Does this sound like valve seals to you?

[xtreme80]

1980 C10 with a crate 350.

If I let the truck sit for an hour or so, or after it's been sitting all night, then try to start it up, it blows a bunch of white smoke out the pipe. A couple of the plugs are covered in oil if I pull them out. I will get some white smoke while driving, but very little. It's mostly when I just start it up.

We did a compression test on it, and that comes up normal. When I had it in the chevy dealership under warranty, they told me it was the intake manifold gasket that was causing the oil to get sucked into the engine. I fixed this, and it's still doing it.

My only thoughts would be rings or valve seals, and if it was rings, I would think the compression test would show this, and it would puff more smoke while driving.

Thoughts?

[69BBsuburban]

Are ya losing water? WHITE smoke generally is water, not oil. Oil will be blue smoke.....another way to check is if it smokes blue when letting off the throttle when travelling downhill....the high engine vacuum will pull oil through the bad valve guide seals.

Sounds like valve guides/seals........

[xtreme80]

No water loss. I know it isn't coolant, cuz it's a completely different smell.

I know people say that the smoke from oil will be blue, but I just dont' see it. never have.

[Malo83]

My 83 305 has been doing this for years , yeah it's the valve guides, has 198K miles on her , but like you said only does it at the first start of the day and she's fine after that, normal small block function
John

[xtreme80]

Yeah but this crate 350 only has 3000 miles on it, and it's gotten worse in the last 2 weeks. My point of getting a crate long block was so I didn't have to deal with this ****, yet I'm getting it all over again.

[Dean]

Most likely the valve seals. I've had to replace them in my Elcamino SS and my 85 C20 as well. Use the umbrella type seals for sure if you do it. My Geo Tracker has done it for awhile with 160,000 but I'm not worrying about it. Keeps the mosquitoes away.......

[xtreme80]

Are they difficult to do? I mean I have an extra set of heads here in case I need to swap those over, but if I do valve seals, do I have to pull the heads off?

I've got all the tools I could need, it's just a pain in the ass to pull heads when I don't have to.

[ureckme]

What kind of crate moter. Is it a remanufactured or the made in Mexico moter. Or is it one of the better ones. It could be something else making it smoke. So when are you coming by so I can look at it.
Matt

[ureckme]

There is a tool you can use but you do one valve at a time

[f.monroe]

Since this question about valve stem seals is here , which seals do you guys like better ? The standard umbrella seals or the press on style that has the steel clips that hold them in place . Will the floating umbrella style really cut down on the initial start up smoke enough to justify the work involved in doing valve stem seals ? Frank

[Srubydo1986]

you do not have to remove the heads to fix it. make a fitting that would fit in the spark plug hole and run air to it. this so when ur working on the valves the compression from the air will keep them up and wont let them fall into the block. But for safty just in case, run the piston to the top so if they do fall in you still wont have to remove the head, just pick it up and let the air set in back in place.


Just a thought never done it but iv heard many people have and it work from what they said.

[benoit454]

I also seen on tv you can feed in a large piece of nylon rope to stuff the cylinder full then take it apart and do it so it won't drop down.

I run the o-rings and umbrellas on my monte carlo!!!! The kit I got had both and heads would use either or, and some had both on them!!!! so I used both.

My monte carlo engine didn't have many miles on it either, and it was white, and was oil smoke, valve seals stopped it. The 84 truck does it and it's blue smoke.