its a 305 engine with some miles on her, when ever the engine is running it just pours out smoke out of the PCV pipe, i unhooked it so it wouldnt kill the engine, and when it is hooked the engine runs crappy'er and it still pours smoke.

anyone know how i can fix this?

 

That sounds like a lot of blowby. Been using Pennzoil? Quaker State? Those will sludge up the rings nicely and add to the problem.

Define "some miles", if you would.

 

well i dont really know, its not the orignal engine, its an 80-85 305, the odmoter reads about 30k, but i know its not right, it had an orignal I-6 250 with a 3sp collum shift, now has a 305 and a th350 with a B&M ratchet shifter.

 

oh and no, im running valvoline 50wt. and every time i change my oil it looks like a milk shake, but it doesnt blow white smoke like it has a blow head gasket or anything, and the owners before me changed the head gasket, he was a mechanic so he knew what he was doing.

 

Blow head gasket won't always burn white smoke from the exhaust. Could be blown still. If your oil looks like a milkshake you have something wrong. Sounds like a head gasket to me. Also if its ran like this for awhile im sure your bearings are hurting. Water in your oil means water is getting on the bearings as well.

 

well thats the thing, it runs fine, and keeps a strong 30 psi at idle and about 40 psi for the oil pressure.

and also when i drain out all the oil there is still about a half inch of oil in the heads, i pull the PCV pipe and look in and it the same as the driver side.

so im just gonna pull the valve covers and take all that crap out then change the oil, then run an engine flush and change it again. i hope that will fix it.

but also the engine has no *****, it gets me around but it aint fast, is this just the non-hp 305 or is it a head gasket?

 

Spin off the oil filter. Screw on a chaepo filter, then add a quart of ATF to top off the crankcase. Idle until warm, then run the engine under light load for up to a few hours. You can even drive it if you want, but definitely be very easy on it to keep the loading on the bearings very light. You want to get teh RPMs up to 2,000-2,500 to move some oil up to the rings, but don't make the RPMs under load and heavy acceleration.

Drain the crud, then try a much lower viscosity oil, like 30W at the most (unless your in the middle east 115-120°F heat).

 

ok does the engine have to stay running for those hours, or can i put it in, drive a lil today, then mroe tomarrow to school this is a daily driver and with gas at 1.98 a gallon i cant afford to run it all at one time.

 

You should be able to spread out the operation. Just remember that you may have large chunks of depostis floating around in your oil pan after the flush starts to break them up. The screen in the pickup should stop the worst ones, but keep the engine load to a minimum.

 

well this is in my truck, 78 c10 shortbed, and its got a turbo 350, it never goes avobe like 1,700 in rpms unless i stomp it and it looses all power at about 3500. so ill try it tonight.

 

Milkshake for oil. Yep, water in the oil.

If it keeps turning milky, it's leaking water into the oil. You didn't mention whether you have to keep adding water - do you have to keep adding water? Doesn't take much to cause it, though.

Last engine I had do that was cracked in the lifter valley. Probably froze w/o antifreeze (this was back in my California days). It was sold to me as a rebuilt long-block. The guy skipped town before I found out all that was wrong with that engine.

 

If you are anxious about the transmission oil, perhaps you could get a complimentary bottle of Amsoil engine flush from your friendly area dealer (do they still make that product?).

 

na i put in about .5 of a quart tonight and raised the idle to about 1,200 and let it run like that for about 25 minutes, tomarrow after i get home from school im gonna change the oil/filter. so ill probally get the engine to run for about an hour total.

then before i drain this oil im gonna toss in a engine flush, let her run for a few, then drain it and put in new oil and a new filter.

or should i just not use the engine flush. because when i do pop the cap on the oil filer cap oil is sitting there, its looking like a milkshake, and ive even left off the drain plug and poured oil through the engine to kinda clean it, but it doesnt. what should i do for that?

 

Yes, except for the "complimentary" part.

You need to fix whatever is letting water into the oil. Running oil through the fill plug to the drain plug isn't really "flushing" the engine - it'll only get the path that the oil touches as it goes to the drainback holes in the head & block. The valve cover on the other side is probably full of the stuff as well, as is the lifter valley and oil pan.

Running a flush or ATF in the engine may remove what's in there, but guess what? You're still producing more if the water continues to get in the oil, which will get whipped up by the action of the engine running - more milkshake.

 

Let's step back a pace or two. You did say that the engine was smoking from the PCV system and NOT the exhaust, correct?

I was simply suggesting that you flush the engine in an attempt to clean the rings well enough to seal. It's also possible that the rings are so worn that no amount of cleaning will help, but it's certainly worth a try.

What I presume is happening is that there is more blowby than the PCV system can evacuate. That would produce a case under a slight pressure instead of a slight vacuum. There should also be a backflow through the PCV fresh air supply system. If that's the case, the PCV can not remove normal combustion gasses and water vapor, so the water/oil emulsification (milky oil) will continue until the rings seal better.

If you do get the rings cleaned and sealing, you'll still need to remove and clean the PCV hoses, valve, and fresh air supply system/filter so that the PCV can once again remove water vapor from the crankcase.

Also, frequent short trips with no periodic (monthly, at least) longer trips will cause the milky oil, since the engine (and oil) never reach operating temperature, never allowing the oil to boil off the water that normally accumulates in any crankcase.

Do you do all short-trip driving? If so, you'll either haev to change your driving habits, increase your oil change frequency, or switch to a synthetic that will tolerate the water better without creating an emulsification.

 

mine was doing the same thing about a month ago smoke out of the pcv, the culprit on mine though was a pair of cracked rings on #4 and 6, I'm just about done with that project now,

 

well i just got done changing my oil, i went and bought some engine flush, ran the engine for exactally 5 minutes like stated, then dained the oil, it wasnt milky anymore. it was nice and black like it should be after about 1k.

i then finally found the other oil leak i had on the passenger side, some of the valve cover gasket was blown out so i replaced both sides,

and when i pulled the valve covers i found so much yucky sludge block the oil drain holes int he heads, so i got a screwdriver and scraped it all out, then took paper towels and went back over it all.

so then i put on the new gaskets with some RTV, and let it set for about 30minutes, put in 6 quarts of 50wt valvoline. let it sit, started her up and now more leaks and i actually have a little higher oil pressure now.

it seems to not smoke as much but i couldnt really tell much from all the smoke common off the headers from the sludge and oil i spilled on them when i pulled the covers.

so i hope it aint as bad and thanks for the help everyone.

 

6 quarts in a 305? that seems a little high... isn't it supposed to be 5?

 

about 1 in the filter, and 5 in the pan, plus it burns a little so i dont want to worry about it running low fast. expecally driving to school everyday and around town.

 

There is something that was suggested to me, dunno if there is any truth to it or not...

Maybe something inside is just getting too hot and actually burning up oil? Like maybe an under-lubed rocker ball or something that actually sends up the oil in smoke when it touches uz its so hot?

 

Unless you have an odd (non-stock or truck engine) oil pan, there should be 4 quarts in the sump, 1 for the filter - 5 total, not 6. Running the oil level too high can cause the crank to dip in, creating foam, and starving the engine for much needed lubrication. And 50W seems very viscous. That alone may be why your rings are shot.

All you need to do now is clean out the PCV system and keep an eye on the oil level.

 

no actually it durns less oil with the 50wt, and this is in a truck and it takes 6 quarts to fill, just like my camaro's engine.

 

As far as I know, all stock chevy small blocks had only 5qt pans. Some trucks may have been bigger, but if your camaro has the stock pan, its only 5qts. 6 is too much.

 

iv got stock pans on both, and ive always put in 6 quarts, and its always been exactally on full.

 

oh and i just rembered, what is the normal oil pressure at idle, i have aftermarket oil pressure gauges and water temp, and i was wondering, because while driving i got about 37psi, and idle i got about 20psi.

again 80-85 305, car engine, not a truck.