smoke from the engine compartment - transmission ?

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 03 Oct 2021, 00:19

I was coming home in the 850 turbo wagon with 1000 lbs of wood.
Up to around 50mph speeds, slight grades.
I smelled something off, then smoke came out of the ventilation duct. I had the outside air & fan on.

Noticed SERVICE and ABS lights

Pulled over, lifted hood, smoke rising from driver's side, behind the engine, from someplace low down.
Nothing seemed blistering hot.

Looked under, saw drops of oil on the skid plate.
Figured a leak was hitting something hot.
Dipstick showed full, so not an acute sudden leak.

Went home, went back for the other half-ton.
Some smell when almost there
On the way back no actual smoke in the vent, but now noticing its acrid more than oily.
When stopped at a light I can see some smoke/fumes coming out from under the hood.

Thermostat OK, halfway up which is above usual but nowhere near the redline.
Then the "LOW COOLANT" light came on & off intermittantly.

When maneuvering back & forth away from the the unloading point, the car stalled while reversing.

Have not checked the coolant level or transmission fluid level, it got dark & I got busy w/other things by the time it cooled down.

The tachometer seemed normal for the speeds, felt nothing abnormal - shifting feels OK.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Oct 2021, 06:18

You are blowing some coolant from either one of the turbo coolant lines or possibly a heater core hose. Sounds like an oil leak too.

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 03 Oct 2021, 14:39

Today I see there is a blown gasket where the lower radiator hose mets the metal pipe that goes over the engine.
BUT the smoke I saw came from BEHIND the engine. Odd.
I added about 1.5 gal of antif freeeze mix to get to the MAX mark.

Oil is full

Transmission fluid seems over full; when cold overnight, smears go above the HOT mark.
Black, obviously need a full pressure flush to also clear out the stagnant oil in the whatzits gearbox.

The smoke odor is acrid, not like coolant or oil.
So that puzzles me. A small leak might be enough for the odor to be strong.

Also the air intake "horn" piece is disconnected from the filter box
The box has a round hole, but the horn has been bent into an oval-ish shape.
I guess I need a new horn? What's the right name & PN for that?
Which is the male end, which goes "inside the other?" Horn into box, or box into horn?
They sure didn't leave much room to work with it, right up against the coolant hose & have to shift the battery outboard for finger room.

Also found a disconnected vaccuum hose, there is a rubber connector between two 1/8" stiff plastic ends - must have been cut for some reason long ago? It goes under the air intake horn near the grill.
What does this hose do?

The horn is held to the grill by a ~rectangular piece of plastic. It has two round "stubs" that seem to want to slot into U shaped slots in a piece attached to/behind the grille. Not sure if stubs are supposed to be screwed in?

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 03 Oct 2021, 15:12

And yet another thing: where the air exits the filter box, the pipe goes down benind the engine & turns 90 deg inboard. There is a hard plastic... box, and something should be plugged into it.
ITS NOT PLUGGED IN.
The sensor has a rubber thing at its end, but it seems round & the hold in the box is more rectangular.
Very oily inside that box.

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 03 Oct 2021, 17:43

DUPLICATE OF BELOW -DELETED

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 03 Oct 2021, 17:51

The hole in the box & the plug are D shaped, had to rotate the plug after scraping off the gunk.
The rubber is deteriorated, won't plug in tightly.
Need name & PN for the rubber seal...

The battery is not as long as the tray, so it can slide sideways.
Could possibly hit the air intake and knock it off the filter box.
Fashioning a clamp out of a 2x4, will bolt it to the left side of the battery tray.
Bolts will be held to the tray w/ washers & nuts, so the wood will lift off the bolt, wingnut on top.
Probably just wedge something on the right, only 3/4" gap on that side.

Used a heat gun to make the air intake almost round again, funny being right next to the engine its thermoplastic. Got it on, but it seems a delicate connection, cannot get the leverage or my hand in a place where I can push it straight onto the filter box, so its cockeyed a bit.

I violated the 1st Rule of Car Ownership: NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
Repeat after me:
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!
NEVER OPEN THE HOOD !!!

Post by **abscate** » 03 Oct 2021, 20:27

The battery clamp is 79 cents at FCP

You have a massive vacuum leak if the hose is off the PTC nipple, which is what you described. You are probably smelling oil vapour escaping from the PCV system

Post by **scot850** » 04 Oct 2021, 11:18

If you can, take pictures when you can and post as it often helps us to help you much quicker. Abscate as usual has given great advice. If you don't know how to post pictures we can help. Simply, when replying, click on Full Editor & Preview. This then has a section below the text box with Options and Attachments. Click on Attachments and that allows you to add files and then fit them into the text. You can preview what you are doing before posting and amend as needed.

The plastic hose from the air box to the turbo can come loose or split/crack with age giving you what abscate suggests.

Good Luck!

Neil.

850forum · Post by **850forum** » 04 Oct 2021, 12:45

abscate wrote: ↑03 Oct 2021, 20:27 The battery clamp is 79 cents at FCP

You have a massive vacuum leak if the hose is off the PTC nipple, which is what you described. You are probably smelling oil vapour escaping from the PCV system

??? "PTC" ???
The D-shaped rubber thing? I would not call it a "nipple."

But when the engine is on, how can anything come OUT of an inwards leak path?

Post by **scot850** » 04 Oct 2021, 15:58

Again, a picture would help. There are common names on many parts for these cars that may not always gel with everyone.

The PTC is a small heater unit on the cold air intake from the air-box to turbo. It has a little plastic pipe that a small rubber hose connects to. It is there to try to stop the crankcase oil fumes from freezing in colder climates. With age, the small hole through them can block and needs to be cleaned or it will pressurize the crankcase as it can't vent into the turbo intake.

The pipe/nipple can get broken off if care is not taken fitting or removing the pipe.

That same turbo cold air intake pipe can start to break up or split with age as the plastic goes hard where it connects to the turbo.

Neil.