mota z Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hello names chris I have a 76 280z that I recently did a trany swap from a auto to manual my old auto transmission gave out so i decided to go manual. now my problem is my car is throwing white/grayish smoke at idle its very low but once i step on the gas a cloud comes out. the car has been siting for about 6months and would turn it on here and there. I check my plugs and no oil on them as well as my oil hasn't gone down. my radiator also hasn't lost any coolant. I did a few searches and i came across one that says auto tranys after they give out some fluid can be suck into the manifold causing the smoke is this true? thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Hello names chris I have a 76 280z that I recently did a trany swap from a auto to manual my old auto transmission gave out so i decided to go manual. now my problem is my car is throwing white/grayish smoke at idle its very low but once i step on the gas a cloud comes out. the car has been siting for about 6months and would turn it on here and there. I check my plugs and no oil on them as well as my oil hasn't gone down. my radiator also hasn't lost any coolant. I did a few searches and i came across one that says auto tranys after they give out some fluid can be suck into the manifold causing the smoke is this true? thanks for the help Well if you read that it is possible for it to leak into the manifold have you checked if thats what is happening? I would get some clear vacuum line or something similar and see if you can see any fluid coming through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mota z Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 but thats only with a automatic transmission I believe I now have a manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 (edited) but thats only with a automatic transmission I believe I now have a manual Right sorry about that, just didn't seem to click with me. How are your brakes? I've heard that sometimes the booster fails and causes brake fluid to be sucked into the engine. Otherwise I can't really think of what could cause that sort of problem after swapping to manual. I'm in the process of doing the swap from auto to manual myself. Maybe its possible that you have some auto trans fluid still left in the intake? I would think it would burn off quick. Did you do anything else when you swapped trannies? Edited April 29, 2011 by 19762802+2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mota z Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 well my brakes are good and i don't think that would be the problem the car is still siting i only drove it once to check the new trany and this was about a month ago. but at first it was more white and now its has more of a grayish look to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beermanpete Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Did the car smoke before you changed the trans? If the old trans was allowing oil into the engine (through a bad vacuum modulator) oil could have built up in the intake system or exhaust pipe (if really bad). If this is the cause it will go away when you drive the car more. Another possible cause is sticky rings. When the car is unused for a long time the rings can get stuck in the ring grooves causing excessive oil consumption. This will generally improve when you resume using the car regularly, especially if you tend to drive long distances rather than short trips in town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 It's hard to say why it would be smoking is it didn't before, and all you changed was the tranny. The sticky rings ideas is a definite possibility. You could try doing a wet compression leakdown test and see if one cylinder is weak. It's possibe you might have had some oil leak down from your valve seals into the engine cylinder. I would go for about a 20 min or so drive and see is the smoke gets a bit less. Keep an eye on your oil level if you're burning it you could start running low. Just to be sure, you should also unplug the cold start injector, that'll ensure it's not stuck and flooding the engine with too much fuel. (though that would be black smoke) If it goes away after a drive then it's probably no big deal, unless it's happening always after it's sat a while. The original valve seals were made for leaded gas, and can wear allowing oil to drip into the intake from the head. Newer Viton seals fix that, but find out if it goes away after a drive before thinking about ripping into it too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mota z Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 the car did smoke with the old trnasmission but very little until it completely gave out. I took my raidiator cap off n turn the car on the smoke did seem to be less but not much of a diffrence and no bubbles in the coolant. But I did notice my brake fluid level wen down n my pedal feels much softer now bad brake booster? Causing the greyish white smoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Hmm, I've never seen a master cyl leak through the brake booster, but I guess it's possible. If the booster's full of fluid you'll probably want to replace it too since brake fluid isn't very good for rubber parts. Pull loose the Brake Booster vaccuum line and see if there's oil in the hose. If there is then that could be your source of contamination. I wouldn't bet that's the cause though. Check for fluid leakage at your wheel cylinders to explain the loss of fluid. it's gotta go somewhere. Hope you can find the leak... Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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