smoking

[wspeedin]

So I took my '87 Saltare out this past weekend and I noticed that she was smoking out of the exhaust. Its not a big cloud or anything, just a small barely noticable amount of white smoke coming out of the exhaust. I have the 454 and it does have close to 1300 hours on it. However the PO says he replaced the cam androckers last year. Any ideas on this problem. What would cause this smoke?

[iwakeboard]

Is it when you're using it for sport that it smokes a little? When I'm surfing or wakeboarding (with lots of weight) mine emits a small amount of white smoke behind the boat. I've never been on a inboard that didn't do that under tow.

[wspeedin]

well, yea, the only times I have noticed it is when the boat is going more than 2100 rpm. this past weekend I noticed it when we were tubing but then later in the day we werent tubing and i noticed it just cruising across the lake at around 20mph or 2100rpm

[Mani]

White smoke is indication of water in the cylinder, I think (please, correct me if I'm wrong). I'd start by checking the oil to see if it's clean, and has no brown running around in it.

[iwakeboard]

Ahhhh well It was simply objecting to tubing when it was smoking then.

[cadunkle]

White would be water or fuel. Of course you're going to have water in the exhaust so some steam is normal. Excessive could mean a cooling problem. When running feel your manifolds and risers to see if they are abnormally hot or one side is significantly hotter than the other.

Does the exhaust smell? If so, does it smell like fuel or like oil? If fuel, adjust your carb. Chekc floats, set idle mixture.

If oil, could be valve seals or rings. Pop a valve cover and look at the condition of the seals. Do a wet/dry compression test to see ring condition. Valve seals can be done with the engine in place so if they're shot, do those. If it's rings but the engine still runs well, just deal with it 'till you're ready to do a freshening up.

[Mani]

Well, reading the replies that were just posted, reminds me, mine does that when surfing, too. It only happens under angled load. If that's the only time you see it, you got nothing to worry about.

[csuggs]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but check your spark plugs as well to see if they are clean, or if they are oily. This could indicate worn piston rings, which would create a blueish-white smoke.

Mine does this as well, but it seems to do it at the beginning of the day as the motor start to warm up and especially when water is cold . . . I always thought it was just steam. Even though I have a 160 degree thermostat, I'm sure the cooling water gets much hotter as it exits through the exhaust manifolds - creating some steam.