1957 Cadillac Long Drive Some Smoke afterwords

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Hello ,
  Decided to go fishing yesterday , and thought i would give my car a chance to run on the open highway for about 50 miles at a cruising speed of 60 to 70 mph.  Filled up before i took off just to get a accurate mpg after the trip .  The car drove just fine ,No Vibration( Thanks to the drive shaft be reblanced and new carrier bearing ) and plenty of power even had to pass a few guys and touched 75 - 80 or so .  arrived at my Brothers house in Tuckerton new Jersey about an hour later shut  the motor off ,  then 5 minutes later   I decided to put the car in another place in his driveway . Started right up, but   the car poured white smoke( It looked white to me not blue ) out of the drivers side pipe , not so much out of the other pipe . The smoke dissipated very quickly , It only lasted for a minute or so ,  then cleared up ,  So i went fishing . 8 hours later returned with  nothing worth keeping ...1 Flounder , 2 sea Bass , 1 weak fish , two sharks , Non of legal limit )  checked the oil , Clean and full , Checked the Antifreeze 2 inches below the Fill .  Started the car No smoke , Returned home to the gas station to refill up  50 miles later , after 111  total miles and 7 gallon of gas  15 mpg + and happy with that .  started the car and exspected to see the smoke , it was as clear as a bell no smoke at all , continued home 3 more miles , turned of the car , restarted it after 5 minutes , no smoke .  got up Today checked the Oil Perfect and the Coolant clean and still 2 inches below fill .  This will bother me until i have a legetiment answer for it .  I have a problem, when something is wrong with my car i have to get to the bottom of it .  I love this car and it is very important to me that it is mechanically sound .
as always Thanks,
         Bill

[Otto Skorzeny]

Hi Bill,

White smoke that dissipates quickly is steam.

Steam comes from water.

Water comes from the cooling system or bad gasoline.

Was there any smell associated with the steam? Anti-freeze has a distinctive sweet smell when it leaks and when it comes out the tailpipe in the form of steam.

Since you had no problems prior to you fill up and no problems after the first incident, I'm inclined to say that you had water in your tank before you left or that you got a dose of it when you filled up.

Your radiator appears to show the same level throughout this event so I'm going with water in the fuel.

[David King (kz78hy)]

Bill,

Not bad mileage at all, do you have the dual quads, or single four?

You might check your brake fluid and see if it is up where it is supposed to be.  If the booster is starting to leak, the engine vacuum can draw brake fluid from it and the fluid just gets burned and it would appear white.  I think my car is doing this, but my booster does not work, manual brakes on a 5300 pound car.

Something else to check.

David

[Otto Skorzeny]

That's a possibility but that smoke usually lingers around like motor oil smoke instead of quickly dissipating. The easiest way to check that is to stick your finger in the hose and see if there's brake fluid in there. If it's bone dry you're fine. Any residue indicates trouble a-brewin'.

[Coupe]

David, Does the Brougham have the reserve vacuum tank for the brakes like the other '58 Cadillacs? If it does and you're loosing brake fluid it could be in there. I had a '58 and when rebuilding the brake system I took the vacuum tank off to clean it up and found more than a pint of brake fluid in it. The rebuild of the treadle vac took care of the problem.

[David King (kz78hy)]

Hi Paul,

No, the Brougham's do not have a vacuum tank.  If fact, they carried over the 57 brake system in 58.  The booster is rotated 90 from the Std. Cadillac.  I rebuilt mine, but must have messed something up, so this winter, I am pulling the booster and master cylinder off and sending out to Dale Armstrong.  Dale has a jig made up to test these things and get them dialed in perfect.  I'm tried of messing with it. 

My vacuum pump is not working either, which compounds the problem.

David

[Bill Balkie 24172]

David ,
Thanks for the replay, I have the single carb. and youi made a good point about the Hydrovac . I had mine rebuilt last rear , not to say it could not have a problem . my brake fluid level is full .  I also relpaced my check valve next to the starter . I had a problem with that a few years ago .  i took the car out today for a 30 min . drive with out any issue's .   i will keep you up to date if it somehow turns out to be the hydrovac . Maybe i worry to much .

thanks Again Bill

[Bill Balkie 24172]

 Hello Otto ,
Thanks for your input , My hydovac is ok no fluid leaks at all Hose bone dry .   Let me ask you this . If it was water in my tank , why would the car run for 50 miles , and then show up right after a start up ?  i do not like mystery's . I plan to use my car frequently in the next couple of day . i will monitor every  fluid level and check for smoke .   Ido not belive things fix themselves . I will be very supprized if this condition does not return .  i will keep you up to date . and as always thanks for you input ..... Bill

Hi Bill,

White smoke that dissipates quickly is steam.

Steam comes from water.

Water comes from the cooling system or bad gasoline.

Was there any smell associated with the steam? Anti-freeze has a distinctive sweet smell when it leaks and when it comes out the tailpipe in the form of steam.

Since you had no problems prior to you fill up and no problems after the first incident, I'm inclined to say that you had water in your tank before you left or that you got a dose of it when you filled up.

Your radiator appears to show the same level throughout this event so I'm going with water in the fuel.

[Otto Skorzeny]

I don't have an explanation though maybe after parking, the water had a chance to settle and then got sucked into the fuel line all at once. Maybe that water condensed in the exhaust system after you parked and came out as steam when started. Unlikely there would be that much after a long drive but who knows?

Keep watch on it as you said. If all fluids are at the proper level then you have nothing to worry about.

[Glen]

I can agree the “smoke” was really water vapor, but it could not have come through the fuel line.  The engine would not run long enough to get that much water through the carb.  That pretty much means a leak of coolant into the cylinders.  But why has it not happened again?   

Glen

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Hello Otto, l Really like the profile picture of your 56 . Can you tell me a little more about it . color, miles , Is it a daily driver , how long have you had it .

I don't have an explanation though maybe after parking, the water had a chance to settle and then got sucked into the fuel line all at once. Maybe that water condensed in the exhaust system after you parked and came out as steam when started. Unlikely there would be that much after a long drive but who knows?

Keep watch on it as you said. If all fluids are at the proper level then you have nothing to worry about.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Hi Bill, I bought the car in October 2001 and have used it as my primary transportation since. I don't own a new car. I have a '79 F100 I use for work and that's it.

The photo in my profile was taken on the Blue ridge Parkway in fall of 2006. That was a 750+ mile trip through the mountains.Each year I drive to Florida and put about 1500 miles on it. I also once drove to Cleveland, Ohio on a Friday and returned on a Monday. It's a great car.

It's Camelot Grey metallic and Alpine White.

[TJ Hopland]

Is your brothers driveway at a steep angle? 

When it started the time it smoked did it start normally and smoothly?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Hello TJ     His driveway is Flat as a pancake , and it did run rough only for a few seconds after i started the car to move it , Smoked like hell just for a minute or two  cleared out and took it down the highway and ran fine . the car sat for  7 or 8 hours . started right up and ran cool and with plenty of power all the way home . (50 miles ) Filled with gas at the end of the trip , started right up no smoke . My coolant and oil is as clean as a wistle  and right to the top . No overheating issues . 

Is your brothers driveway at a steep angle? 

When it started the time it smoked did it start normally and smoothly?

[Bill Balkie 24172]

TJ  the car started right up  just about needed to turn over .

Hello TJ     His driveway is Flat as a pancake , and it did run rough only for a few seconds after i started the car to move it , Smoked like hell just for a minute or two  cleared out and took it down the highway and ran fine . the car sat for  7 or 8 hours . started right up and ran cool and with plenty of power all the way home . (50 miles ) Filled with gas at the end of the trip , started right up no smoke . My coolant and oil is as clean as a wistle  and right to the top . No overheating issues . 

[Coupe]

One possiblity is, the checkvalve on the vacuum pump may have stuck temporarily allowing oil to be sucked into the carburetor. This could have happened when the car was shutoff or when it was started.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Yes but his description of the problem is clearly steam not smoke. Burning oil has a distinctive odor, bluish tint, and lingers.He could have been blind and known it was oil simply by the smell.
His experience was that it was white with no odor and dissipated quickly.

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Hello Paul, Thanks for the response . That is possible . i had a problem with that check valve before caused a real smoking problem before . Just to let you know i replaced the check valve with a new one about 6 months ago .  Another member told me about a brass valve Mcmaster carr had  and he told me it worked perfect , not to say that valve  could of  stuck  had a problem .  these check valve are very simple but maybe the heat does effect them . Let me ask you a question. The Vacuum pump that has the check valve next to the starter what exactly is the function of that pump . Does it only effect the winshield wipers ?  i would like to get rid of that thing if i could .  just to take that equation out of the picture  i would install electric wipers .  Or maybe double up on the check valves , what are the chances both will fail .  I have not had the problem in a few days now .  i would really like to think the valve is the culprit , but the smoke was  a lot more white then blue and did disappear quickly . i know what burnibg oill smells like .

Thanks Bill

[Bill Balkie 24172]

Forrest, The color combination  Really makes that car look very stately . It sounds like you really enjoy driving the car and you have a lot of confidence in its dependability .  My Dad had a 1956 series 62 Convertable  when i was 8 yeras old .  I loved Caddilac ever since .Its a nice car , thanks for the pictures

Hi Bill, I bought the car in October 2001 and have used it as my primary transportation since. I don't own a new car. I have a '79 F100 I use for work and that's it.

The photo in my profile was taken on the Blue ridge Parkway in fall of 2006. That was a 750+ mile trip through the mountains.Each year I drive to Florida and put about 1500 miles on it. I also once drove to Cleveland, Ohio on a Friday and returned on a Monday. It's a great car.

It's Camelot Grey metallic and Alpine White.

[J. Gomez]

Bill,

The vacuum pump at the oil pump is just a booster to provide extra vacuum to the wipers when the pressure drops under engine heavy load. There are a few things you can do to check if the valve is the culprit;

Removed the line from it that goes up to the vacuum control manifold, and cap both ends.

Check the condition of the plugs, as you recall you had foul plugs on the mid-sections on both left and right when your valve was defective. See if oil got into the cylinders from this path.

As others had mention it could well be condensation..!  One of those mysteries, just keep an watchful eye..!

Good luck..!