not sure what it is

w0158981 · Post by **w0158981** » Mon Oct 05, 2009 11:55 pm

so i got two things. first this morning my e brake seized and i came home later in the day and it worked fine. is there anything i can do to make sure this won't happen again.

next my car is smoking out the exhaust. more when i first start it up then it seems to calm down after a couple min. the thing is there is a strong smell of gas when the car is sitting still especially when i first start it. what is causing this?

thanks for any help.

neonslg09 · Post by **neonslg09** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 8:47 am

Blue, white, or black smoke?

Blue - oil[valve seals usually]
White - antifreeze[blown headgasket]
Black - fuel

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:35 am

as for your brake i've had this problem on my 00, it wouldnt release sometimes. best thing to do is take off the rear drum and spray the end of the ebrake cable with some lubricant, also there are a few pivot points on the linkage you should spray as well (dont get it on the pads). wouldnt hurt to blow out the drum and brake assembly a bit with some compressed air to get the crap and rust out.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:44 am

If the smoke is brown/black, then possibly an injector is leaking, giving it the raw fuel smell, and causing it to be overly rich at startup, blowing the smoke. This is something you want to fix now. The excess fuel will wipe out the rings/cylinder wall for that cylinder.

If it is the valve seals, plan on valve guides also. being a 2000, I'd guess the mileage is near or past 100,000. Mine needed exhaust guides at 112,000. It wasn't smoking, but it would have been a matter of time. Worn guides will stretch the seals out, till they no longer seal around the valve stem.

For the parking brake, I would pull the console off, and see if anything was under there blocking the handle, and spray some penetrating oil into the cable housing if you can. Chances are you may need to replace the cables. I would try lubing as much as possible anywhere the cable comes out of the outer cover. .

w0158981 · Post by **w0158981** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:17 am

the car will run and move fine now but the smoke is still there, and the smell of gas in still very strong on start up, it fills the cabin.

If it is a leaking injector, do i just need to have them cleaned by a dodge dealer? or do i need to replace it all together?

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:57 am

I would replace it. You could prolly check it by pulling the fuel rail/injectors out of the IM, and see if it is dripping/spraying. I would have a helper key on with it pointed into the injector holes, and slowly pull it away, being careful not to spray fuel everywhere, if it is even the problem. This is a very risky way to check tho. If it is spraying a good mist, you could have a nice explosion if it was ignited. If you attempt this, just pull it out enough to see if it is leaking. The pcm will automatically shut off the fuel pump, unless the helper is cranking the engine. With just a key on, the pump should run for about a second, then shut off. The residual pressure could keep a leak going for a few minutes tho.

The proper way would be to install a pressure gauge on the end of the rail, and check for pressure bleed off. But you are looking at about $60 for the right gauge.

It may be a hose broken in the evaporative system also. There is a hose that runs fromthe TB to under the brake booster to a soleinoid. if the tubing to that solenoid has failed, you may get a fuel odor.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:56 am

is it smoke or moisture in the exhaust?
Whith the temperatures dropping, you will see what seems to be smoke in the exhaust but it's actually steam from the high humidity first thing in the morning. This is normal when outside temeratures drop below 65deg....

tim8600 · Post by **tim8600** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:20 am

I had an issue with my e-brake last year. It got seized once and i took the drums off and found the brake lining came off the shoe. The rear brakes were the originals and my car had about 120k on it at the time. Replaced rear shoes, drums and hardware. Didn't have any problems once i replaced the rear brakes. The car was a manual trans so the e-brake was used all the time. i didn't find the cable binding anywhere.

AS for the fuel issue my car does the same thing at start up but i don't smell it inside unless the windows are down. I know that when the car is first started the pcm makes the fuel mix rich so that it will start easier and to help get it to open loop sooner.

Mat · Post by **Mat** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:34 pm

You can always start the car with one injector pulled and aimed into a soda bottle.

TeckNeon · Post by **TeckNeon** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:26 pm

Mat wrote:You can always start the car with one injector pulled and aimed into a pop bottle.

fixed for Western PA

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:09 pm

What I want to know, is how you only pull one injector, and have it work?

WTF was in that Soda Pop, anyways!

Mat · Post by **Mat** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 8:07 am

Thanks, Corey. Lulz.
And the car will run, just really badly, like it's misfiring. But the bottom line is that you're making it work on 3 cylinders. Cylinder x just turns into an air pump.