First poster non mechanic here. I recently got a 92 KS4. Haven't had much of a chance to drive it until today to run a few errands around town. When I parked it back home I noticed the engine smoking...not from the exhaust but from around the engine block and nothing too terrible but still concerning. Coolant and oil levels are fine. No indication while driving it that it was overheating based on driving performance and temp gauge. I was doing mainly stop and go city driving for around 25 minute. Oh and I should mention it's 98 degrees out with high humidity and I was running the AC. My biggest fear is a head gasket issue. Any advice?
Head Gaskets are not terribly common failure on these engines. My initial thought would be valve cover gasket, but it would really need to be inspected.
Thanks for the reply. Good to hear about the head gasket not usually being a problem. I won’t have a chance to dive into it deeper for a minute just hope it’s not too serious. This was the first time I drove with the ac running and there were no problem before that.
Mine is doing the same and after closer inspection it wasnt just a lil bit of oil residue..... Massive valve cover leak onto manifold cover, around block on both sides, down to the oil filter location and underneath the engine. CAKED in oil. Make sure you use permatex ultra grey sealant for the 90° corners of the gasket (pea size dallops). I thought i didn't need to and it instantly leaked lol It is smoking less now that the leak is gone and carb cleaned the easily accessible spots but I need to take wheel and engine cover off to spray the sides of engine and then degrease underneath.
I'm thinking mine has is the same issue. I still haven't had time to get in and really look around as I've been traveling a lot recently. I'll update here once I figure out what's going on.
my valve cover gasket did that. Not a hard fix. Good time to adjust the valve lash while you have it off.
