'76 318 smoke...
Would it be sufficient to just hold my thumb over the spark plug hole to get a go/no-go estimation? My comp tester is 1500 miles away. :S
The symtoms you describe about the smoke has nothing to do with the trans.
No, but it could be unrelated incidents, or a multitude of problems... Noticed a fairly clunky shift into R, but no real slippage or anything in any of the gears... Definitely a lack of power, though, but originally I just attributed this to the fact that it was an economized 318 ('76, when fuel efficiency was becoming all the rage)... Still, it's pretty sluggish. Really the only way to bust tires loose seems to be heavy acceleration around a corner. She goes, but not nearly as quick as one would think she should, imho...
It would be overheating if this was the case.
Thank God! Definitely not overheating.
It's burning oil from engine wear and very likely hardening seals, and I wouldn't put a buck on the valve guide seals solving it. (Although I am sure it would be part of it.)
Anything I should look at for a definite sign, and what should I be looking at for parts? Hopefully nothing too deep into the engine, just for simplicity's sake...
Also we have to take into account that one mans white smoke is another man blue.
If it smells like burning oil, then theres a darn good chance that it IS oil.
Definitely an ash grey/white smoke, no blue tint to it, though I can double-check this in the morning, just to be absolutely sure.
- CK
