• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Vapor from the valve cover....

  • Thread starter Thread starter joeadams
  • Start date Start date
J

joeadams

Guest
Basically when I opened my valve cover to add some oil and I noticed that there was some vapor coming out of the fill hole. So I basically hoped that since it was cold out, the warm air coming from inside the engine was hitting the cool air and condensing making it visible. But today I checked it again and alas more vapor(it was above freezing today). I took a good whiff of it and its tough to say what the source is(it just smells like engine). So what can cause vapor inside the valve covers in an engine(liquid cooled)?. My thoughts on this are burnning oil, and burning/evaporating coolant. It would seem to me that if it were coolant then that is bad, bad, bad head gasket replacing time. Also if its burning oil then thats bad, bad, bad as well and could be a number of things. The oil pressure is good according to the idiot lights which aren't on. No excessive noise besides the water pump which I believe to be a totally different story. Its not running hot and doesn't seem to be using oil excessively although until recently I haven't kept all that close of an eye on it, same with coolant. Shame on me. I just checked it again tonight after an 8 mile trip to get gas and back and the vapor is much less prevalent. I had also driven it about 3 miles and back to the grocery store earlier this evening and it was still warm when I started on the gas trip. Generally the only other time I've noticed it was after short trips <5 miles(trip home from work) Perhaps the vapor would stop if I run it long enough. By the way its a 95 buick century with 113k on the clock. Good old 3.1 Liter GM engine.

Any input is greatly appreciated.
 
A little vapor is normal, short trips are hard on an engine because it does not get hot enough to burn off the condensation
 
Thats right a little vapor is normal, generally the complaint I used to see most when a head gasket would start to go on the 3.1l was a cylinder not firing for the first few minutes after start up.
 
Shouldn't this be in the 'Off Topic' section?

Just curious as to what a 3.1L engine in a Buick Century has to do with motorcycles?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top