Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to this forum and have scouted around for the problems I am having and can't seem to find a definite answer. I have a 93' XLT 2wd 2.3L that is doing some odd things. First off, I drive 26 miles one way to work, and 26 back, but whenever I leave work and start the truck, it smokes, cant exactly tell if its all white or bluish white, and it only does this after I drive to work, it doesn't do this in the morning from what I can tell. In trying to find the issue, my oil isn't milky, and my radiator and reservoir isn't oily, and there is no gunk under my oil cap to show mixture of oil and coolant. After that I popped the hood after I got to the house and heard a light bubbling sound and the engine itself slowly turning with everything cut off. When I saw this I tried turning one of the pulleys with my hand and it would spin rather easily. I have yet to pull a plug to see if it is burnt, oily or clean, but would like to know if anyone else has seen this. Only thing that is different from stock is there is no thermostat in the cooling system. I would greatly appreciate any input that you guys could make.

Thank you,
Zerksy

 

Welcome to the forum

You have a 2.3l SOHC Lima engine in a 1993 Ranger, not to be confused with the 2001 and up Ranger 2.3l DOHC Duratec engine, just FYI

Engine slowly turning when key was off has my attention
Assume automatic, or manual was in Neutral for that to happen

And you don't say if you are losing coolant?
Coolant in the oil is a very old school sign of a bad head gasket or cracked head, very rarely happens with the newer gasket material.

Engine needs to have thermostat installed.

My guess is you do have a cylinder leak into the cooling system, and you are losing coolant over time.
No thermostat will help hide this but it will get worse over time.

Simple Free test to see if this is the case is The Glove Test
Cold engine
Remove rad cap
Remove overflow hose from rad, plug this port with vacuum cap or gum, putty, ???

Place latex glove over rad cap opening and seal it with rubber band, or use a balloon or even a condom instead of a the glove

Disconnect coil packs 3-wire connector, both, you want a no start

Crank engine and watch the glove
If it pulses up and down then you do have a cylinder leak

If it just lays there then you do not

If it is pulsing then you can ID which cylinder is leaking
Remove 1 spark plug from a cylinder
Crank engine again
If glove still bounces then remove spark plug from another cylinder and repeat cranking

When glove stops bouncing then the last spark plug removed was from the leaking cylinder, reinstall that spark plug to confirm

 

Thanks a ton for the insight. I'm not 100% sure if it has a thermostat or not, but the engine doesn't warm up quickly and only registers to the beginning of the "normal" marking when its driven, so I am assuming it doesn't. I am not losing coolant, and not losing oil which is why I am a little confused. I'll definitely try the glove test to be sure. I've drove it today and let it sit for 9 or 10 hours and started it again to try to replicate a regular work day and no smoke. I park nose down on a slope at work so I'm not sure if that comes into play any. I'm hoping to get to the bottom of this. I feel the truck runs too well for me to have a serious issue like a head gasket leak to get worse over time. I'd like to fix it and have it not have any more mechanical problems. I'll have to look into this test.

Thank you,
Zerksy

 

Glove test will take cylinder leak off the table or tell you it is the problem, so black or white test.
Best to get that out of the way so no time is wasted on non-fixes

No coolant loss would point away from cylinder leak, but test is definitive and free, to take it off the table for good

If your thoughts are oil burning as the source of the smoke then you can test for that if you can see tail pipe exhaust from rear view mirror.
Valve guide seals and rings are ways oil can get in the cylinders.
If you can create a higher vacuum in the engine/intake, then you can pull in more oil from faulty seals or rings.

When you go down a hill and use the engine as a brake what you are doing is increasing the vacuum in the engine/intake, that's the "brake", the drag on the engine that slows you down.

So if you go down a grade and down shift to use the engine as a brake you can build up higher vacuum in the engine.
Then at the bottom of the grade upshift and give engine some gas, watch tail pipe
If oil was sucked in then you will see a puff of smoke from the tail pipe when you give it some gas

 

I really appreciate the input from RonD who has posted in this thread. I did the glove test on the radiator, with no pulsing or sign of pressure when I turn the engine over, and I'm relieved I didn't have any pulsing. I am going to get my hands on a pressure tester to see if there is any pressure lose as well within the next few days. Also tried the downhill test to no avail, as I could no recreate any smoke whatsoever while I'm driving. I did though, have a good friend at work tell me to check my vacuum lines to see if any fluid is traveling through into the intake via vacuum, and I just remembered how my brakes do give after holding on a hill or incline for any amount of time. I pulled a few vacuum lines to see if there was any trace of brake fluid, but could only manage to get two or three loose to check. Is there any possibility brake fluid could seep from the booster through a line causing smoke at startup? I also may have figured out why the engine was slowly turning, as I park on an incline when I get home, and I put the truck in first gear, and the parking brake doesn't work and needs fixing desperately, so it may have just been settling. Like I said, thanks for the input, and I'm open to any more ideas or possibilities I have looked over.

 

Went to install a thermostat a couple of hours ago and come to find out, there was a thermostat in it. I replaced it regardless since I went as far to pull it out, and got everything back together. Maybe the temperature sensor is to blame for the needle not reading so well. Still wondering about the smoke. Started the truck today after a day and a half of sitting, and it didn't smoke the least bit.