Couple of questions! Need answers fast!

[1987tc]

I have just finished getting an 88 Tbird running ( V6) and it has been sitting for probably close to a year. It runs and starts right up but I have a real big problem..... SMOKE lots of thick white smoke. Here is what I am wondering, Would reallllly old gasoline make it smoke white?
The gas does smell like turpintine. It seems to not run too bad ( I have not tried to take it on the road for obvious reasons). There is about 9 gallons of gas in it going by the dash ( digital). I am Hoping that the old gas is the problem. I bought the car with a leaking head gasket so I did not hear or see it run before I bought it. The car has been well cared for and there is no sludge or any trash in the oil or coolant. Any help would be great!

My second question is does anyone know of a good vacuum diagram for this car? It was partly apart when I bought it so I don't know how everything was hooked up.
Thanks!
Wes

 

[46Tbird]

Sounds like a blown head gasket to me. Generally, blue smoke=oil, black=too rich (fuel), and white=coolant.

Good luck fixing it. 3.8s are notorious for blowing head gaskets.

Danny

 

[1987tc]

Originally posted by 46Tbird:
<STRONG>Sounds like a blown head gasket to me. Generally, blue smoke=oil, black=too rich (fuel), and white=coolant.

Good luck fixing it. 3.8s are notorious for blowing head gaskets.

Danny</STRONG>

It was not the head gasket at all. It was running supppper rich because the njectors were firing out of sequence. The reason for that is because when I bought the car the previous owner had started to change head gaskets and ran out of time to finish it, Turned out he had not needed to change both. Only the driver side was starting to seep. I went ahead and changed both. Because some one else had started to fix it I didn't take all of it aprt. When I put it back together I inadvertently had the injector harness flipped. And that made them was out of time with the rest of the motor.
On a side note. I have had lots of 3.8s including a 1990 Supercoupe and have never had one blow a head gasket. I DO make sure to keep the cooling system up to par though. As anyone should when the have aluminum heads on an iron block.
I know others have had that problem and a lot of the 3.8s I have seen have blown the head gaskets because of owner neglect or ignorance. The do blow them easier then an all iron engine and not everyone keeps that in mind.
Just my experiance.
Thanks for the reply!