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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / July 2006

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94 Pontiac Bonneville - Head Gasket, Seal, or Intake failure???

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SURFnJAM - 20 Jun 2006 17:26 GMT
I have a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville, according to everything I've
researched (VIN & Year), it would be a 1st Gen. 3800 engine.  It is
smoking from the rear of the engine (or towards the firewall, rather)
as well as the tailpipe.  It looks like a head gasket problem, but it
has passed two mechanics leak down tests for head gasket failure.  The
smoke coming from the firewall side of the engine, materializes away
from the block, coupled with the fact that there is a lot of smoke
coming from there, I can't really tell where it is coming from, other
that relative area.  The smoke is white, and it smells like coolant,
however the temperature guage doesn't budge from where it should be,
and the smoke will stop eventually after driving the vehicle around a
bit.
I've heard problems from the intake/EGR scenario and the rear main seal
going bad in these cars, but only on the Gen II's.  Could the EGR
melting my intake still take place on the Gen I.  Would the rear main
seal failure have anything to do with coolant.  And could the head
gasket still be bad even though two tests have come up negative.

If anyone has had this problem and fixed it, I would be greatful if you
could lend some advice.

Thank you,
HLS@nospam.nix - 22 Jun 2006 11:05 GMT
First of all, I believe all 94 production was Generation I.
So you can breathe a little easier.

Is this not a transverse mounted engine??? If it is, then the
firewall area is not at the rear of the engine..It is at the side.
The rear of the engine (where the main crankshaft seal is
located) would be toward the drivers side fender well.

At any rate, you seem to be leaking something onto the
exhaust headers or exhaust pipe.  You should be able to
smell the difference between coolant and oil.  Remember that
there are other fluids that could leak occasionally in that
area: (1) windshield washer fluid, (2) brake fluid, (3) power
steering fluid, and maybe even (4) transmission fluid could
conceivable contact the hot exhaust.  Another wild possibility
is that you have a leak in your air conditioning system and
the lubricant is dripping on a hotspot. (Later model R134a
refrigerant systems use PAG [polyalkyleneglycol] lubricants
which smell  like coolant or brake fluid.  PAGs are not oil based)

Now, are you losing any of the fluids mentioned??? Could take
you a time to notice it, because very small leaks can put out
a lot of 'smoke'

A rear main seal will allow oil to drip into the tranny bellhousing
area, and bad valve cover gaskets will allow an oil drip higher up
on the engine.  Either of these could conceivably get on an
exhaust pipe, but you would smell the oil smoke.
spoadly - 04 Jul 2006 02:24 GMT
Good call on the rear main seal being on the side rather than towards
the firewall.  Duh on me.  But the smoke that is coming out is
definitely coolant smelling, and not oil off of the exhaust.  Please
check back later as I will leave a link to a video that I will take to
see exactly what happens.  
Thanks again.
Harry Face - 04 Jul 2006 06:19 GMT
Check for leaks at the heater core hoses. They might be leaking onto the
rear exhaust manifold.

harryface
spoadly - 07 Jul 2006 15:11 GMT
I don't believe so, not to mention the smoke will quit after being
driven a ways, I don't think any leaking hoses are going to stop after
a while.  If my Upper Plenum were warped somehow, would that cause this
type of thing to occur?
 
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