Where did all that smoke come from

Until about 2 weeks ago the only thing my Series II had never done wrong was burn or use engine oil, I have not had to top it up for 5 years (no honestly). However, now it belches huge clouds of smoke out all the time (it doesn't matter what the engine's doing - hot, cold, slow, slower).

So the million dollar question is: what's the most likely cause to the sudden oil burning?

Any ideas welcome as I'd rather not shell out for a full engine recon

What sort of engine?

Contaminated fuel? Too much oil in the sump? Blocked air filter or inlet? Dropped too much Redex into the tank?

If it's not something as simple as contaminated fuel or too much oil then it'll have to come apart to see what's wrong.

"Series II" is a little ambiguous to me, but if you're talking about the old Series Land Rover with the 2.25 engine, the air pipe from filter to carb (or manifold) can collapse internally, leading to much smoke and loss of power (maybe more smoke on a diesel).

If this happened suddenly, as you indicate, and assuming it is a 2.25 petrol engine, possibilities I can see are :-

1. Broken piston ring or hole in piston
2. Split diaphragm in PCV valve (if fitted)
3. One or more valve stem seals failed.

the first one is an engine strip job, the second is about five minutes to check and another five to fix for a few dollars, the third is several hours and a few tens of dollars.

JD

What is a PCV valve, did they have those in 1973 ?

Possible, but if it still runs on all 4 cylinders (or compression tests ok) it's unlikely.

Maybe but shouldn't smoke this badly.

Valve stem seals won't cause continual major smoke (even if they've all failed).

If it's a petrol, has anyone accidentally topped it up with diesel. The other possibility is a broken diaphragm in the brake booster and it sucking brake fluid into the inlet manifold which would make it smoke like a steam train.

If it's a diesel I'd be lloking at either the pump timing having moved or a duff tankful of fuel.)

On or around 27 Jul 2004 10:36:35 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@bigfoot.com (Matt) enlightened us thusly:

what fuel?

and what colour smoke?

if it's white smoke, you've an incipient head gasket failure, probably.

white smoke = water blue smoke = oil black or grey smoke = over-fuelling

for petrol or diesel, in fact.

Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve - sits next to the carburettor and is circular about 50mm across. They certainly had them in 1973, but not probably in all markets - and it may have been removed.

JD

Sorry - 2.25 petrol, and the smoke is blue/black

Could be running really rich and bore washing - I';d be getting amongst the carb as a starting point. Also the diaphragm in the fuel pump may be leaking and filling the sump with petrol, thinning the oil and thus it is passing the rings etc and turning to smoke.

That would be my first 2 places to look - is everything seems fine there then ask again.

You havn't recently topped up the oil and overdone it have you? Obvious first check is to get her on a level surface and check the oil level.

No, as mentioned I have never had to top up the oil. I favour the inlet pipe solutions as: a) mine looks knackered, and b) it sounds like the cheapest and easiest thing to fix.

I will report back with progress - thanks for all the suggestions