Engine started smoking (white) at low idle but this was sporatic. This began a week ago. At the time I noticed that the plastic coolant reservoir looked like it contained some oil in it. Then, a couple of days ago, while pulling a lightly loaded utility trailer the truck died at a traffic signal. It restarted but a huge cloud of black smoke poured out the exhaust up startup. Then, after driving a mile or so, smoke billowed out from under the hood. I pulled over, opened the hood and it was smoking pretty bad. The engine wasn't making any noise but looked like it was going to bust out in flames. After awhile it cooled down and stopped smoking and I could see oil on the side of the engine. It looked like the plastic coolant container had boiled over (it was boiling at that time) and sprayed the engine. I have not restarted the engine but had it towed home. How can I trouble shoot this to determine the problem. Note: the engine appears low on oil and the coolant level is low. I've not tried to determine just how low either of these are yet. Thanks...
Jun 17, 2008 at 12:42 PM