Cascade Crew

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:33 pm Post subject: How much oil can bad heads burn?

So I've finally put the camaro into project status now that I have a new daily driver. I'm not proud but its a good economic car, 08 grand prix lol Now its time to get into figuring out why the hell my new motor is burning oil. I've got a slight puff of smoke at startup, and if I nail the throttle it smokes. Sooooo common sense would say bad valve guides correct? Is there any way to figure out for sure without either throwing down $ for new heads or tearing it apart? I rented a compression tester but of course...couldnt use it because my headers get in the way. Any creative ideas?

I ran more dye in the oil and ran over it with the uv light, not a single sign of leakage. How much oil can a bad set of heads burn?? Its kind of ridiculous the amount of oil I'm going through. My ultimate fear is that the rings weren't installed properly, especially considering bowtie performance built the block and I hope to god he did it right, I don't want to tear into the bottom end any time soon...I'm not even 10k miles in with it

chevymad · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:04 pm Post subject:

Valve seals will smoke when you're decelerating. Smoke when you nail it wouldnt be valve seals.. sounds more like rings. The puff when you start it is seals however.

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:07 pm Post subject:

Seals, seats...both dealing with the heads lol I want to get it taken care of sooner rather than later, as far as head choices go though I'm lost. Specs as well as the cost kinda throw me for a loop lol

aaron_sK · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:14 pm Post subject:

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:18 pm Post subject:

What? No the grand prix is fine lol this is about the camaro, the grand prix just has a power steering pump that growls like a pissed off cat constantly

aaron_sK · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:20 pm Post subject:

I know, I was asking if it had the L26, then I mentally changed gears on you and asked about the Camaro engine. Laughing

Now shifting back, is the pump drawing air or is the bearing shot?

Alphius · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:23 pm Post subject:

He said it smokes when he nails it. Likely to be a ring sealing issue. A leakdown test might tell you more.

Switching gears, might it not be oil smoke? If not oil, it could be just massively rich...

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:25 pm Post subject:

Aaron you're killing me lol its got the 3.8na motor, I popped the cap off and checked the fluid, dirty as hell, flushed it and it got quieter, just gonna do it again

I don't see any smoke until I let off the throttle to shift but I'm assuming that's because i cacan't see it until the volume goes down what do you mean by over run?

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:27 pm Post subject:

I'm obviously dealing with multiple issues here, yes its rich like crazy tune never exactly got sorted out, the blue smoke at startup however is definitely oil, and the oil consumption is a concern here, that's what started this whole endeavor for me lol

Alphius · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:28 pm Post subject:

Overrun is when your foot is off the gas and it is decelerating in gear. Engine braking.

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:30 pm Post subject:

Oh, downshifting damn nomenclature lol I haven't seen it, but the big variable here is that I can't always see it, I've been told about it by friends following me, and ive seen it myself a few times. I can set the gopro on the hatch to see better for myself.

aaron_sK · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:30 pm Post subject:

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:32 pm Post subject:

Well if it helps at all I can tell you I can rev it up in the driveway with no blue smoke, once its under load the gremlins rear their ugly heads

Alphius · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:33 pm Post subject:

GoPro should work great.

Like Aaron said:
Blue smoke when you stand on it is rings, blue smoke when you engine brake is likely valve seals. Black smoke when you stand on it is excessive fuel.

BluFbdy · Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:35 pm Post subject:

Excessive fuel is a definite yes lol I've seen the black smoke myself quite a bit ill take a video tomorrow for a better look at things

My list keeps growing on me again

Twilightoptics · Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:03 am Post subject:

Too rich in a new motor and the rings won't seal. Start with seals and check the guides while at it.

chevymad · Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject:

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 12:03 am Post subject:

I started toying with the tune around 8k miles, did the whole break in then started messing around with things, I'm willing to bet its all in the heads, they were the only used component and I've just had issues with them lately. I didn't have time to get the video today I got home from work and just passed out ill take the camera with me tomorrow andget a better look on my way home from work

BluFbdy · Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 5:11 pm Post subject:

So ill upload the videos later to YouTube but the gopro worked out great, I saw blue smoke at startup, and once or twice between shifts, black smoke at wot but not consistently, so valve seals and a tune is in order lol ill link the videos in the thread once they're up

BluFbdy · Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 6:17 pm Post subject:

here you go guys, pretty sure I can say this is the first tie ive ever heard my own exhaust hahaha

take a look and tell me im not crazy, I included a couple WOT clips, startup, and I believe theres a black smoke part in there too, its only a 3 min video, didn't wanna drag it out so this is the highlights of about a half hour screwing around on the backroads

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPhyh9JuenA&feature=youtu.be