LUVTruck.com

I hope I'm not asking too many questions on here since I'm new to the sight, but I just got my Luv and while it's sitting idling it smokes from the engine and the tail pipe. My plan is to rebuild the engine as I go through the process of restoring the truck, but I wanted to see if anyone has a good answer/solution for this since I was hoping to drive it some in the condition in its in before beginning the full resto. Thanks!

Smoke can be steam, like a blown head gasket, oil burning due to rings or valve guides or something as simple as a PCV system clogged. You will need to do a bit of work to figure out what it is.

_________________
Certified pilots, looking down on people since 1903.

Would trying seafoam or changing the oil help? Would you suggest a heavier oil or Lucas additive?

Where os the smoke coming from when it comes from the engine

_________________
Luvless
1980 Mikado-Sold.

1993 Lexus SC400 my Daily
2004 Yamaha WR250F my new love in life
2016 Toyota Camry my girls ride

Around the exhaust manifold it seems.

There's a draft tube on the passenger's side of the engine, and it's normal to see some smoke coming from it. On the diesels, that is.

Jack

_________________
'83 Isuzu P'up Diesel LS - Original Owner
JoeIsuzu@IsuzuPup.com
IsuzuPup.com

This is gas and the smoke is on the driver side mainly. Thanks for the replies.

What color is the smoke coming from the tail pipe? Pure white is steam, blue is oil burning, and black is running rich (too much gas getting in the engine)

Also, on the smoke from the engine area, is there quite a bit of oil mess around and over the exhaust manifold? Is that what is smoking once it gets hot or is it coming out around the manifold where the exhaust pipe hooks on? Does it start smoking near the engine immediately after starting or only after it gets well warmed up?

If it is white smoke and LOTS of it, then you are probably looking at a head gasket problem. Check the oil to make sure it is not getting milky from water getting in it, and check the coolant in the radiator for signs of any oil in it too.

_________________
95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

The smoke from the tail pipe is mainly white as is the smoke from the engine. The engine is pretty oily but the smoke starts well before its had time to warm up. The oil is pretty watered down too. I'm going to do a full resto on this truck but was hoping to drive it around a little while before overhauling the engine. I guess that's out the window now. Thanks for the reply.

Sounds likely to be a head gasket or possibly cracked head. My 79 was like that when I got it, and it did smoke/steam quite a lot around the exhaust manifold and pipe too. I was surprised at the time how much, but I guess the steam shows at every leak, where just exhaust is not as visible.

Hope you get it going. There are plenty of head gasket threads here and lots of info and tips in them. If you have all the parts ready it really isn't too hard of a job to do.

_________________
95 Isuzu Trooper Daily Driver
86 Isuzu Trooper reliable backup
77 LUV 2wd stock beltway blaster (resting)
79 4x4 LUV project: 2.6L, 5spd, 31s (eventually)

MEPR: Man, my 4x4 makes all other LUVs look good

Seconded. Replacing gaskets is common when you first buy one of these - Especially if it has been sitting for a while. You could run a compression test on each cylinder to figure out if you're headed in the right direction, but honestly, you should just do it right and get down in there.

_________________
75 Mikado G180/4sp Desert Tortoise