Smoke on the engine

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SnowyOwl

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1994 Ford Thunderbird LX 4.6
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Drove home and had some higher RPMs than usual. Noticed smoke or steam blasting under the hood after arriving. I didn't yet have time to take a closer look, but got it on the video:

Since the violin case was covered with fresh oil splashes (as visible in the video), I'm assuming that my high revs caused some sort of an oil leak, either a new one or worsened old, in someplace where it can spill on the upper side of the engine too. And then start smoking on the exhaust manifold or somewhere else hot.

Gotta check the dipstick and underside of the car once it cools out, in case it has lost more oil. Before getting to do more proper investigation, are there some common places known to give up the fight, and start sprinkling oil like this? Thanks. Attached also a photo.
 

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I'd check the valve corner and see if it's leaking and puddling onto the intake.
 
We get oil in the intake thru the pcv valve; if the rubber piece there is cracked, you might be getting oil vapor from the intake. Smell will tell you oil or coolant. Watch for fuel too, 30 yo injector o-rings leak too.
 
The coolant heater hoses very commonly go bad. Both times it has happened to me they blew at higher RPM and sprayed coolant all over the exhaust. It will cause much smoke when it happens.

Alot if people on Facebook end up having it happen. Seems like I see a post every month about it. That suggests the hoses are an often ignored part, and that they should be replaced or at least inspected.
 
Yes indeed - so the "oil" I observed seems to have evaporated off, so the best guess was indeed coolant. It felt slippery between my fingers though..

Observed also a cracked hose: 1740597613408.png

Zooming close for the nice cracks:
1740597630123.png
Still some coolant visible down there.

I think we are about to reach the "case closed" status now.

A newbie follow-up question: Is it a standard method to get some "generic" right-sized hose to replace these? Or do I need Tbird-specific hoses, molded to right angles etc.?
 
You can use standard heater hose, but it won't fit well and it risks kinking/binding. Because of the tight location the molded ones are the best option. Also, one (maybe both?) of the hoses have different sized ends.

Most parts stores can still order them in, or rockauto has them last I checked.

Edit... I see you are in Finland? I doubt they are easy to find there. In the US they are still fairly available.

Here is a picture of the ones I made. They are slightly different routing than OEM because I installed a PI intake.

1740598485903.png
 
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Yeah parts are definitely non-trivial to find here. Luckily rockauto delivers this far too, though the delivery costs around $20-$50 per package. Also VAT 25.5% + customs ~3.5% is applied, so not that cheap after all.

Just had two packages delivered last week. Parts 267.23€, customs charges 92.57€, delivery 87.90€. Total 447.70€. Stuff was still cheaper than what it would have been if sourced locally :)
 
If anyone is curious
447.70€ = $673.25 CAD = $469.27 USD
and I thought I didn't like Canadian part prices, jeez. Pretty crazy that its still cheaper than local though, I guess that's econ 101 for ya
 
It would probably cost less making your own heater hoses with locally sourced parts. Here is a screen shot of all the parts I needed to make mine, should be about the same.

I only needed one elbow, don't recall if I needed one or two reducers.

Being lazy I bought everything off Amazon. Could have got everything for about half the price if I shopped around local. The parts stores mostly had plastic fitting though which I don't like.

1740602122785.png
 
Thx for all the info, good stuff 👍

Jae 'Bird said:
If anyone is curious
447.70€ = $673.25 CAD = $469.27 USD
and I thought I didn't like Canadian part prices, jeez. Pretty crazy that its still cheaper than local though, I guess that's econ 101 for ya
Click to expand...
Yeah this stuff sells in such a low volume while around here, while the costs of running a business are high, so the markups of the local dealers are quite something.

Windshield wipers are a great example: The wiper blades that fit T-Bird have a 1/4" mounting hole, and no Euro car manufacturer appears to have ever used a similar-sized attachment. What follows up is that no "regular" shop sells wiper blades that would fit on my Thunderbird. Solution is to check the repertoire of a shop that specializes in cars made in the US. Let's take regular ANCO A22M wipers for example:

In Rockauto: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1874614&cc=0&pt=8852&jsn=3 list price is €5.27, with 25.5% VAT and 3.5% customs it's €6.80, or around $7.11 USD
Local US-Parts store in Helsinki: https://www.usparts.fi/varaosahaku/anca22m list price is €30,10 or $31,50 USD.

So when ordering Rockauto, buying just a set of wiper blades can kinda compensate for the shipping costs. Not to mention that special products, such as odometer gears, are not available at all here.
 
That's wild, I am glad you are willing to take on the challenge of keeping these cool cars around, especially in a place where its tough to do it economically. Have you ever tried Ebay for parts? I know its not a proper parts only website but maybe the costs are almost as reasonable as rock auto for the more obscure parts? Funny enough there's not a lot of Canadian sellers on Ebay and so shipping does cost quite a bit for me usually if I did want to use it, just a thought
 
At first I thougth the post caption said "smoke on the water". I had a lot to say about that topic, but not much on your issue. You seemed to have your questions well answered.

I was told by a tranny tech that when these engines run high or for long periods, the tranmission can "pass gas" through the overflow tube, or something to that effect. This happened to me while driving the Town Car from New Mexico to Vegas and while going over Hoover Dam, smoke was coming off the hood from the engine. I stopped the car when I was able to get off the bridge and checked the engine. Nothing. I had it checked out the next day, and the above is what I was told. They did not find anything else wrong with the car. It never did it again during our trip up and down the California coast.




"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." the new adminstration
 
White Lincoln said:
At first I thougth the post caption said "smoke on the water". I had a lot to say about that topic, but not much on your issue. You seemed to have your questions well answered.

I was told by a tranny tech that when these engines run high or for long periods, the tranmission can "pass gas" through the overflow tube, or something to that effect. This happened to me while driving the Town Car from New Mexico to Vegas and while going over Hoover Dam, smoke was coming off the hood from the engine. I stopped the car when I was able to get off the bridge and checked the engine. Nothing. I had it checked out the next day, and the above is what I was told. They did not find anything else wrong with the car. It never did it again during our trip up and down the California coast.




"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." the new adminstration
Click to expand...

These Deep Purple and Star Wars references has got me humming Space Truckin’
 
"During a Frank Zappa concert, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland catches fire when someone fires a flare gun, inspiring Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." Deep Purple are there to record their album Machine Head the following day, but end up using the Grand Hotel and including the song as a last-minute addition."
 
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