I'm not sure if this is an indicator of a problem or not. Recently my radiator threw up fluid all over my engine bay. I did a pretty thorough job of cleaning it, but I fear some of it went through the air filter and into the carb and then into the engine. At least this is my guess for the odd exhaust smell. It smells dirtier if that makes any sense and a lot more acrid than usual.

Also, (need to test more to confirm this one) when I rev the engine I think it might be sounding different too.

My theory is that the coolant inside is mixing with the gas and I'll need to burn the rest of the coolant out by driving. Hopefully someone else can shine some light on this.

 

Good morning Rick, well it's morning in Michigan. From your other post about loosing coolant I'm wondering now if you might have an issue with a cracked head or leaking head gasket, this can account for a loss of coolant due to compression pressure forcing the coolant out of the cooling system. Also on the same hand it can leak coolant into the combustion chamber(s) which can cause poor running characteristics, different odors, possibly some different sounds depending on the amount of liquid being ingested. You might want to run a compression test before you go much farther

 

.....and check your oil for any white-ish residue, usually on the dip stick. That would indicate water in the crank case.

 

Starship is right. I would think if you sucked a little through the filter it would burn off pretty quick. Also, change filters, spray a little carb cleaner. But, I think there is a good chance you have a head problem as well. Why did it spew fluid anyway? overheat? If so, overheating can easily cause head gasket problems or bad heads, especially if you run aluminum heads which don't hold up to high temperatures as well as cast.

If you see the whitish crap on the dipstick, it is pretty much a done deal that your heads are shot.

 

I'll double check it this morning. The different sound I narrowed down to a loose collector bolt in the exhaust system. I'm hoping the heads are fine. The car was only hot for a second or two, before it was shut down and let my electric fans cool the engine. I looked around the engine though and I didn't clean it as well as I had thought. There is still some of the old coolant on part of the intake. I'm wondering if it's just cooking off. The exhaust doesn't smell different while the car is running. Only when I first turn it on, also it runs like it normally did. I just thought it made a slightly different sound when I revved it. That I need to test more though, since I have not rev'd it enough yet to get a full understanding of all the sounds.


*edit*
I should also add that I recently tightened up the bolts on my headers, because a few had rattled loose and the headers were not on as tight as they normally are. I know that at least in part was causing the car to sound louder.

 

If oil looks good, and car runs fine heads are probably okay. Im guessing that you have a 350. They are notorious if you put headers on them for blwing exhaust gaskets and collector gaskets. If the sound is a "popping" in time with the engine at idle or at revving, probably a leak there in the gasket. could have maybe made the gasket softer if it got soaked with coolant?? (not sure, grabbing at straws on that one). Anyway, listen to each side with the hood up and listen for that popping. You can also sometimes see a dark area on the gasket if it is leaking, and even feel it with your hand, just don't touch the pipe it is like 400 degrees. If you don't hear it at the engine, but still hear it some in the car, could be the collector. If one of the bolts was loose and you heard the popping sound, gasket may have blown while it was loose. Those gaskets are a cheap fix, and easy to do at home. If you don't mind a little more money they make some "dead-soft" aluminum that seem to hold up better in my car at least.

Good luck


One last thougt, look in the overflow container as well, the new coolant should be clean if it looks oily (ranbow sheen in there) that could also mean head trouble as it is letting the oil mix with the coolant. If the two aren't mixing, you are probably okay.

 

You are not supposed to keep sniffing the exhaust like that! It can cause dain bramage....

 

Noooowwwww he tells me.......who tells you? ....he tells me ...what he tell you?..shut up I'm talking now!....oh bite me, you shut up!........Hey what was that all about, Geeesch! these guys in here won't leave me alone! ...well?,....what he tell ya?, ya huffer.....Hey!

Oh!, sorry about that little episode. Cheers

 

Lol, the dipstick came up clean. The car doesn't make the sound very often. I think it's possibly due to the ethanol in the gas honestly. These cars were never designed to burn that crap and it doesn't burn very well.

 

"The car was only hot for a second or two, before it was shut down and let my electric fans cool the engine. "

With the engine off, your elec. fans are only cooling the water in the rad.
( unless ya have an elec. water pump that will work in conjunction with your fans. )