Ls1 white smoke :-(

[ACII]

Hy all,

after the ls1 swap was done , i did my first test ride today.

Unfortunately i recognized that there is a lot of white smoke (maybe also a bit blue , hard to say)

At idle there is almost no smoke, but at acceleration the engine starts to smoke a lot ....

After the test ride a made a short video ...so u can see the white smoke at smashing the gas pedal...

I got the engine of a Z28 camaro....i just bought the car for the swap..
Before i bought the camaro i made a test drive and there was no smoke.
Also on the highway back home i couldnt see any smoke...also at hard acceleration..

So now i am pretty wondering why the engine is smoking ! ???

At the swap i eliminated the egr system.

Also i reduced the lambda on two sensors... also no catalyst in the exhaust system

The pcm is programmed for the swap...

The fuel pressure is around 4 bar.


During the installation of the new air filter setup and checking the throttle body , i recognized that there is some grease inside of the intake manifold.
Looked like some oil grease...
Maybe the PCV system is not working correctly anymore....and the engine burns oil through the intake manifold ?

I read some articles on the internet ...it looks like its a common problem on the LS1 !!

What do u think ??

And how can i check the pcv system ??

Thanks a lot for ur help ....

CU
Achim
and sorry for my poor englis again

[ACII]

here is the link to the video

http://www.vidup.de/v/9I3GX/

CU
Achim

[BR3W CITY]

First; your truck looks really cool, and I'm digging the blue frame.
Second; your english is better than my Deutsch.

As for the engine, that looks like oil blowby. Is the smoke actually white, or does it have a blue color? Try putting a peice of white paper behind the exhaust and rev the motor...does any soot / oil stick to the paper?

Oil usage/blowby is usually a little bit grey/blue, and will leave a residue on your finger. Early LS motors had issues with oil consumption and blowby, so its very possible thats your problem. I'd recommend switching to a slightly thicker oil, and installing an Oil Catch Can in the PCV system. Its probably worth pulling the manifold off and cleaning out the existing oil so you can see if new oil builds up there.


If the smoke is actually white, it indicates coolant usage. This can happen if you have a damaged head gasket, damage to the waterjacket, or if the engine is leaking coolant anywhere into the vacuum system.

[Ole Greenie]

Originally Posted by BR3W CITY

First; your truck looks really cool, and I'm digging the blue frame.
Second; your english is better than my Deutsch.

As for the engine, that looks like oil blowby. Is the smoke actually white, or does it have a blue color? Try putting a peice of white paper behind the exhaust and rev the motor...does any soot / oil stick to the paper?

Oil usage/blowby is usually a little bit grey/blue, and will leave a residue on your finger. Early LS motors had issues with oil consumption and blowby, so its very possible thats your problem. I'd recommend switching to a slightly thicker oil, and installing an Oil Catch Can in the PCV system. Its probably worth pulling the manifold off and cleaning out the existing oil so you can see if new oil builds up there.


If the smoke is actually white, it indicates coolant usage. This can happen if you have a damaged head gasket, damage to the waterjacket, or if the engine is leaking coolant anywhere into the vacuum system.

Totally agree!

I had a 1979 528i while stationed there in the mid 80's and cracked a head. Your video doesn't look like a cracked head or a damaged head gasket (although it could be). White smoke was everywhere and the oil was milky. What does your oil look like? If still pure, I'd look into replacing the valve seals. If that doesn't resolve the issue (because the motor while in the Z28 was really ragged on!) it could need rings and/or a cylinder honing. It really doesn't look like much but with the stiff inspection requirements there in DE it could be problematic. It looks like blowzy to me too. What do your plugs look like? What did they look like when you replaced them before install?

[ACII]

Hy all

and thanks for the quick answers...

At the weekend i will check the oil ...also i will do a compression test again.

During the swap i already have done a compression test... i will post this datas later on.

Two more questions =

1.) During the swap i installed the engine on an engine-stand , i had to turn the engine for doing some stuff on the oil pan......maybe therefore i got some more oil into the intake manifold ????
I am just wondering why i dont have smoke at idling.....maybe the oil in the manifold will just be sucked into the cylinder at hard acceleration ???

2.) Last summer i had an engine blow up with my old chevy smallblock..so there was a lot of oil / water in the exhaust pipes....
After i installed the LS1 engine , i am still using the exhaust pipes from the smallblock.
Maybe the rest of the oil in the pipes are occuring the smoke ????

What do u think about these theories ?

thx
achim

[BR3W CITY]

Blowby will change with the amount of pressure in the engine/crank case. At idle, your only pulling a little vacuum. Under load, it creates more vacuum (sucks harder).

Its possible that your smoke is from old oil residue, but it would be more likely to smoke all the time if that were the case. For example, if you misted oil directly into your intake path, it would smoke until that all burned off.

Its a good idea to pop the intake off and clean the oil either way.

[earl84]

Sorry, no more help to offer than the other guys, but that sound is killer!! Hope you get it figured out.

[ACII]

Hy all

today i could make some pics of some spark plugs...

also u can see the datas of the compression test on the pic.

Attention the figures are in bar not in psi

the numer 1 and 5 is the front of the engine...so my worst cylinder is the first on the driverside (view infront of the engine)

At the weekend i will have a look into the manifold...

What do u think about the test and sparks ?

[ptc]

First things first....

On this engine you have, how long had it been sitting around before you installed it into your truck?

Were the cylinders oiled during the time it sat in non operation?

Are those the same plugs that were used after non-operation?

Based on your comp test numbers, you have some stuck rings, or bad ones, if they werent oiled than they are bad most likely. If they were, than just run it a bit more an see if they will unstick themselves with those old plugs (like 200-300 miles) and if not youre gonna be doing a ring job....

New plugs and you'll be good to go!

[BR3W CITY]

Alright, math time.

1 Atmosphere ~/= 1Bar = 14.5 PsIG (14.5 vs 14.689) I'm gonna use 14.5

1. 162.4
2. 176.9
3. 176.4
4. 171.1
5. 152.25
6. 181.25
7. 192.85
8. 200.1

Highest cylinder is #8 @ 200.1 so the least we want to see is a product equal to 70% of that cylinder. 200.1*.70=140.7

So technically speaking, all of your cylinders are within that. However, you do you have two cylinders which are showing around 20% less compression.

[ACII]

hy

i bought the camaro 2014 / july ...so the first start after the swap i did 2015 / february

The spark plugs are also the same old ones of the camaro... the engine has only around 50.000 miles on it

During the swap i did not oil the cylinders...
i just oiled "one" cylinder at the compression test (the baddes one) to see if the compression is getting better.

Do u think that short time could be reason for stucking rings ?

Are there any favourable spark plugs on the market for the ls1 ???

Thanks again

CU
ACHIM

[ACII]

During the swap i also changed the oil

i got 5W 30

[ACII]

hy all

just one more information

Today i made another test drive...

At the beginning there was no smoke , driving up a little hill i suddenly got a lot of smoke.

i turned over and drove directly to a mechanic with a lot of hands on experiences.

He told me the white smoke is coming from burning oil....
He also checked the sound of the engine....everything should be fine.

So i am pretty sure there are some oil rests anywhere in the manifold...driving up a hill e.g. the oil gets into the cylinders...

So at the weekend i will check the inside of the manifold with a endoskop..

Also i will do a longer ride.... :-)

I keep u updated

Thanks
Achim

[ACII]

Hy again

after the testdrive from yesterday , i came back to the garage today and saw a lot of oil dropping out of the end of the exhaust

As u can see on the pic...

Therefore i have disassembled the whole exhaust til to the headers...to check if there is also some oil slick....

Fortunately the header is totally dry...as u can see on the pic.

So in my opinion it looks like there is still some old oil of the smallblock blow up....
I do have cherrry bombs installed in the exhaust.

The bombs are acting like a oil collector....after i have dissamsembled the exhaust i placed the pipes vertical ..after a while i could see running oil out of the pipes...

To get the pipes cleaner i sprayed some brake cleaner into the pipes...i hope during the night the most of the oil will get out of the pipes and cherry bomb..

What do u think about my new theory ???

Thanks
Achim

[clinebarger]

The old small must of broke in spectacular fashion to dump that much oil in the exhaust.

I concur, The engine is not burning oil!

The Fiberglass in your Cherry Bombs is soaked with oil, I doubt you will ever get it all out.

Have you considered replacing them?

[BR3W CITY]

Interesting....so thats why it doesn't smoke when its cold. Its like burning the old fat off the grill the next time your having a BBQ

[ACII]

another test drive today..... after i have cleaned the pipes with brake cleaner, the smoke wasnt that bad anymore....but still there.
I will give it a try, if i still have smoke after 100 - 200km driving than i will eliminated the cherry bombs :-) ..generally i want to install some cut outs so that would be a good reason to start that project :-)

@clinebarger
U are right.....i had a big whole in the cylinder wall.. so i pumped a lot of coolant / oil mixture through the exhaust ..... the view into the rear mirror was really fabulous at this moment "lol"