hello i have a 1995 dodge ram short bed short cab. i started getting a loss in power and a sligh backfire along with a strong smell of gas and a little bit of white smoke that also smelled like gas when you put your foot down in neutral or driving,so i just took the spark plugs wires distributor cap and rotor button, oil change and checked for vacuume leaks. and its still doing it , im not throwing a check engine light anymore. what could the problem be this is my daily driver and my baby i need it back on the road.
post to the forum thanks

mat

 

pull your upwind o2 plug and see if it runs better than before.. if so, your symptoms point toward a clogged catalytic converter as a start..

and, because this is simply what we do when someone new enters the forum: peak down your throttle body with the blades open, and look for pooling oil in your intake manifold.. if it is there, your plenum gasket is blown.. blown plenum gaskets can do what you've described, as well as foul a catalytic converter real fast like too.

good luck, and report back!

 

Who calls it a rotor button?cm.....94 or a 95? white smoke is water/coolant. Have a leak down performed.

 

I call it a rotor button too..

you're right in your figurin', but lets start him out small first and see if he can check the cat and the plenum gasket.. confirm he's getting ample spark... let's hope he doesn't have serious issues going on..

 

I have always heard it called a rotor button

 

That term has been around for 60 years that I know of.
I just call it a rotor.

 

I to call it a rotor to. Cap and rotor. Been around but no one i know of use that term. Parts counter guys would look at you funny if you called it a button.

 

X3 on cap and rotor. X2 on the leak down. White smoke is indeep water/antifreeze

 

Are you sure its actually white smoke? Or if you look carefully does it have a blue tint to it? I thought mine was white at first then actually paid attention...

 

smell of gas?, or smell of strong fumes from poorly burned combustion? he's likely running rich or burning up catalyst.. White smoke when he rev's in neutral? he's likely seeing not smoke but steam from condensation..

yah, leak down.. huh.. maybe he should start small and work his way up through the t/s sequence before going that direction maybe..

but then again, he hasn't been back to look at this thread, so maybe he solved it already, or it BTFU.. huh.. we've not enough to go on..