Oh yea, are you asking about a Fram fuel filter or oil filter?

Fram oil filter. Just how loose was the distributor?

Just loose enough for me to barely twist it by hand. It was out of adjustment about 1", I would guess. I always time it by my ear. Anything a manual or mag may suggest is not near where I have it set. I'm sure most of you set it by sound as well. Any ideas for the smoke? Should I just put in a new pump? Have I damaged the walls at all from lack of lubrication? Definately not blow by. Any help is always appreciated.

Thanks

Junkie.. Get a lght on that thing. You have no idea where the timing is set till you do. Many of us on here have timed hundreds of engines.. NONE of us think we can set the timing by ear. It'll do till you get home but that is all your ear can accomplish. PUT A LIGHT ON IT!
The smoke you THINK is white is prolly a thin grey.. Grey is oil. Oil comes from two places. The valve guides and the rings. Since you have a new engine I would first suspect the valve guides. Pulling the plugs and inspecting them is a first thing to do. If all the plugs look similiar then you prolly have leaky valve seals. However if ONE plug is screwed badly then you might have a ring problem.
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Is it white smoke or steam? Check the water in the radiator, not just the bottle. I agree with putting a light on it for peace of mind if nothing else.

Check the radiator. Look for anything other than coolant. If you see any glaze on the survace of the fluid, like oil slick on wet pavement, you most likely have an issue with a head gasket or something where the oil and the coolant could mix.
From the statements of smoke otherwise, look for cheaply made plug wires, faulty distributor cap or rotor. I've seen this a lot in vans for some reason, check your plugs next, look for what has already been covered in other posts reagarding this....
A little smoke isn't that horrible, but is part of troubleshooting. If you had a billowing issue, that would be different....
Please read our posts and reply to them. We can answer your questions a lot easier if you do this.

O.K. - Here we go. First I use a light on intial timing of an engine, after I know where it it is I can adjust up or down a bit for final timing by listening. Just how people I run with have alwys timed an engine. Chilton's for instance is about 4 degrees off of what it actually should be set at for my set up. I don't want you to think I just set any old place, I referenced the "suggested" timing when we first fired it and then adjusted where it needed to be.

Last Night Leaving Work - Fired up just fine, very quickly as always. As I pulled away it started that poping, stuttering thing with lots of white smoke, and with each shift. I mean I was at a light and smoked the entire intersection (You want to talk about embarrasing). I drove off about a mile up the road to my bank where I knew I had an empty parking lot, smoking the whole way. Got out reved a bit, tons of smoke. Stopped the vehicle, pulled plug wires and retached firmly (fells like it may be misfiring), check pvc valve, carb, etc. Fired back up with little to no smoke. Drove down the road, hopped out and reved it with zero smoke whatsoever. Drove 15 min down the road, ran perfect no smoke and stopped for gas. Filled up, fired her up, reved her serveral times, ran smooth and clean, not even a hint of smoke. Drove the next 15 min home, running perfect. (Each 15 min run was running about 55 mph) Slowed down to make a left towards my house, downshifted into second and it blew mass amounts of white smoke out as I accelerated through second, third & into fourth. Running slow and rough. Feels like it about 3/4 the regular amount of power. Like not running on all 6 cyl. Fired it up this morning, lots of smoke and it is spraying black water onto the pavement. Doesn't smell like anything really but exhaust. Not oil, gas, coolant, etc. I pulled the radiator cap and coolant is right at the top, so I figure not a head gasket. Will pull plugs when I get home tonight. What do you think? I am at a loss as why it would do it and then run perfect with no smoke? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Would love to figure it today. Had plans to wheel tomorrow.

Thanks Again

Ok Junkie now slip out there and check the timing again with a light and tell us just WHERE you have it set.
The smoke is OIL SMOKE! The hotter you get the engine the less you can SEE the smoke.. It is burning all the way into the exhaust pipe.
You indicate you "downshift" Does that mean that you do what semi's do and you actually SLOW the vehicle with a lower gear? If so that is when the engine is loading up with oil from the valve guides & seals.
Also the guides continue to drip onto the valve grinds while the engine is turned off. When starting again you have a "load" of oil to burn coming into the cylinders.. And it does not burn too good in a cold system. Hence the smoke. Then as the engine system including the manifold and exhaust pipe heats to optimum temp most of the smoke is burnt away and it is not seen..
Big JIm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Jim - Thanks for the response again. I will check the timing and get back to you. When I intially Timed the Jeep w/ the DUI Ignition, Weber card, no cat or emmsions, etc. I could not get the engine to run smooth at the suggested timing it was all over the place. By adjusting it slightly a few degrees in my opionion, it has ran great for 1500 miles. I don't know why that would change all of the sudden and what would account for the sputtering and poppping, rough running? It feels like its not running on all 6 cyl. An ideas? I will check the timing and get back to you. Thanks again.

Jim - 100% RIGHT. Timing was about 6 - 7 degrees out. Set at about 12, 13. Set it about 6 and it is perfect. Nice throttle response, no smoke etc. I will never set my timing b y ear again. Been doing it so long and never had an issue, thought I was always right. Learn something new yesterday. Thanks!!!