My friend's 87 IROC smokes more than any car I've ever seen. It's blue, so it's definately oil smoke. It smokes for about 3 seconds on every startup, whether a cold start or a warm start, it makes no difference. When he floors it, he gets a little puff as well. So what is it? Are the rings shot? It's gotta be more than bad valve guides. The engine has 130k on it, I'd expect more mileage out of a small block 350 before needing a rebuild.

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91 Trans Am WS6
Bright White
5.0 TPI auto
Flowmaster 3" 2 chamber catback
Trans Go shiftkit
2000 stall converter

Built on Wednesday

 

Two words Mr. J. ((((VALVE SEALS)))

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89RS w/350 TPI; 69RS/SS w/450 HP 350/Muncie 4-Speed "Too weird to live, too rare to die."

 

Yeah, mine is doing the same. Its more than likely the valve stem seals.

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Savannah, GA

'87 Trans Am
S/D TPI retrofit including functional PassKey, 22# injectors,
JET AFPR, Ported Plenum,
TB Coolant Bypass, Custom Cold Air,
SSM SFC, KYB Shocks, Boxed LCAs, Wonder Bar,
8mm Accel wires,
Flowmaster Exhaust,
16" GTA rims,
Corvette Servo,
-->14.97 @ 94.9 MPH<--

'97 Bonneville SSE

 

valve guides and seals. I've seen new SBC's from GM smoke at every start up. As long as it's not using alot of oil, it doesn't hurt anything. 4 88 chevy 1/2 5.7L pickups were my dad works(he had one when it was new) smoked every time they were started. They sold them in 95. They used between 1/2 quart and none every 3000 miles depending on how much they pulled between oil changes.

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82 camaro--original steering wheel, brake/gas pedals, seats--everything else modified
82camaro

 

Its a Chevy

Thats not a bash, Chevys are hard on valve seals.

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1992 Pontiac Firebird 350/Six Speed
1987 Toyota Pickup 383/500+ HP

 

Yeah, I have to agree with 82 Camaro. It usually isn't a serious problem. My 89 RS only had 66K on it when I got it, and it did it then. It now has 156K on it and still only uses about half a quart between oil changes. I switched to Valvoline 10w-40 synthetic blend a couple of years ago, and it seemed to cut down on the oil consumption a little. Once the puff of smoke goes away when I first start it, I don't notice any more smoke after that.

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89RS w/350 TPI; 69RS/SS w/450 HP 350/Muncie 4-Speed "Too weird to live, too rare to die."

 

What is it about a SBC that eats up valve seals anyways?

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89 iroc-z 305 tbi
everything stock, except for a mirror that fell off

 

I wouldn't say they eat the valve seals, more that it isn't that great of a design. The "seal" is an o-ring on the stem put on after the retainer and before the keepers, and a shield between the spring and retainer. The seal just keeps oil from running down the stem while the top is bathed in oil from the rocker, at least until the seal gets hard (which it will definitely do with petroleum-based oil), and the shield helps keep oil from splashing onto the stem.

A simple umbrella seal over the stem and guide will solve the problem, even if the guide has worn some. My oil consumption went down significantly when I put the umbrellas on the intake only (the stock o-rings were rock-hard and broke to pieces when the retainers were removed). Had I put them on the exhaust as well, the smoke at startup would have gone away completely (only does it when hot now).

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82 Berlinetta, orig V-6 car, now w/86 LG4/TH700R. 2.73 unlimited slip. Cat-back from '91 GTA, Accel HEI SuperCoil. AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Daily driver, work-in-progress (LB9 w/ZZ3 cam, TBD heads, exhaust, paint, etc.).
57 Bel Air, my 1st car. 0.030 over 396, Weiand Action+, Edelbrock 1901 Q-Jet, Jacobs Omnipack, 1-3/4" headers, TH400 w/TCI Sat Night Special conv & shift kit, 3.08 10-bolt, AMSOIL syn lubes bumper-to-bumper. Best 15.1 @ 5800' Bandimere. Daily driver while Camaro was being put together.

 

Thanx guys. Looks like we will be putting new valve seals in soon.