JChastain

Hey guys have a 27k mile 01' Z06 that does the on/off smoking. Car had a cam installed at around 23k miles. Pretty sure it's the ring issue. Sometimes at idle, sometimes not. Wot smokes on the hit, seems to clear up afterwards. Is this going to be an issue later on or is it never going to get worse? My question is I'm looking at possible heads and a fast combo. Do I need to fix this smoke issue or is it just more of an annoying thing? Can the factory pistons handle the additional NA power and be ok? Thanks for the suggestions and input.

fisher auto

When the cam was installed I would assume springs and Valve stem seals were done??? Slim chance but possibly a stem seal is not seated. Just Something to consider checking before pulling it apart!!!

marty mar

If its light smoke when the car is hot, you could run a conventional 20w 50
That would really help. I doubt your valve seals are the cause.

JChastain

Valve seals were done. Thanks

JChastain

I'm running 10w40 now. Is that good?

racebum

do a cylinder leakdown/compression test and see what you get. if compression is still high it at least shows you the car hasn't been abused or ran low on oil and it's just the low tension barrel rings that are likely your problem. not a big deal. if you are low on compression or have variance with the leakdown % then you know there has been damage done.

really no other way i can think of to pinpoint it

if it's just the low tension rings i'd live with it. honda used a similar ring in the type r 1997-2001 and those engines go 150-200k miles with no trouble. not as many miles as a standard engine but not bad for an oil burner

JChastain

Leakdown came back good. Will doing some heads and a fast intake be ok or not a good idea? Also will the stock pistons hold up to the added power?

racebum

stock bottom end will handle 450whp and 6500-6700rpm pretty reliably

guys have pushed higher than 450 but it's hard to say how long they live or how they are driven. i have seen cars alive for years with a good heads and cam package that get drag raced at least 40-50 passes a year every year along with hot street driving

JChastain

I don't like the sound of that. Sounds like a gamble to me. It's mainly a street car with some highway pulls. Car put down 440 now with a 239/244 cam. Not sure what to do. I think with heads and a fast it will be in the 480 range.

racebum

there's not really any hard number of xxx whp will make or break it. you just add stress to every component of the car.

i'd stay where you're at personally. easy 11second passes at the strip. enough power to overwhelm even the best street tires

unless you're going to start roll racing the extra 40hp isn't going to mean much

save your money on the heads and fast unless you plan on adding boost down the road and a forged bottom end

Sigforty

Intermittent smoking is not all that bad, probably just a little PCV oil or fueling in the tune. Have you swapped injectors yet? Could be bad injector data in the tune.

When my 01 was smoking bad at idle, it was all the time. A fairly consistent puff of bluish smoke. I ended up with two pistons having broken ring lands.

JChastain

I haven't changed the injectors. It will lightly smoke sometimes at idle and sometimes it won't. It consistently will smoke at idle if it sits idling for a while. Definitely smokes when I hammer down on it.

Breze84

Your Valve seals were probably installed wrong letting oil slip past and burn off... almost positive thats what it is without even seeing it... Easy fix, Just do it now though... Pull your valve covers off and look, Also pull your plugs... This is the same thing that happend to my old Z06, I didnt do the cam install myself this time around which I should have, price was too good to pass up. Lesson learned! Same symptoms you have...





Pulled out of the valve cover..

JChastain

Thanks for the feedback guys. Still not sure if I'm going to spend the money on a shortblock. I wish I could see the future to prevent doing anything unnecessary lol.