Help with cat coverter question

[jwt101]

My festy has been running a little rich, and was also sucking a little oil from the valve cover into the intake tubing. So i decided to fix it this weekend. Got that all fixed now and i have noticed a new problem. Now when i run the car i get a kind of white/mist/vapor smoke out the tailpipe. I dont think i saw this before cause of the smoke from the oil it was sucking. It does not smell like oil or antifreeze but like something burning. It is a real funny smell that is kind of like burning metal. I checked to see if maybe the brake booster was leaking fluid in to the manifold and it is dry. I cleaned all intake tubing. Compression good all across, Just had a headgasket about 3000 miles ago so that should be ok and there is no signs of leaking there at all. I'm wondering if the cat got dirty inside and is now burning it out. I dont really have alot of time with these since i have never have lived in a place where there is testing done and cars i had/have dont have them on anymore. The car seems to run fine plenty of power and about 32mpg (1989 efi auto). Has anybody had a problem with a cat converter making the exhaust smoke and stink.

[FestYboy]

that "smoke" is water vapor, a byproduct of the cat reaction. also there's a burn in period on a new cat. i would however, replace the plugs with some quality copper cores and post pics of the old ones.

[jwt101]

I dont think it is just water vapor. The smoke is to dense and to much for just water vapor i would think. I dont know the age of the cat but it is not new by anymeans i do know that. The plugs looked a little black from running rich but were not oil soaked or anything like that. I put them in new when the head went back on. I put them in my spark plug cleaner and tester and they tested good. I will drive it for a couple days and see if it cleans it self out. I would post pics but my camera broke when i dropped it and still have not replaced it yet.

[jwt101]

I think i answered my own question. I pulled the vac line to the auto trans mod and it was full of trans fluid. A good source of white smoke and bad smell. So i will run it for a bit and see. It seems like a good time for a B6 conversion. the old engine is getting tired anyway after 250 thousand. I have also been thinking about making this car into a small truck as i really like the way they look. So mb this winter i will just take care of all of it at once.