radiator damage 1998 V70 T5 Topic is solved

[abscate]

okay - Im going to venture the ticking and smoke are uncorrelated. You could have a sticking lifter. I think the smoke is just condensate getting blown off from cold start. I would drive this car, paying careful attention to fluid levels and behaviors. Keep inside your AAA free tow zone.

[enotslim]

Just tested again. White exhaust became less as car warmed up but wasn't entirely gone after seven minutes of running. Clicking mostly but not entirely gone when warm. Seems worse each time I start it up. After running 7 minutes found some milkshake on dip stick in photo. Seems like a very bad sign. But why was it fine for a month after the radiator failed? Does that part make any sense? Is this a separate problem?

Dave

2017-04-22 18.44.05_crop.jpg (38.09 KiB) Viewed 908 times

[enotslim]

abscate- Sorry. Didn't see your most recent post before mine. I will keep testing and following levels as you suggest. Fixing a leaking head gasket, if that's what it is, seems like a poor investment so I guess there isn't much to lose. Do any additives work on sticking lifters? Do they do any harm?

[enotslim]

I warmed the engine thoroughly and still saw a small amount of white "smoke" in the exhaust plus water drops falling from the end of the exhaust pipe. The lifters were entirely silent at this point.

The car also throws these codes.

448 Air Pump
442 Air pump system
611 Tank system
P0410 Secondary Air Injection System
P0455 Evaporative system emission Leak Detected (large leak)

I cleared them and they recurred in a few days. Independent shop saw the same codes so they are pretty real. Is there any possibility that these codes are related to white smoke and water in the exhaust? My understanding is these codes indicate the input combustion air is not what it should be at least at certain points in the startup/warmup cycle. Perhaps these codes reflect malfunctions that can cause excess moisture in the combustion chamber that might produce white exhaust and water. Just hoping.

[enotslim]

Car not driven the past two days. Drove 5 miles to work this am. 48˚F and damp. No lifter noise on start. Surprise. White exhaust continued for about three miles, then clear. Surprise. In the parking lot at work exhaust was absolutely clear. That's good but I don't know what to expect next time. Guess I'll find out tonight.

Sorry to turn this into my own personal diary. But this has been confusing, at least to me. I'm still confused. (No surprise!!!)

[abscate]

When you are worrying through a tough problem, a personal thread is completely appropriate. Someday, you will save someone else weeks of work.

[enotslim]

Almost two weeks have passed and everything is stable. Only one episode of "white exhaust" and that was on a very cool, damp morning and cleared within 5 minutes. One brief ~15 second episode of lifter noise - otherwise quiet. Coolant is about half way between max and min over about the past month. Maybe this is too fast but it isn't very fast. I think it's time to count this as a head gasket miracle. Signing off this thread unless something drastically changes. Thanks for your help! (On to the P0410 and P0455 OBD-II codes before next November's inspection.)