Smoke ?

[oldcars99]

just aquired a fiat 124 1978 spider... got it where it runs fine now but over 20 miles of driving it starts smoking under the hood... No loss of water or oil and no excessive heat on the guage... Dont make any sinse why it does that... What could be the problem ?

[azruss]

what does it smell like. burning oil, exhaust! It doesnt take much oil to produce smoke. look at the dizzy gasket and see if it is leaking on the exhaust manifold. also look for exhaust leak.

[81SPIDERMATT]

my guess is SOMETHING is leaking.... could be a small amount of oil that goes unnoticed by the dip stick... could be grease working its way out of something... what does it smell like... can you stop and see where it is coming from... or it could be 25 other things.... sorta need a little more info than it smokes

[oldcars99]

Yes it smells like oil... Whats a dizzy gasket ? I do have a hose missing that goes from the breather to a peice of thin pipe looking peice that has holes around the base... Ive never owned a old forein car before so i dont realy know much about this car other than it cost me 800$ & i like it... What oil should be run in the engine ?

[TulsaSpider]

That is the vapor separator. You are missing the tube that should come up and vent to the air cleaner. Dizzy is short for distributor. Another place these leak is there are two exhaust studs that go through oil passageways and they tend to leak. take a mirror and look under the exhaust manifold to inspect. Tighten the bolts if need be. Same on the intake side as well. These are fun cars! Welcome! Post pics and good luck!

[oldcars99]

TulsaSpider could ya send some pictures of what you describing ? I know where the carb is & how to work on that and the thing what has points in it with plug wires going to the plugs... Thats bout i know...

[dhagood]

the thing with points in it and plug wires running out from it is the distributor, known colloquially as the dizzy.

[oldcars99]

I got it... gonna looksee after i run it a little tomorrow just till it starts smokin again...

[azruss]

There is a paper gasket between the distributor and the head. if that leaks it drips to the exhaust manifold. since you crankcase breather hose is venting under the hood and not thru the air cleaner, that is probably your problem. the picture will show you were the separator is. that may require removing and cleanings. It has a bunch of baffles in it.

[WYSpider]

Russ is the "oil vapor seperator" hose the same as a crank case ventilation hose?

[oldcars99]

Thanks a bunch folks, great explanations & pictures... I found 2 problems this morning... Under the distributer the gasket was almoast gone then (may be wrong term for the part) the heads have 2 allen head bolts on top, 1 in front & 1 in back... The front allen was loose enough i turned it 1 1/2 turns before it even came in contact with the head... Maybe its a valve cover steadin of a head... Anyhow that stoped the leak after fixing those 2 things... Now i get to trace out the wiring & see where the problem is in the turn signals... Maybe I just have the wrong bulbs in somewhere... The hazards work fine as does the right turn signal... The left turn sig dont work... I downloaded wiring diagrams of the net... Got any ideas to where a mechanic book can be downloaded on this car ? This car is going to be a blast to restore...