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Poof !! 200

The "Ghost" made a big "poof" under the hood on restart today, along with a big cloud of blue oily smelling smoke. Scary, looked terminal. Waited a few minutes and she started right up and ran fine the rest of the day. What gives?? Hairball??? Thanx.








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    Valve opened? 200

    A backfire occurs when the mixture's ignition is synchronized to the valve opening and closing.

    Usually it's a matter of a (premature) ignition happening when the intake valve is still open -- after all, if both valves are closed the explosion isn't going anywhere (it's confined to the combustion chamber).
    Possibilities include an intake valve that became stuck and stayed open when the spark fired the mixture.
    Or it could be some hot piece of metal in the cylinder, or somehow the spark fired very early, prematurely igniting the mixture before the intake valve closed.








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    Poof !! 200

    Does it take forever to start, cracking over and over? could need a tune up.

    Usually backfires out the intake are timing related, but this I doubt is the cause here.

    Could also be a clogged PCV system? Have you lceaned your flame trap lately?








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      Poof !! 200

      I'm curious to know where the blow-back could escape. Air Filter intake? Flame trap? Please let us know as I am curious.








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        Poof !! 200

        Where's my flame trap? It's an 80 B21 Thanx








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          Poof !! 200

          Hey grey ghost if its the same as my 82 b21 its under the intake manifold. There is a little hose that connects to the intake manifold right in the center, if you follow that little hose you will find it. Like I said this hinges on if the motor is set up the same way, You can also remove the idle air control valve(big thing on the intake manifold probably gold with two big hoses on either side) if you pull that off you can see the flame trap better. It is comprised of a small hose that goes to the intake manifold and a large hose that runs down below the throttle body, the flame trap itself is a little plastic cup with holes in it(kinda like a smashed thimble) and it sits inside the part that goes into the block. If any of these become plugged(and they do)it can cause backfires and if your lucky like me it will only blow the flame trap apart and not blow out your engine seals, it creates an vacuum leak but compared to the time and money to replace the seals its an easy fix. Look under the 700/900 FAQ on this site and it will give you detailed info on replacing it, its a pretty easy job but if you have giant hands it could be a bit difficult:). Parts are cheap and you can probably get everything you need from the stealership or off of FCPGROTON.com, good luck.








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            Poof !! 200

            Flame trap looks OK. Going to go with the tune-up idea. Plugs,cap rotor,new air filter. It's been a while.








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              Poof !! 200

              It can look ok but those lines could be plugged with goo, tune up is always a good idea but don't count out the flame trap. If you don't know when it was cleaned if ever then it is a good idea to replace the parts and clean it out. Good luck.








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                Poof !! 200

                If you've had the car a while and never even cleaned this thing - it would be foolish to ignore it.

                Carefully loosen or remove any components blocking access to the flame trap, then simply first remove the hoses to the top of the trap. Next, unbolt the trap and carefully lift it off of the hose going down to the oil pan. The most dangerous thing about this job is that you don't want to dislodge the hose going to the oil pan. It's not common for this to happen - but some people go jerking and yanking and tugging - so it needs to be said to avoid problems.

                The flame trap is a black box with plastic baffles - this can be rinsed with heavy degeaser and hot water. Just pour the chemicals into the box and fill with water. Shake it and repeat many times until stuff stops coming out and/or air easily passes through the input/output tubes. Dry thoroughly.

                The flap trap filter/nipple should be replaced - but can be cleaned to some degree while you wait for a replacement. Hit it with carb-cleaner as it will be caked on oil.

                It's nothing complex - but clogged, it will put back pressure on the engine and the next place oil will come out will be your seals.

                Good luck!

                jamie







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