Smoke at Start Up

[Glennman]

Ok, I planned to fire it up last weekend, but didn't have time to mess with it. The plan was to take IR temps at the exhaust manifold to see if there is any unequal temps. I did that today, so here they are:

Starting from the rear passenger side and working full circle counter clockwise (I only ran the bus for about 20 minutes): 143, 142, 139, 136, 140, 143, 146, 148. Water temp was 150. I put the red dot on the small plate that has 2 bolts (inspection plate?) just prior to the actual manifold (about 1" from the manifold). You'll need to read previous posts to see why I am providing these readings.

The highest temp (148) was at the rear driver side where everything terminates at the 5" exhaust, and eventually to the muffler.

Not to convolute this thread, but when I started the bus, I had the little door open to the water reservoir, as I had been checking it for coolant freeze protection. It instantly started sputtering water out. Is that normal, to immediately upon starting and when it's cold? I'm thinking there is undue pressure due to head gasket or maybe some other breach?

Anyway, thanks for all your input! Glennman

[buswarrior]

How is the coolant tank plumbed?

If it is plumbed to have flow through it, yes you are going to have agitated coolant on start up.

If the tank is at the end of the line, with no flow through it, then there's some doom and gloom to discuss.

When did you take those temps? Right after start-up? The longer it runs, the further the heat spreads out, the trickier it is to identify a dead cylinder.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior