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Blue smoke??

A

acontour

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
245
Hi guys. I'm back..(currently at 2200 miles)
So after adding dye and searching the oil leak with the blacklight , it turns out that I am burning oil.

My friend was behind me on the freeway, I dropped to 4th gear and some blue smoke came out. I'm using 5W 30 Valvoline oil.
I checked my compression and it's 170 for all cylinders. When I added oil they all jumped to 230.

Could it be that the oil is too thin , or is it the rings?? :shrug:
Thanks for any answers.
 
acontour said:
...t , it turns out that I am burning oil.

My friend was behind me on the freeway, I dropped to 4th gear and some blue smoke came out. ...is it the rings??
..
Click to expand...
Could be or maybe even valve stem seals. Sorry. :blackeye:
 
The blacklight is used for finding A/C leaks when the system is injected with a certain dye. I've never heard of using that trick for motor oil.

How did you make that decision? Not bashing, curious.



The oil is more likley to be coming up past the rings. If it was the valves, you'd be losing compression and power, not really seeing burnt oil.

a compression of 170 is in the acceptable range, IIRC.
 
IIRC your using probe pistons. correct me if im wrong on that. im using probe pistons as well and i get the same thing. i think its just the rings havent seated fully yet. i believe they are a harder material so they last longer but they also take longer to seat.
 
69Boss302 said:
The blacklight is used for finding A/C leaks when the system is injected with a certain dye. I've never heard of using that trick for motor oil.

How did you make that decision? Not bashing, curious.



The oil is more likley to be coming up past the rings. If it was the valves, you'd be losing compression and power, not really seeing burnt oil.

a compression of 170 is in the acceptable range, IIRC.
Click to expand...

They have a dye at autozone that's about $5. It works for fuel,and oil leaks. http://www.autozone.com/R,NONAPP259/store,855/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm
So when you use a blacklight it shows as an orange colour.

This is pretty wild. I only see blue smoke when I accelerate hard. For example going about 60-75 mph in 5th gear and I drop to 4th. When it's idling I don't have any blue smoke. I guess I need to find out at what RPM's there is blue smoke..:crazy:
 
striker2 said:
IIRC your using probe pistons. correct me if im wrong on that. im using probe pistons as well and i get the same thing. i think its just the rings havent seated fully yet. i believe they are a harder material so they last longer but they also take longer to seat.
Click to expand...

I really hope you're right striker2.:laugh: The rings came with the JE pistons.
 
acontour said:
I really hope you're right striker2.:laugh: The rings came with the JE pistons.
Click to expand...
yeah me too. i really dont want to have to take it all apart again just to replace the rings. (my dad would kill me)

IIRC probe and JE pistons are the same. my rings also came with the pistons.
 
huh, intersting stuff there. I would've just looked for oil or fuel puddled somewhere. Always something new.

I still would hazzard a guess that it is blow-by from the rings. Or, it could be oil getting sucked in through the PCV system. The increased pressure inside the crankcase under acceleration could be pulling oil past the rings. Or the increased vacuum can be pulling oil through the PCV.

If you've followed the proper procedures for allowing the rings to seat, it shouldn't take very long at all. Usually within the first 500 miles they are worn in correctly.
 
it depends on the material the rings are made out of. i cant remember off hand what the 3 main materials are but one is soft, one is a little harder, and one is the hardest. obviously the soft one seats quickly however it doesnt last very long. the middle one is what most manufacturers use i believe and it seats fairly quickly and lasts longer than the softer metal. the hardest one takes a long time to seat but once it is seated it seals very well and will last even longer.


as for the PCV system, i know thats not my problem as i have both my PCV valve and valve cover vent routed through separate oil separators and then back into the intake piping before my turbo.

I did have a leaking headgasket that was leaking oil into the cylinders but when you did a compression test everything seamed ok. :shrug:
 
striker2 said:
it depends on the material the rings are made out of. i cant remember off hand what the 3 main materials are but one is soft, one is a little harder, and one is the hardest. obviously the soft one seats quickly however it doesnt last very long. the middle one is what most manufacturers use i believe and it seats fairly quickly and lasts longer than the softer metal. the hardest one takes a long time to seat but once it is seated it seals very well and will last even longer.


as for the PCV system, i know thats not my problem as i have both my PCV valve and valve cover vent routed through separate oil separators and then back into the intake piping before my turbo.

I did have a leaking headgasket that was leaking oil into the cylinders but when you did a compression test everything seamed ok. :shrug:
Click to expand...

Hmm.. Are you also using oil? What kind of oil are you using now??
 
:shrug:

I drove a bit this weekend , and i guess it only gives blue smoke when It's over 3000 rpms. When it was idling , I reved it up to 5000 rpms and didn't see any smoke..

What's up with that? I'm thinking something about rings..weird
 
If you changed rings and used chrome moly rings hopefully you honed the cylinders. This helps break the rings in.Chrome molly rings are extremly hard and take a while to seat.
If it is idling and you get blue smoke, it could be from valve seals and seats. What happens is there is less combustion pressure, and the oil that collects around the valve stems works into the cylinders bypassing the seals. This will be especially noticeable after the car has been shut off and you go to restart. So there are multiple possibilites and just a theory!
 
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Kevinm said:
If you changed rings and used chrome moly rings hopefully you honed the cylinders. This helps break the rings in.Chrome molly rings are extremly hard and take a while to seat.
If it is idling and you get blue smoke, it could be from valve seals and seats. What happens is there is less combustion pressure, and the oil that collects around the valve stems works into the cylinders bypassing the seals. This will be especially noticeable after the car has been shut off and you go to restart. So there are multiple possibilites and just a theory!
Click to expand...
I think the rings are chrome moly rings. in order for the pistons to fir the block has to be bored .007" so it was honed before i installed them. i think most of my smoke at this point is from excessive oil thats collected in the exhaust and is just burning off since i dont get any smoke till it warms up.
 
I went to JEProSeal.com and the rings are made out of the following.

Bore (in), Description , Material , Coating

top ring 3.347, 1mm CHROME STEEL TOP , Carbon Steel ,Chrome

2nd ring 3.347 , 1.2mm CAST IRON 2ND , Iron , Phosphate

oil ring 3.347, 2.8 STD TENS. OIL Carbon ,Steel , Chrome

Could my issue be clearance between the cylinder wall and the rings.
Maybe too loose or too tight?
 
Last edited:
Kevinm said:
If you changed rings and used chrome moly rings hopefully you honed the cylinders. This helps break the rings in.Chrome molly rings are extremly hard and take a while to seat.
If it is idling and you get blue smoke, it could be from valve seals and seats. What happens is there is less combustion pressure, and the oil that collects around the valve stems works into the cylinders bypassing the seals. This will be especially noticeable after the car has been shut off and you go to restart. So there are multiple possibilites and just a theory!
Click to expand...

Yeah I had my block honed. When I added the pistons and rings , it was a really tight fit. I didn't think I would fit. The stupid thing is that i didn't check the clearance..

I don't get blue smoke when it's idling , only when i rev the car up. Is that ring any bells??:shrug:
 
acontour said:
They have a dye at autozone that's about $5. It works for fuel,and oil leaks. http://www.autozone.com/R,NONAPP259/store,855/shopping/accessoryProductDetail.htm
So when you use a blacklight it shows as an orange colour.

This is pretty wild. I only see blue smoke when I accelerate hard. For example going about 60-75 mph in 5th gear and I drop to 4th. When it's idling I don't have any blue smoke. I guess I need to find out at what RPM's there is blue smoke..:crazy:
Click to expand...


if you are only burning oil when you are accelerating hard, the valve seats on the secondary's probably haven't set. but the primary's have.
 
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