I am burning oil about 3/4 a quart every oil change. I think it is the valve seals because it only puffs out white smoke at start. I eliminated head gasket because my compression is almost factory. and maybe it could be piston rings?
Well, basically I am asking should I wait to change this out for when I put in my cam? And if so, what cam should I get? I plan on changing the cam out in 6 months. Is there some stopSmoke I could add to possible slow down this problem or maybe an oil stablizer. I've never had this problem and would rather not sell my car because it is becoming a problem.

Whats your suggestions, concerns or answers?

 

3/4 qt on, what - 3000 mi? is nothing to worry about.
Yes, wait until you do the cam change. You're likely to be pulling/changing valve springs to complement the new cam, so that's the time to replace the valvestem seals. And......if the new valve seals don't solve the problem, I wouldn't bother chasing it any further. Quite a few new engines use that much oil, and are considered "in spec".

 

I am just worried. I've heard all these horror stories from the LS friends. (They want me to convert to LS). I was/ am worried about it.
Have any suggests for cams? Like high or low rpm, this is a daily driver so can't cause too much attention.

 

Some comments on cams in this thread might apply for yours as well:
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...will-work.html

 

3/4 of a quart in 3000 miles is perfectly reasonable, especially for a 20 year old engine.When it becomes an issue is when you're losing a quart per week and you're blowing blue smoke out the tail pipes every time you accelerate from an intersection.

The puff at startup is a non issue and is certainly a contributing factor but the amounts of oil responsible for that are very small. Im not sure it's a big contributing factor, but the valve seals leaking like that is a complete non-problem. The only negative consequences of that are the (very) slight amounts of lost oil and the slight embarrassment of the puff at startup. It does nothing besides look a little bad and make sure your cylinders dont rust overnight.

I'd still suggest changing them when/if you do a cam swap, but dont worry about that so much. 3/4 of a quart per oil change is nearly nothing. It's probably mostly worn piston rings/worn cylinder bore causing the oil loss, but 3/4 of a quart is actually pretty good. Many cars lose 1 or 2 quarts per oil change and owners dont even know/care and they run fine. As I said, if you're blowing out oil smoke when you get on the gas, the rings are too worn and you need to get a rebuild. Just keep tabs on your oil level every week, but I would imagine you could leave it be for 5+ years before it became serious enough that you needed to start evaluating whether or not to do a rebuild.

 

When I worked at a chevy dealership, I believe oil consumption on a small block was considered normal as long as it was not more than a quart in 1000 miles.

Less than a quart in 3000 miles is not an issue and likely just the valve seals seeping.
I would probably wait until the cam swap and change the valve stem seals.

 

Running the next hotter plug will keep them cleaner if you are burning any oil. Using Engine Restorer believe or not I have found really does freakin work. I've used it for 15yrs on numerous high miles engines. It works wonders as a temp patch for oil consumption.

 

Skip the engine restorer. It will do more harm than good on a LOW OIL CONSUMPTION motor that we're talking about here!
Also, for the same reason, stick with stock heat range plugs. I've never seen any adverse effects on plugs with many engines using about a quart per 3000 miles.

All's good! No need to see the doctor

 

You already know what's wrong with it. Not alot of "point" in complaining about it on-line.

Either get off the couch and JUST DO IT, or get used to enjoying it being like that.

 

This made me chuckle.
My pocket book only goes so far! But I will do it once I get the money too.