Adjusted Valves, now it smokes

[70DartMike]

The engine is a 318 Poly, unsure of year. I was having problems with the engine stalling after start, and was advised to adjust the valves. I did so using a chart someone had provided, and everything went great, but it didn't stop the stalling problem. I later found someone had previously installed an electric fuel pump and tucked it way up in the frame unseen. I bypassed it, and the engine now runs properly, and yes, a lot better than it did before, after adjusting the valves.
The problem I'm having is, the last few times I've driven it, sometimes it spews out a whole lot of white smoke out the exhaust, but it doesn't smell like oil or anything. It just looks like condensation almost. It never did this before I adjusted the valves, could I have adjusted them a bit too much? Could it also be that it sat, without being run, for a few months before I did anything to it? When it smokes, it's only for a couple seconds, but its a LOT of smoke pouring out the back. I have a 4bbl manifold for it that I would like to put on, but there's no point if its in need of a rebuild.
Any advice is appreciated, thanks.

 

[omahamoparguy]

believe it or not, one of the byproducts of combustion is good old H2O (water). Of course adjusting the valves properly may have worsened the effect cause you have improved the combustion process and therefore put more pressure in the cylinders. this may have caused more blowby which sometimes accentuates the water vapor effect and of course puts more smoke into the exhaust, DDo you loose any water from the cooling system? If you are not loosing any water then I would not worry about it too much. Water will condense in the exhaust system more so in the summer than in the winter and it is most pronounced in the morning. Think humidity.

 

[daredevil]

If you are loosing water a head gasket may be weeping into a cylinder when you cut it off.

 

[70DartMike]

If you are loosing water a head gasket may be weeping into a cylinder when you cut it off.

Would you mind explaining what you mean by 'when you cut it off' ? I don't quite follow how I cut off a cylinder. Sorry if I'm totally missing something.

 

[67Dart440GT]

When you shut off the engine.

 

[70DartMike]

When you shut off the engine.

Ugh.. haha thanks. I'm in Panama right now, and not used to this heat. It must be getting to me..

As far as I remember, I wasn't loosing any water, but I'll check again when I'm home.

 

[moper]

If the weather has been cooler, or drier, you may see more condensation in the exh. Run it more often and see if it clears after a few miles. Sitting idle will not get the exh hot enough to dry it all out.

 

[trapster]

Bad valve seals could be indicated by white smoke at startup, if the car had been sitting for a while.

 

[70DartMike]

Bad valve seals could be indicated by white smoke at startup, if the car had been sitting for a while.

Thanks guys. The first time I started it, it smoked for a bit. But another day I drove it for about an hour, and just randomly it smoked pretty bad, as I was turning a corner. Seems pretty weird to me that it would smoke randomly, after the engine was warm, and the exhaust condensation would have been heated out.

 

[jerry6]

Bad valve seals could be indicated by white smoke at startup, if the car had been sitting for a while.

wouldn't bad valve seals have blue smoke ?
Could it be water collecting in the pipes or muffler (if you did short trips or just started and ran 10 minutes before ) and when it got up to temp it caused collected water to burn off thereby smoke out the tailpipe ?