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Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 5:51 pm
by jdvorchak
Openroad, first of all welcome to the forum. It would really be helpful if you city state in your location on your profile. Who knows there may be one of us very near you.

As for the leak. I am not sure which hole you are talking about. There is a "weep" hole on the bottom of the engine just behind where the lower radiator hose connects to the engine crankcase. Is that the hole you're talking about? If so that is a hint that possibly your water pump is ready to fail. A moderately hard job and time consuming to replace but lots of folks here have done it with great success and as a result learned a lot about working on their Goldwing. Does it leak all the time or just overnight while it's sitting there? How much coolant are you seeing in the morning? A few drops? A cup full? Check your engine oil dipstick. Does it look like good clean oil or a milkshake? If it looks like a milk shake it could be a couple of things but most likely a bad water pump.

Do yourself a favor and see if you can do your own post to start the discussions. Title it water leak or something like that. Also pictures are great. We like pictures!

Once again welcome and we hope you enjoy your visits here.

Exhaust ports.

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:39 pm
by Openroad
I have a 1983 GL1100, What is the small holes @ the exhaust ports. I was leaking some water from one of them. :crosso

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 4:44 pm
by shupnfish
Small hole at exhaust ports??? Do you mean the drain hole that runs down from around the spark plugs?? Check that and if they are stopped up and holding water in clean them out and you should be good.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 7:43 pm
by Oldboy
Both my bikes had oil in the overflow last fall. I was using heavy oil in both to combat the oil burning. The oil in the overflow is a result of oil getting past the seal in the front of the oil pump, then getting past the "O" rings at the water pump. If it gets past the second "O" ring it will drip out the weeping hole.I figure that on start up with thick oil and any rpm, the pressure got high enoungh to be forced by all 3 seals. I know there a relief valve in the oil pump, it was probably wide open... and pressure was still too high. With the front cover off, I replaced all the "O" rings and the oil pump seal.
Problem gone!
Oh ya, Sounds like you need a head gasket too.....

Cheers....

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:19 pm
by TCFort Worth
Well guys, I am new here and wondering waht the outcome was to the head gaskets and the coolaint leaks?

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 12:51 pm
by rcmatt007
TCFort Worth wrote:Well guys, I am new here and wondering waht the outcome was to the head gaskets and the coolaint leaks?
as you can see, sometimes we get off subject.... I haven't read through the whole thread, but I am guessing Roady replaced the gaskets??

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 10:58 pm
by Roady
TCFort Worth wrote:Well guys, I am new here and wondering waht the outcome was to the head gaskets and the coolaint leaks?
Didja read the whole thread? ... it worked out pretty good.

Or, you might be interested in seeing how the whole shebang evolved into the Front Engine Renewal Project thread.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 6:25 pm
by Dirty Dave
Is the symptom of a blown head gasket always white smoke?

It was last time but this time it seems to be more oily.
Black oily carbon out of exhaust and white non-sweet smoke.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 6:40 pm
by Whiskerfish
Could be fouled carbs not atomizing fuel. Pull the plugs and inspect them for the "Steam Cleaned" look.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 8:27 pm
by pidjones
On one of my rescues, the hint was water pouring out the exhaust when I started filling the system.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 8:57 am
by redglbx
pidjones wrote: Mon Feb 21, 2022 8:27 pm On one of my rescues, the hint was water pouring out the exhaust when I started filling the system.
Ooohhh, that’s never a good sign !

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2022 10:26 am
by Dirty Dave
Just fully rebuilt the carbs which seem to work well. Oil around #3 piston top and fouled plug. Little bit of
steam clean in the combustion chamber but only ran Wing for 15 minutes.

I'm starting with a gasket replacement and then will see. Left side was mint, no smoke.
Funny 'cause that has the original 43 year old gasket.

Two carbs had float levels way off so adjusted to 21 mm but still noticed a bit of
gas on the top of the block. Oh well, one thing atta time.......

My other Wings (78 & 84) never gave me a hard time. This 79 has failed me many
times although a Dyna S and a loose (4th one in now) stator.

Oh well, wrenching is fun as long as you have an extra bike to ride.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2022 1:56 pm
by Sidecar Bob
Head gaskets can fail in 2 ways:
1) leaking between the water jacket and an oil passage, in which case pressurized coolant will escape and mix with the oil, causing the well known "chocolate milkshake" in most cases but not always (there was enough coolant to coat the inside of my CX650E's valve covers with snot while the oil still looked normal).
2) leaking between the combustion chamber and the water jacket, causing the familiar white smoke that smells like burning celery and/or bubbles in the recovery tank plus the steam cleaned combustion chamber.
When the 2nd type of failure occurs combustion pressure entering the cooling system can increase the pressure in it enough to cause the 1st type of failure to occur shortly after, but that doesn't always happen.

If a recently replaced head gasket failed 3 questions must be asked:
1) Was it a genuine Honda gasket or aftermarket?
2) Were the threads for the head bolts cleaned thoroughly and were the bolts installed dry or greased per the procedure in the FSM? (One of my Hondas requires dry threads, the other greased and I can never remember which is which)
3) Were the head bolts re-torqued?
- With aftermarket head gaskets it is absolutely necessary to loosen each bolt 1/8-1/4 turn, then tighten it to the specified torque after the first heat/cool cycle and if the bolts need to be turned past where they were the first time kep repeating the procedure until the gasket stops compressing (note that the engine must be fully cooled each time and the valve clearances should be checked after each re-torque)
- With original Honda gaskets it isn't strictly required but it is a good idea to re-torque them after the first heat/cool cycle just to be sure
https://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic ... ue#p778167

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 2:57 pm
by Dirty Dave
Thank you Sidecar Bob.

Chocolate milkshake it was. The gasket was an OEM which I torqued dry
and did not re-torque after a heat cycle ( too lazy )

Coolant was clear. I will check the oil.

I've ordered viton valve seals from Randakk and will be lapping the valves
for the hell of it.

Re: That Sweet White Smoke

Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2022 3:04 pm
by Sidecar Bob
Um... "chocolate milkshake" refers to what the oil looks like when coolant (or anything else water based) becomes emulsified with it. If you have chocolate milkshake oil you don't need to check it you need to drain it and flush the engine.