Mercruiser 5.7 mystery smoke

[B Rad G]

Alright, fellas. Here's one more from this never ending project. Finally have everything dialed in to where she starts up and idles steady. Just noticed there is a faint white smoke at the front of the engine. Looks like it's coming from behind one of the pulleys, but with the engine running, the air is blowing it around so I'm not exactly sure where it's coming from. Any areas that are obvious that I'm not thinking of. Smells like maybe oil or exhaust, I can't be sure. It's a '94 5.7 with a 2bbl mercarb on it. Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott Danforth]

there is no fan, other than the little one on the alternator, so there shouldnt be much air movement

nothing behind the pulleys that would cause that, however a slipping belt would cause smoke

exhaust smell would be a bad exhaust gasket between the manifold and head.

 

[QBhoy]

I’ll throw in a wild card of maybe you spilled a little oil when filling the rocker cover oil filling inlet. It’s now running down and under onto exhaust and burning off.
Im always an optimistic soul haha.

 

[B Rad G]

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think there was anywhere for it to come from. Maybe the belt, but it seems good. The smoke is very faint. Unless you're right up next to it, you can't see it, but every little thing makes me nervous. It's possible there could be residual oil somewhere. It only shows up when the engine is warm. I'll take a closer look.

 

[BudL1te]

If it were a belt, I suspect you would be smelling burning rubber. Usually you would hear a noise too.

 

[pmtom1]

I just had an alternator smoke. Started as very faint and I attributed to drip burn off. Then it turned thicker and alt eventually died. It definitely had a electrically smell. The belt / fan was making it hard for me to locate also until it got worse. Try warming it up to the temp you said it starts then cut the engine and look while everything is still.