I just started noticing a little bit of white smoke coming out at the first start up of the day. Could this cause damage? What is the cause of it? Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

I think thats just a "high mileage " car thing . Dad's old buick would do that when he took off after he started up , my Uncle said , "its has alot of miles . He could be wrong , Any other opinions guys ?

 

Sounds like valve stem seals to me.

Over a period of time they get hard and brittle. When you shut the car off oil leaks by the valve stem seals and enters the combustion chamber. When you start the car the next morning it will burn off that oil giving you a puff of smoke.
Its more annoying than anything. Just keep a check on your oil level.

 

For the do-it-yourselfer the valve seals are inexpensive to replace. If you have pretty good mechanical knowledge and the right tools they are easy to replace.

 

that could explain a lot for me, becuase i always have had smoke at cold start up. And, whenever I check my plugs, i find oil on the threads of the plugs, at first I thought it was an leaky valve cover, but its only on the threads, so i dunno....

 

Thanks for the help guys. I had heard that that might be what it was, but i wasnt sure because the engine was rebuilt last summer. Thanks again for the help.

Chris

 

I guess they didn't rebuild the heads at all, eh?

You can actually replace the valvestem seals without pulling the heads, in two ways. First, if you have a shop air compressor at home, they make a little gadget that screws into the plug hole. You apply air pressure to the gadget, and when it pressurizes the cylinder, you can use an "on-the-car-valve-spring-compressor" (looks like a lever) to remove the spring & keepers, and replace the seal. The pressure keeps the valves from falling into the motor.

If you don't have an air compressor at home, I've heard of another way. You buy a couple hundred feet (just joking, I'm sure you just need one roll) of thin rope. You make sure the motor's cold, and remove a spark plug. Rotate the crankshaft clockwise (breaker bar on the center bolt of the crankshaft pulley) until the piston is mid-way up towards TDC. Then, start threading the rope thru the spark plug hole until you can't fit anymore. Then, you slowly turn the crank clockwise so the rope compresses (in the piston) against the valves. The motor should stop turning, I suppose, at some point. And then you can work on that cylinder only! Then you back the engine up a bit (counter clockwise, so, don't spin it backwards too much), remove the rope, and move on to the next cylinder. A pain in the ***, yeah, but it keeps you from buying a compressor. If you're not going to need a $300 compressor, a shop might charge much less to change the seals out.

 

Dont use a cheap one .
I made that mistake on ky 4.3 and the spring almost took my head off

 

that doesn't sound good