I have an 89 camaro with the 305, it has 70K miles on it (sat for a long time). It runs great, however it does smoke. When i first start the car i get a small amount of smoke, but then it clears. If i leave it idling for a while, there is no smoke during idle, but when i give the car gas (rev it up) it smokes terribly. During normal driving i dont notice it that much, but it must be doing it. What seals are gone that cause this? Is this valve seals? i have read quite a bit on here about it, but want to be sure. Also, the transmission shifts the car fine for normal driving, but it does not shift for power at all, it is like when you have a standard and you dont donwshift when you want to speed up. Is there an easy cure for this? all advice is appreciated.

 

Yup, same as every other Chevy small block for the last 50 years.

Just change out the valve guide seals, and go from there.

There are things in the world that are worth troubleshooting and worrying over; and then there's things that you just take for granted and do, and move on. This is in the latter class of things.

Just do it, and if the problem persists, THEN AND ONLY THEN it's time to think about what else might be the cause.

As far as the transmission, sounds like a pretty normal stock unit with lots of miles on it. A transmission basically doesn't wear out at all while in a gear, rather, it wears while shifting. The more you make it slip like that, the sooner it will burn up. Just start saving your pennies for a better one, and meanwhile, take care (like, don't abuse it) of the one you've got.

 

couldn't that be the cause of a mis-adjusted TV cable? I know nothing about autos, but that symptom sounds familiar.

 

thats not the seals other than the start up smoke

make sure your pvc systme is still connected properly and that the valve is good shape

replace it if in doubt it is cheap

make sure hose isnt collapsing

when the engine is running and when you take the oil cap off do vapors/air push out of it at all ?

try an index card over it

 

I have just given the car a complete tune up, new pvc, everything checked over by my mechanic. I have not seen anything coming out of the valve covers but i have not looked that hard either, i will check it out. I have had cars that burn up oil before, but this one is different in that the amount of smoke that is released after idling is massive, but during idle it is clean. Only when i rev the engine does it smoke, and it smokes like hell. but the car does run great (good oil pressure, smooth idle, good accelleration (except for the shifting). If i manually put my car in 2nd gear, it goes like hell.

 

Did changing out the valve guide seals clear up the smoking?

 

It's actually more likely that you have restrictions (sludge buildup) in your oil return ports causing this problem, then just valve seals that are spent. My suggestion would be to remove your valve covers and inspect the oil return holes at both ends of each cylinder head. When plugged, they'll allow oil to pool up in the valve covers... which will find its way past the valves and burn out the exhaust. Metal coat hanger way works great to clean them out, flush with some brake clean and (IMMEDIATELY), change the engine oil.

Hellraiser