stroked 351 smokes on startup

Terry Stapley · #1 (**permalink**) 12-10-2004, 07:28 AM

I have 351W stroked to 418 and when I start the engine after it has not been run for a couple of weeks the driver side smokes badly for a couple of minutes. After the engine warms a bit the smoke goes away. The smoke is a mix between blue(oil) and white(water) but does not smell like burning oil!
This happened the very first time I fired the engine and had me worried for a bit until it went away. I summer the engine did not smoke at startup, just after it sits for a while. It is a lot of smoke just not a wisp. Any ideas would be appreciated!!

Goober · #2 (**permalink**) 12-10-2004, 07:33 AM

Valve stem seals? Oil seeps by them and collects in the cyl area. Fire it up and it has to burn off.
Just a guess

Mark

RedBarchetta · #3 (**permalink**) 12-10-2004, 08:33 AM

If it's just the driver side, the next time you plan to start her then pull the plugs while it's cold and see if they tell you anything (one might be oily). That would point toward the valve stem seal condition that Goober already pointed out. You could also perform a leak-down test on that bank of cylinders to determine if you have a slight piston ring problem on one cylinder. The piston and ring aassembly will expand with heat (improving the seal), so you could be experiencing some abnormally high blow-by during a cold idle/warm-up phase.

trularin · #4 (**permalink**) 12-10-2004, 08:33 AM

Do a compression check on the smoking bank. Check against the entire engine. Do it when the engine is cold and make sure ALL of the plugs are out. 7 or 9 turns, but use the same. I like 7.

How many miles or hours are on the engine? If it is a fresh rebuild and it is not broken in, you can expect a certain amount of oil burning.

If you get a good set of reading on the compression, leave the plugs out and pressure check the coolent system to 17 - 20 PSI. At cold it could have a very small coolent leak into the combustion chamber that seals when it gets hot ( seen this before ).

If it is good to go on these two tests, pull the rocker covers and pop a new set of seals on. Should take about two hours, maybe four. While the spring(s) are off, you can drop the valve just a little and check for wobble. If you have large wobble in the valve stem, it will puff like a steam engine.

If all else fails, do a leak-down test on each cylinder.

If it is burning blue, it is oil and that means it is getting into the combustion chamber. If it is white, it is coolent and there is a leak into the combustion chamber.

Hope this helps.

Mike Simard · #5 (**permalink**) 12-10-2004, 11:41 AM

Just a random thought, I wonder if the drainage from the top of the head could be such that with the tilt of the engine, some oil is pooled around the rearmost valve guides. Some head gaskets could conceivably block the drain, if both front and rear were blocked the oil could still drain by the pushrods but you could have some pooled around valves.

powerpagers · #6 (**permalink**) 01-02-2005, 06:35 PM

Hey;
I had a similiar problem and it was a cracked ring.
Good Luck

pequa joe · #7 (**permalink**) 01-07-2005, 05:46 AM

Had the same EXACT problem. Intake gasket. Once the motor warmed up no more problem, let the car sit several hours, still no smoke. Only when it wasn't used for several days. I'm sure this your problem. Let us know.