I have a 1983 Chevrolet El Camino with 357,000 miles that I recently did the Auto-Rx thing and now I am on the Maintenance Dose, car runs great but at startup there is a puff of grey smoke, probably bad valve seals or bad valve guides, it has been doing this for about 18 years, do I fix it or live with it and if I do fix it will the car run better and have more power, the car does not use any oil, meaning I only have to add a little bit between oil changes, I am currently running Amsoil 10w30 100% Synthetic as I had about a case of this before I started Auto-Rx, it seems to blow a little bit more on startup than when I ran Pennzoil Platinum when I started the Maintenance Dose, do I go back to a Group III Synthetic or maybe even back to conventional oil with the Maintenance Dose, the car does not smoke at all while I am driving, yes I did use conventional oil during the Clean and Rinse Phases, anyone with any experience with Small Block Chevy's please give me your opinions.
Smoke on Startup
- Thread starter c3po
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Why don't you wait until the engine is broken in before deciding any course of action?
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Why don't you wait until the engine is broken in before deciding any course of action?
HA!
If it's been doing it for 18 years, why would you expect it to stop? If it were mine, I wouldn't fret about it.
Why don't you wait until the engine is broken in before deciding any course of action?
HA!
If it's been doing it for 18 years, why would you expect it to stop? If it were mine, I wouldn't fret about it.
I agree with mrsilv04. I believe most SBC engines whether 305 or 350ci seem to puff something on startup. I'm guessing it's valve guides/seals but at 357,000 miles, I wouldn't complain. I would just keep an eye on the oil level to make sure it's not burning an excessive amount. After all those oil filters you went through cleaning out that engine, I'd almost expect some oil to eek through places that are now cleaned up. Maybe the Auto-Rx will help those old seals re-seal once again now that they're clean.
Ed B.
Ed B.
I think AutoRx can do a great job on many things, but oil at startup can really only come from oil leaking down the valve guides into the cylinder. That can be from valve stem seals and/or loose valve guides. I would not expect AutoRx to fix either as most valve stem seals seem to be broken or cracked, etc and not just worn.
Replacing valve stem seals is not that big of a deal, and the head does not have to come off. But I assume it would be 2 hours labor to remove both valve covers, pull all the valve springs and replace the valve stem seals and then replace the springs and adjust the valve. But you can buy a lot of oil for what 2 hours of labor costs.
My 1993 Suburban with 50K on a rebuilt engine has a puff of gray/blue smoke at startup.
Replacing valve stem seals is not that big of a deal, and the head does not have to come off. But I assume it would be 2 hours labor to remove both valve covers, pull all the valve springs and replace the valve stem seals and then replace the springs and adjust the valve. But you can buy a lot of oil for what 2 hours of labor costs.
My 1993 Suburban with 50K on a rebuilt engine has a puff of gray/blue smoke at startup.
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Replacing valve stem seals is not that big of a deal, and the head does not have to come off. But I assume it would be 2 hours labor to remove both valve covers, pull all the valve springs and replace the valve stem seals and then replace the springs and adjust the valve. But you can buy a lot of oil for what 2 hours of labor costs.
Yes, easy job. I think I did one back in the 70's in about 20 minutes per side. Naturally it requires a compressed air source and a self fabbed or KD tool for the keeper removal.
Replacing valve stem seals is not that big of a deal, and the head does not have to come off. But I assume it would be 2 hours labor to remove both valve covers, pull all the valve springs and replace the valve stem seals and then replace the springs and adjust the valve. But you can buy a lot of oil for what 2 hours of labor costs.
Yes, easy job. I think I did one back in the 70's in about 20 minutes per side. Naturally it requires a compressed air source and a self fabbed or KD tool for the keeper removal.
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