Hey, I imagine this has come up before. I've got the typical 3rd gen "puff of smoke" at start-up, especially on a moderately warm engine...when stared first thing in morning, no smoke. I've heard Mobil 1 synthetic HELPS illiminate, though obliviously does not cure / repair this problem. Has anyone of you tried this with good / bad results? I typically change oil and filter every 3000 miles, using a AC filter and Vavoline. Could I possibly go as long as 5000-6000 between changes with Mobil 1, or some other synthetic? Comments??????

 

No, it will not stop it. In my experience it will be just as bad.

 

I've heard some people said it goes away. But it's not something I would rely on.

 

It definitely reduces it, but it doesn't get rid of it.

 

My opinion would be that it will increase the flow down the vavle seals and not eliminate the problem.

 

No, It doesn't stop it. From what I recall, the Mobil one being a synthetic oil, burns in a lighter less noticeable color than petrolium oil. So it may LOOK like the valve stem aren't leaking, but its probably not true. Actually due to the lighter weight of the oil, it actually would (as said in the last post,) increase the oil flow down the seals.
From what everyone has said, the smoke at start up is typical of these engines and is "harmless."
I changed over to Mobil 1 for added protection, and I still get that puff. I've grown to like it, and when I don't see it I get worried!

With a synthetic oil, you can go longer periods without changing oil, but I definatly wouldn't recomend it. I use 1, and change at around 3K.

 

As stated above, Mobil 1 won't cure it.

One thing to keep in mind about switching to Mobil 1 on an older engine, if you have a small oil leak anywhere, it will become a large oil leak with Mobil 1.

Synthetics have a way of finding even the smallest cracks and exiting through them.

I had a very small front crank seal leak on my 99 TA (used to just collect dirty dust there, never dripped) and I switched to Mobil 1, 1 day later I was changing the seal becuase it was throwing oil all over the front of the engine !!

Other friends have had the same experience.

I love the stuff and will always use it.


It is normal that the seals fail about every 50k on all SBCs, every one of them. Its cheaply fixed with a little time, but definatly not something I could live with.

Think about this, every "puff" you see, just deposited a little piece of oil buildup on your plugs, keep it up and you have a large buildup on the plugs leaving you with plugs that are soon to fail or not work as good as they should.