All of a sudden! Blowing white smoke and sucking gallons of gas???

[fastcougar]

it cranked for about 10 seconds before starting

That would be from a flooded cylinder ... 99% sure you are having a fueling problem from your description. Now, how did it all get past the rings? As we all know, liquid doesn't compress like air ... chances are you blew the gas by the rings in the cyliner in question when cranking the flooded engine. A compression test will verify which cyliner. I highly doubt a head gasket.

 

[mikeresin]

if it was flooded then it wouldnt be the injector that was bad. you might also have a fouled plug. in wich the injector would spray in the cylinder but would not get ignited and when the piston did its compression stroke the unburned fuel got forced by the ring wich may have already been worn.

 

[rockylaurence]

Bad valve

Gas in the oil may be a bent valve. The valve is stuck partly open and the fuel gets pushed threw the valve stem entering the oil system. However, that is still a lot of gas to dump so quickly.

 

[wabbit]

You guys are forgetting something...

I went through nine gallons of gas in just five miles.
I not only cranked it 10 seconds, I drove it five miles. During which time I had to restart it several times to make it home. I'm sure it would have been best not to drive it at all but we just got out of the grocery store and had a bunch of perishables and I did not want to just leave it sitting in the parking lot with no way home.
If a head gasket is blown, it is likely the result of the fuel problem. Pumping that much liquid fuel into the cylinder displaces compressable volume and would cause the compression ratio to go sky high. That could blow a head gasket.

 

[yob_yeknom]

How's your coolant level? Did the check engine light come on?
The fact that the smoke was white and you did not mention the CEL is whats making me unsure of what probably happened. An injector deciding to crap out should trigger the CEL, and white smoke would suggest water getting in a cylinder. On the flip side there's gas in the oil suggesting fuel problem and no water in it suggesting no blown gasket.

Give an answer to my first two questions and I'll think a little more about what could have happened. Keep letting us know what else you find and we'll get it figured out eventually.

 

[leenjen]

i really hope your mechanic finds the problem fast!

with so many possible causes to your problem, finding out which one is the real cause can get expensive.
be sure to let us know.

damn, half a tank dumped into the engine. that's not good.

 

[wabbit]

more answers, more questions...

Coolant level is good. No CEL, which suprised the hell out of me. Maybe it takes awhile to set a code. I haven't checked for codes.

All of the 9 gallons did not go into the oil.
Most was vented through the exhaust as a vapor trail.

It's going into the shop tommorow.

Wish me luck...

 

[2T727]

maybe!

I had a similar experience quite some time ago, It turned out to be the Fuel Pressure Regulator. My truck would barely run.
Hope this helps
Good luck

 

[Frshpwdr2k]

What happened?

Just wondering what the mechanic said.... this sounds like a problem my friend had with his '92.... it was some sort of fuel problem

 

[Perry]

Well whatever it is they find make sure and make it clear you would like it fixed by Friday. You need to go to CCR2001!!!!!!

If it is something simple they could put there best guy on it and have it done no problem.

 

[wabbit]

I hope to find out today...

Thanks to all for help in diagnosing this problem.
My rig was towed to the shop yesterday and I should find out something today.
Here's hoping it is the Fuel Pressure Regulator. Not cheap, but at least it's not internal.
2T727, did yours do the same thing? Gas in oil, using huge amounts of gas, major fuel mist vapor trail?
If so you're the first to report a similar experience.
I hope driving it home didn't cause even more problems.
Perry, chances of me making CCR2001 are slim. I really would like to go but this last week has been a mechanical dysfunction festival. I have three vehicles and currently, none of them are running. Aside from the Explorer, my truck (79 F-150 4x4 Supercab) will not start.
My van (61 Ford Falcon window van) is currently being used as a storage shed. Even if I cleaned it all out, it needs an ignition switch among other things.
First condition for me to do CCR is to get the truck running so Christine will have wheels while I'm gone.

Quick question on the truck...
Anyone have one similar?? If so, could you look at the starter soleniod on the fender and tell me which color wires go to which of the small terminals? The wires are one red, one brown. The terminals are marked one "I", one "S". Which wire goes to which terminal? Some dummy (me) forgot to look before disconnecting them.

If I do get the truck running, and the Explorer is fixed, it will depend on how much the repair bill runs.
If I can go, I will "camp" in the Explorer which is OK with me. I just might need to borrow a shower from one of you high society motel staying folks.

Even with all the hassles of this breakdown, I still love my Explorer and the info I get on this board is great!
Even if I'm not doing the repairs myself, it helps so much to have some idea what the problem is and not go to the mechanic "blind".

 

[wabbit]

Good news... and bad news...

Good news:
The problem is the Fuel Pressure Regulator. It is repaired and running fine. No blown head gasket.

Bad news:
I should not have drove it home.
( slaps self upside head )
The Power Brake Booster is full of gasoline. It is shot. Also recommended replacement of master cylinder due to seals, etc, soaked with gas.
Everything that connects to intake manifold is being checked for gas contamination. So far, all other components seem fine.
Total repair bill will exceed $600. It would be half of that if I would have shut it off and parked it immediately.
( slaps self upside other side of head )

It is expected to be finished today. I will see how it turns out...

 

[mikeresin]

well look on the bright side. thats alot cheaper then an engine rebuild

 

[MikeP]

Wabbit. If or when the Fuel Pressure Regulator malfunctions, how does this cause gasoline to get into the Power Brake Booster? Looking in the Haynes manual, I see something about the manifold vacuum hose - so it must be connected to the intake manifold. So did the fuel pressure regulator somehow allow gasoline to flow into the intake manifold and then on into the Power Brake Booster via this mainfold vacuum hose? There must be a lot of fuel being injected into the intake manifold - and with the fuel injectors located adjacent to the intake ports, the gasoline must have been spraying all over the intake manifold.
I gather the bottom line of this event is that if one sees lots of "white smoke" blowing out the exhaust, do not drive very far.
Many thanks for sharing the story.
Mike with 91 4x4 XLT in Seattle

 

[toad]

Hey Wabbit, good stuff but still expensive enough, anyway better than a gasket or teardown . Hope it works out.

 

[wabbit]

lots of good stuff hooks up to the intake manifold vacuum...

Fortunately, the brakes are the only thing I used during the drive home. If I would have turned on the cruise control, or even moved the AC/heater controls, those vacuum systems would have been contaminated too.
The brake booster was half full of gas, kinda like a little auxillary fuel tank.
I can see where a malfunction like this could easily cause a major fire. So I guess I'll consider myself lucky.

I will take the blame for the secondary damage on this one because I elected to drive it home. But, I am disappointed that a pressure relief or bypass of some sort is not present downline of the FPR in the fuel injection system. At the engineering/design level, it wouldn't take much to prevent the failure of one component (FPR) from causing so much damage to so many other systems in the vehicle.

 

[wabbit]

final update...

After the costly repairs, my Explorer is running well. However, it seems the Cruise Control has also been affected as a result of the FPR failure. I had yet to try it until yesterday, and it is not working. Who knows, maybe a month from now my climate controls (also a vacuum operated system) will croak too.
Well, I guess I'll have to add this stuff to the list of secondary failures due to my driving it 5 miles home.

 

[lonestar]

Reviving and old thread

I just had the same problem. Bad FPR, replaced and now it's blowing white smoke. I thought it was a head gasket. What wuold cause it to blow white smoke after a FPR goes bad? I'v checked all my vacuum lines and drained everything out as best as possible.

 

[zavetsky]

Re: You guys are forgetting something...

I am now wondering if I should replace my currently working FPR with 100k miles on it to avoid this avalanche of problems...

DZ

 

[lonestar]

Wouldn't hurt, and while your at it, a fuel filter so you don't burn up your pump.

Regulator = $75
Filter = $10

I was looking at all my vacuum lines and they all seem to have a check valve in them. No fuel in brake booster ot that other canister on the fender, seem to have no fuel in the oil (proably will change for insurance though). I don;t see why they didn't put a check valve in the vacuum line to the regulator, then you wouldn't have to worry about filling the intake with fuel.