Answer - for those researching
The car drove and drove and drove - then one day it would have trouble starting.
Once the car was started in the morning - it would start and run all day, without regard to how many times I stopped and started it.
Eventually I grew weary of the "I'm not going to start right away" syndrome, and replaced the fuel pumps, figuring the pumps were making noise, and they may be getting stuck.
The trouble starting the car continued, so I took it to my friendly shop. He agreed the issue is with the fuel system, so he investigated, inspecting each part.
He eventually decided the issue was the fuel control unit - so he replaced it with a "good used one".
All is well.
As a matter of fact - the gray smoke coming out the back is gone also - so I'm thinking the cause for the fuel (smoke) coming from the tail pipe was the fuel control unit.
Hope this helps others.
