MD XJ

Replaced my clutch and went to start er up, white smoke coming from engine bay. At first just the smoke, then it started idling oddly, kind of sputtering a tiny bit.

Something to know:
1. I couldn't get the bolts out of my exhaust manifold flange, so I had to cut the heads off to remove the exhaust. I also couldn't get them out after the exhaust was removed, so I clamped the two flanges together really tightly when I put the exhaust back on. The first smoke that I saw was coming from this flange. However, I also noticed smoke coming from the engine. Could this be my problem?

Could it be the O2 sensors? I rotated the flywheel a lot when trying to get the transmission lined up, was that a no no?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated... I'm going nuts over this damn Jeep.

MD XJ

Does this sound like a head gasket issue? It wasn't smoking before I changed the clutch.

rrich

Oily fingers on the exhaust system and manifold while you did the clutch? And penetrating oil on those bolts?

Let it burn off a few minutes. It can take awhile. Make sure it's NOT a broken fuel line. It's right there where you were working.

Rotating the flywheel won't hurt anything - the engine does that all the time. LOL

A head gasket is unrelated to the clutch - unless you REALLY screwed up! LOL

Did you knock off or break a plug wire when reaching down behind the engine?

Good luck on the way you clamped it - that seldom works. You'll probably have to do it right soon.

I've replaced the broken bolts - using a small angle drill and easy outs, (sometimes a reverse drill bit works,) but depending on which ones are broken, you may have to pull the head off.

If the exhaust manifold leaks, even a little, it can get too much fresh air - O2 - on the O2 sensors, causing the computer to think it's too lean, it increases fuel, making it misfire.

Why is it so often a simple job turns into a major one?

MD XJ

Ended up failing inspection, and I had to replace the exhaust manifold (among other things).

She runs pretty good now! Passed inspection and all