smoke and associated concern

[ozimmerman]

My cub has been smoking (whitish) when I start it recently. I have assumed that it is condensation or something related to the cold. I goes away after a few minutes, but there is alot of it when initially. I became more concerned yesterday when I noticed a small amount of very tiny (pin prick sized) black droplets on the sheet metal adjacent to the funnel. I stuck my finger in the funnel (it was cool at the time...) and there is some black buildup in the funnel. When I put my hand over the pipe, I was not finding anything on my hand. Now I have never checked the inside of the funnel before, so I don't know if it is normal to have some buildup there and I don't know when the black droplets appeared. Any ideas what I might be looking at?

[Bigdog]

If you're not losing coolant or smelling antifreeze in the smoke, it is probably just condensation.

[ozimmerman]

I'll have to check the coolant, although I have a seperate coolant leak in the radiator that I haven't fixed so it may be a little hard to tell where loss is coming from. What would be the connection (I am mechanically illiterate... though trying to learn)? What about the black deposits? Is that a relatively normal occurance?

[schmibm]

Not sure what you mean by "funnel" unless you are talking about the exhaust pipe. If that is it, then yes it is very common to have black soot from the combustion process. This is why you change oil. This black soot is mixing with the condensation in the cold iron during the startup and causing it to collect on the hood and any adjacent surfaces.

Perfectly normal.

[Bigdog]

The connection would be coolant loss into the combustion chamber such as through a crack in the head into the combustion chamber. You would have white smoke but also the sweet smell of anti-freeze which would be an indication it was from the coolant system rather than just condensation.
The black soot in the exhaust is a common condition. If you're running a rich fuel mixture it gets worse.

[Gary Dotson]

The increased condensation of cold weather operation has a tendency to scrub soot from the exhaust pipe. The black specs you're seeing are very common in cold weather.

[ozimmerman]

thanks for the replies. The funnel is what some would call the muffler I guess

[RI Cub]

"he funnel is what some would call the muffler I guess "

Just don't pour gas down the that funnel..(!)