smoking/steaming cat converters

tydlwavs

Registered User
I noticed that the passenger side is smoking when the engine gets warmed up. I'm wondering what is causing this. I don't see any sign of the oil looking off the norm.

Any info is appreciated.
 
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How is the car running other than that? Sounds like you are dumping raw fuel in the exhaust. Are the manifolds glowing?
 
It's running great with a VERY slight bucking once in a while.

No, but it was running hot when I first started it. I smell warmth in there:) What would cause the raw fuel? A stuck injector?
 
Could be a variety of things....stuck injector possible. Most common though would be a bad harmonic balancer that has "slipped" throwing off the timing.
 
I tried to verify the timing multiple times (on this board) before I put the top end together. I have a BHJ balancer.
 
Might just be a plugged converter. Could be time to replace them both. Can you spot check them with a temperature gun?

Run the codes just for grins first, however, before replacing any hardware.
 
I had an engine shop install the balancer and I installed the crank sensor. I also installed the cam sensor and to verify that was done properly I marked the BHJ and verified the correct alignment here before wiring her up.

I can check the cats with my infrared temp gun and see what she reads. I bought the Y pipe off a local guy here that said it only had 55k miles on it. That might not be the case after all.

I am not showing a cel, but I can check for codes when my buddy comes over sometime in the next week.

I'll report back when I get a chance to check things out. I suspect the cats over the injectors because it runs very well at idle until she gets warm and it smells like cooked ~~~~z.
 
>it runs very well at idle until she gets warm and it smells like cooked ~~~~z.

It might be burning off old dirt/grease/oil that built up on the outside of the cat over time - in addition to whatever damage it can do heat wise to adjacent materials.

IR gunning the temps on both sides should go a long ways towards helping to isolate the issue(s) at least - if they both show the same/reasonable heat levels, you can start looking closer for other culprits, such as oil dripping off a leaking valve cover gasket. Keep in mind how easy it is for whatever source to supply a leak that travels and causes problems in other areas.
 
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