NightRyder

when i start her up sometimes.. i cant come to a conclusion about when it does it..
sometimes it blows tons, sometimes none.
what can i check/fix/replace to fix this problem?
it would be nice if it was a $10 gasket.

StealDads67

White smoke? Does it ever do it after its warmed up at all? It could be anything from valve seals to condensation in the mufflers

NightRyder

yeah, its fairly white. but it kinda rolls out.. and takes up to 5 secs to all come out. kinda embarrassing.

StephensblackL98

Seriously, try to smell it......is it water with antifreeze steam? Or does it have an oily smell. Does the smoke dissipate quickly, or does it sort of hang around? If it's steam, as opposed to oil, it may be simply an intake gasket - or the worse of the two, head gasket. An oil smell is Pandora's box. Hopefully, it's water, and a relatively easy fix. If it's the water, you'll know because at the end of a day or two's driving, you will probably need to top off the water supply. Second, if it is water, don't drive it again until you've done the necessary repairs. Doing so will lead to even bigger trouble. Good luck.

NightRyder

well,,,, it does hand around for along time. it smells like.. car exaust. ;)
its white. and its not condensation, because i remember that when buying the car, there were around 12 vettes to look at, at this place, and only 2 smoked like this in the morning. if it was condensation it should disapate quickly.(right?) but it doesnt.

you said water.. but the water level never moves.. at least, it doesnt anymore.. it use to be like
(||||||| )
and now its like
(||| )
but it hasent moved for the last few weeks

also, it seems, if its in the garage, it wont smoke too much..
im thinking cuz its warmer in there.

JIMBO7

Nightrider,
My 88 coupe does the same when I first start it in the morning. I believe it is gas and that the injectors are just not working right. It takes a little too long for it to start and I need to step on the gas a little to fire up. I'm going to do the injectors when the weather is a little nicer.The engine runs fine once it's going. But I want a faster start up. Could be an injector!! :yesnod:

mitchcole

Chevy 350 engines are notorious for haveing the valve stem seals fail between 80-100K miles. They smoke in the morning, because the oil has had all night to drip down to the valve head.

Overall, it isn't a big deal - just annoying. The seals are designed to have a controlled seep to help lubricate the valve guides. The tolerances have increased to the point where the flow rate is a bit higher...

That's my guess! :conehead

VetteWave

I had white smoke every time I started it up. I'm replacing the valve guide seals, springs, and putting on some 1.6 roller rockers right now. The valve guide seals were pretty bad. I don't think there was any on the exhaust valve in 1990. The o-rings were hard as a rock and had cracked.

grapeknutz

:iagree:

84FromHell

My 84 had the same symptoms. It's worse if you happen to park with the car leaning towards the side with a bad valve stem seal. I replaced mine and it solved the problem.

The good news is that if you do it yourself it'll probably cost less than $20 and most of that is for the valve cover gaskets :cheers:

NightRyder

ok, thanks for the info

CorvetteZ51Racer

If you're going to replace the valve seals on the head, just remember to put pressurized air in through the spark plug hole to keep the valves in place...don't want to drop one into the cylinder.

NightRyder

hmm, i dont have any compressed air.. any other way to do it?
...

FD2BLK

:iagree:

CorvetteZ51Racer

Hmmm....I can't think of any others off the top of my head....I'm used to having the compressed air around, so I haven't had to devise any other ways before.....

I *think* you should be able to bring the piston on whatever cylinder you're working on to TDC and just let the valve drop down against the piston top (I'd check through the plug hole to ensure that the piston is at TDC), but you'll likely be fighting the keepers as you try to remove them (they'll likely be a little stuck to the retainer and need a little whack with a rubber-headed mallet while the spring is compressed). Quite honestly, I'd recommend trying to find someone who has an air compressor (preferrably portable) that you can use.

brookman

THe other way to do it is to fill the cylinder with a soft cotton rope through the spark plug hole.

VetteWave

This is the way my mechanic is currently doing it. It take a while and he said it would be a little faster with compressed air, but you work with what you have.

NightRyder

some soft rope.. or twine?..... no liquids then? :)
.. anyone around my area want to come over with some compressed air?


[Modified by NightRyder, 5:53 PM 1/27/2003]