Re: Lots of Smoke, Oh no.
Post by amphi on May 31, 2006, 11:25pm

May be serious --- maybe not.

If the smoke is coming from the crankcase breather tube (the one below the carb) it could be blow-by from a bad compression ring or worse a blown piston. Maybe it just needs to be run for a while – if it has been sitting – cylinder walls could be rusted.

You can do a quick compression check, without tools, by cranking the engine with the ignition OFF or disconnected. You don't want it to run.

With even compression the starter motor will give a smooth cranking sound as all pistons come up against equal pressure.

If you have low compression on one or more cylinders the starter motor will speed-up as the weak one comes to the top.

I don't know how to put this sound into words but you can definitely hear this uneven cranking if it exists.

Let us know what you hear.