Ok guys maybe you can help me out. When I start my car I get a huge puff of white smoke. The smoke smells as if it is flooding on start up. It kinda looks like guides/seats but the smell and the fact that it's hard to start leaves me clueles. About a month ago I started to miss in a cylinder and changed my plugs. The plug that was missing (and hardest one to get to) was in horrible shape. It looked like it was welded together. All the other plugs where fine. So I thought, leaky injector. I went and blew 100 bucks on a nice fuel pressure guage and guess what, no leaky injector. So i have no clue where to go from now so I turn to you guys. Oh yeah, forgot to say i get no engine codes and it runs GREAT after It clears the smoke out.



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88 Firebird Formula
350 T.P.I. (Stock unfortunately)

 

Valve seals???

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j.wolfe
_ ____ _
91 GTA L98
Best time: 14.389@95.49 (VIR)
"...Deception..." Brandon Sloan * ...wounds heal and chics dig scars...

 

Well if it is truely white smoke it is water in the combustion chamber, most likly a head gasket will cause this, but since it is only on start up it would not be this.
What you most likely have is blue smoke. You problem sounds like a classic case of valve seals. What will happen is when you shut off your motor and the oil is left up around the valve train it will soak the valves and when the engine cools the seal will contract and lose some of their wealing ability and allow oil to seep into the combustion chambers. THen when you start the car it burns that oil and an puff of blue smoke will be emiited from your exhaust. Ofcourse over time this will coat your spark plugs, plug you cat-converter, and cause you to lose some oil.
Will it kill your engine? No, but it will cause up keep time to increase. A good shop can redo your valve seals for around a few hundred dollars. Though you could use it as an excuse to have your heads redone and ported out with a 3 angle valve job, or get a new set of Vortec heads.

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89 Trans Am Turbo 3.8L All stock 43,000 miles #1053 of 1555

Past Thirdgen:
86 Trans Am w/ built 355TPI with SLP goodies and too much other stuff to List. One sweet *** car, wish I would have had a good enough Job to pay insurance on three cars so I could keep it, but for a 89 Turbo Trans Am w/ Low miles, I think I made the right choice!

 

But would this make it hard to start? I have to crank it for about 10 full seconds before it will kick over. Also when it smokes on start up it smells like its flooding. Oh, and where is the cheapest place to pick up a set of Vortech heads?

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88 Firebird Formula
350 T.P.I. (Stock unfortunately)

 

I imagine if you have leaking valve seals, this might cause hard starting, Because it could be making a bad air/fuel mixture, oil doesn't like to burn too well untill it gets ofer somthin' like 600°, or there is alot of O2 present.

Because the ECM is dumping fuel into the cylendars the entire time you are cranking without a fire I could see how when it finally kicked over it would smell really rich. I am not a mechanic, but that's my reasoning.

John

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87 Formula Yellow/Black
Engine & Transmission
.040 over 5.0 converted to TPI, 9.5:1 Compression, SLP Cam Dur 206/212, Lift 480/487, Cent Line 112, SLP 1 3/4" headers, SLP 3" cat-back exhaust, K&N Airfilter, Modified Stock cold air intake, Ported & polished Stock TPI intake, Holley Adjustable Fuel Press regulator, most of the Free mods.
Gil Younger (no yo-yo) Shift Kit, Aluminum Driveshaft, 3.73 Posi gear
Suspension & Brakes:
Baer 12" brakes 4 wheels, KYB AGX Adjustable Shocks & struts, Hotchkis strut tower brace, SSM frame connectors, Custom reinforced control arms and pan hard bar.
Interior:
Custom Leather interior, CUSTOM Yellow Gauge Faces, Kenwood Receiver, Pioneer Speakers, Kicker Substations, Kenwood 10 Disk Changer, Pioneer Amp.

87 Formula TPI (5 Speed) Yellow/Gray STOCK

1967 Buick Riviera 430hp Turns high 14's (Not bad for 4300 lbs)

83 Camaro (Parts)
83 T/A (parts)

http://www.3rdgenformula.com

 

Well considering its coating your Spark plugs with gunk all the time, yea its going to make it hard to start.