gh78

My 1978 has just turned over 40k miles. It leaks a little oil, smokes just once in a while when I start it after she is warm, I am going through about a quart of oil every 700-1000 miles. Should I think about getting new Valve guide and seals done or wait till entire engine needs to be re-built? If its not valve guides where else may oil be going?
THANKS ALL!

Jvette73

Is the smoke bluish in color? If so that would indicate oil being burned in the combustion chambers. It could be the valve seals. Usually if you have bad valve seals you will find liquid oil deposits around the spark plug threads. I suggest pulling the plugs and checking for that. Also check the inside part of the plugs for oil fouling which can eventually lead to misfiring. Thats bad since it will run crappy and dump raw gas into the exhaust which will foul and clog the cat converter.

I had bad valve seals that were using a qt every 200 miles and fouling the plugs. A qt every 700-1000 is not all that bad. If yur not fouling plugs or finding oil around the threads then I dont think you have much of a problem. the important thing is you are smart enough to check the oil frequently and add when needed. If you dont have the symptoms I mentioned then you might try switching to fully synthetic oil. It doesnt burn like conventional dino oil and might halt the oil cunsumption. Synth oil is way better for protection anyway. I switched to synth on my 4X4 and it slowed oil cumsumption considerably.

gh78

THANKS!