Smokey Vectras

Following a recent problem of '96 2Litre Vectra deciding to miss-fire
occasionally resulting in a great cloud of smoke (white to oilly blue),
..The occassional miss eventually ended up constant with noticable loss
of coolant although no apparent signs in the oil. The car has had head
removed, gasket looked fine.
Head was skimmed and replaced, compression ok, still misses and blows
clouds of smoke, albeit , intermittently. Next train of thought is to
question if a cylinder may be hairline cracked.I have since read
other's similar SMOKEY problems but alass i can find no conclusion
to them.
I am reluctant to throw much more money at it, just to progress through
a process of elimination.
I Would appreciate any helpful comments.
Robby

 

First off, I will assume its a petrol. (I cant remember if theres a 2l
diesel of that vintage.)
Also, is it missing when hot? cold? under load? all? other?
best guess from the limited info you have given is a cracked head, leaking
pressurised coolant into the exhaust tract.

FYI smoke colours:.

white-water

blue-oil

black-fuel (unburnt, i.e. soot)

Mike

 

Hi Mike
Yes it's Petrol.
The missfires occurred when accelerating, albeit resonably sedately,
but very infrequently.
This is accompanied by a large cloud of mostly white smoke but definate
element of pale blue, as the cloud lingers in my wake, and does not
disperse particularly quickly.But the car will then drive perfectly
well for many miles until a subsequently similar event.
Thanks for your comments