soon. Please tell me how to do leak-down test...

MadMaxFL: I am new at this. I bought (1) PB blaster because they didn't have WD-40 (WD40 evaporates, that is a good quality I guess,) and (2) because I thought that damn "squeaksqueaksqueak" that seems to be the same speed as the engine spinning was a RUSTY PULLEY. So, PB Blaster LUBRICATING the nut/pulley (I tried to keep it off the belt and that worked on the top, but when I sprayed the bottom pulleys yeah it got on there anyway) would hopefully help shut that up, so I can determine if that "tickticktick" noise IS the hole in the exhaust under the driver? (I really need a new exhaust, and that hole really is right under where I sit.. I know from the cold smoke when I start it.) 
My engine probably is all dirty, and now the PB Blaster probably is on the belt - it is at least on the front of the engine, i tried to only get the pulleys. yeah, it probably does stink. I need to get if off I guess... I know you are supposed to change belts normally too, but even if I can't yet (I am NOT trying that myself, did it on my 1991 GMC S15 blazer in cold weather like this and the belt almost never went back on) so I thought the PB Blaster would go away after awhile...

So, let me just say before replies are posted: I DID NOT ASK FOR A USED HEAD GASKET. All I know is this: The head Gasket on my car originally was determined to be leaky, as evidenced by Bubbling Coolant. The car ran fine then, and only overheated when the AC was on. (It was like that from March 2006, when I bought the car, until it was "fixed with the used head gasket - I don't know either, I'd be happier about making everyone hear it all if my car didn't have the f*%&in used head hasket on it, I was mad too.) Turns out the coolant level was low, and I did have to keep adding, no wonder when someone told me "That's what Bubbling Coolant means, cars don't 'just do that' like Jiffy Lube said." After this was brought to my attention, my head Gasket was FIXED (i say Fixed because after getting car back, and putting Coolant level in because there was still hot Air left in there, filling up with Coolant made Temp gauge bein middle, all the time, no matter what, to the now-evidenced No Symptoms of bad Head Gasket, so I say "fixed") - for $400. I'd have gave the guy the money for a new head gasket, so i will try to not get mad about that all over. But I do hope it is doing its job. Surely the engine was timed right after that, because the car runs like it's fine... So i just wanted to clear that up.

Let me know how to do what AsleepAltima said (AsleepAltima,) and I will update this thread. Thanks, in any case! 

P.S.: My gas mileage is fine too. Sometimes on highway, smoke comes from under car... (up hills,) but someone said that could be a clogged valve of some kind, and my exhaust SI in POOR condition, from the Cat back.


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## jcorbi82 (Jul 23, 2006)

and rogoman: the hoses up there are bad, I wonder if I can buy a kit to change ALL of them, and the PCV valve. There are a lot of hoses up there, and they are all small...


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

There's no hose kit that I know of. Just take along a small sample of each hose you need to an auto parts store; important point - the hoses are METRIC not SAE.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

cylinder leakdown test or CLT.
id explain it, but this guy does a much better job. 
Tech Tip: Building and Using a Leakdown Tester


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## trmn8r (Apr 16, 2005)

cylinder leak down test would probably be the most accurate way to tell if you head is bad. i had to to a leak down test on mine and my no. 2 cylinder was at almost 20% wich is really high. found out the rings were blown. and i had to rebuild the motor. is not as hard as it seems to do the leak down. test.


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