Smoky startup after sitting

delco1946

delco1946

Senior Member
What causes a rough idle and Smokey start up after sitting for 3+ weeks? My 55 crown Victoria starts every time all the time but if I let it sit for over 3 weeks and start it, it has a lopsided idle and when I turn around lots of white smoke. Is there a way to address this? The car is in great shape with a non original 292. I don’t know if what the odometer says is for that particular engine or the car, it reads almost 100k.
 
White smoke usually indicates moisture in the cylinder. The rough idle could be moisture on the affected cylinder's plug until it clears out. It shouldn't take 3 weeks for it to occur, however. Is the cooling system loosing any coolant? Is the smoke from both sides of the exhaust? I would pull the spark plugs after it has set for the required time and see if there is moisture on any of them. I hope there is another answer, good luck and let us know what you find.

PS: You might pressurize the system to 16# or so and see if it holds pressure. If it doesn't, it might push more coolant into the affected cylinder (if that is the problem) to speed up diagnosis.
 
I’ve never noticed it loosing coolant. I’ll take a look at the plugs sometime to see what’s going on. Thanks
 
My 55 crown Victoria starts every time all the time but if I let it sit for over 3 weeks and start it, it has a lopsided idle and when I turn around lots of white smoke.
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Does it just do it after a long shut-down? Is it smoke, water vapor or smell heavily of gasoline? Does the idle improve after warm-up?

It may be a defective/mis-adjusted choke. It may be an internal coolant leak, weak ignition or bad gasoline.

Pulling the plugs and reading them should give a clue -
 

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I drive my car frequently so I dont get to experience it often, only 3 times maybe over the last 2 years, but it continues to run rough for several minutes (at least), almost sounds like it wants to stall out but doesnt. I get impatient and just start driving it to increase the rpms and get past the issue. As far as the smell.... hmmmm.... i cant be too positive due to the infrequency. It certainly smells more than just water vapor. The spark plugs could be ancient for all i know, ive never looked since acquiring the car 2 years ago and i havent really had a reason to. (shame on me i know). We're due for rain for the next week and my storage place is too tight to work in so it might be a couple weeks before i can report back.
 
The spark plugs could be ancient for all i know, ive never looked since acquiring the car 2 years ago and i havent really had a reason to. (shame on me i know).
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SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
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You have to have a good state of tune (incl valve adjustment). What I forgot to say, does the smell of gasoline seem heavy when first started and you are standing behind the car? You also have to consider valve seals if it smokes @ first start.
 
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