Engine Knocking Over 50mph, Surging Idle, White Smoke

[Plutocracy]

Cars are made of smoke, when the smoke gets bored or doesn't like you it runs away

This makes sense. Tomorrow I'll take it to the shop and ask 'em to put some more smoke in to replace all the good smoke I lost today :lol:

[iceracerdude]

Don't panic yet, when the timing's too far advanced OR you have too much carbon buildup in the combustion chambers, you get knocking. The "too much" carbon situation makes the compression ratio go up is why you get knocking from that. It will also cause a slight to high overtemp situation as well. You can do a sea foam treatment to get rid of the carbon and you will sea results from the very first treatment, you may need a few (reads: one can does three treatments). You need a timing light to check/set the timing, but until you do the sea foam treatment, just use a couple of tanks of midgrade to stop the knocking somewhat (see how that works) Then while you get the carbon under control, you'll have time to figure out who can check the timing for you. And if it turns out to be just excessive carbon, you will have gotten that under control and you probably won't have to "time" it in the end.
The "idle surging" sounds like a vaccum line broken or off and/or a tps going bad. All inexpensive things to fix, mainly because you can do most of them yourself.
The brake thing is a sticking caliper, when you replace them, make sure you get the lifetime replacement deal like Advance or AutoZone offers with there's
Parking on dirt, gravel, or grass really, REALLY accelerates caliper deterioration as well as anything else on a car that can rust.

[Plutocracy]

The "idle surging" sounds like a vaccum line broken or off and/or a tps going bad.

I had almost forgotten about that with the excitement of the day. I really need to pick up a Haynes manual for stuff like that.

[iceracerdude]

Just think of as you would any good tool except that if you buy it "used, good condition" from amazon.com for $1.02 with $3.99 shipping, it will be the most cost effective tool you've ever owned! This link may take you right there: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

[Plutocracy]

Just think of as you would any good tool except that if you buy it "used, good condition" from amazon.com for $1.02 with $3.99 shipping, it will be the most cost effective tool you've ever owned! This link may take you right there: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

Aha! I 1-click ordered that so fast I don't think Amazon knows what happened! Thanks for that!

Well I've got a much more manageable problem now, but a problem like the rotors/hubs/calipers/bearings/etc... I'll let someone who has actually used a wrench for car work take a look at it sometime this three day weekend. Can anyone recommend a good mechanic or Festy enthusiast in South Florida?

And thanks for the help everyone! Sorry about the initial misinfo, AM driving mishaps before caffeine ingestion are tough for me to self-diagnose.

[Damkid]

It's sounding to me like you have a seized caliper or a collapsed flex line, if your not too great with mechanical stuff, then taking it to a shop is probably a good idea to get properly diagnosed before replacing parts lol

[4wheeldevil]

i told you to give costa a call

[Plutocracy]

i told you to give costa a call

I told you he didn't pick up his phone lol

I'll call him tomorrow during the day when he's more likely to answer