blowing blue smoke

[Joseph A.]

I cranked my 73 SB today and had a ton a blue smoke coming out of the exhaust. I've been working on the car and hadn't started it for more than a year. Are my seals shot? Or will they relube and expand again? Any other thoughts on this? Thanks for your help - Joe 46306

[Kenneth T.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

Joe,

You don't mention the mileage on the engine, but if it sat that long, I would let it run awhile and warm up good. Could be some intake valve seals getting dry and passing oil.

If you can, take it for a ride, check the oil level first, and see if there is any improvement. The start of the season presents many surprises. I would not be going to an engine rebuilder just yet. Valve seals are not that difficult. Review your service / overhaul manual.

Ken

[Joseph A.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

Thanks Ken. From the scant documentation I have, the engine was rebuilt in Oct 1995 and the odometer reads 59,600 but who really knows. I have been starting it several days in a row now and running it for 5+ minutes and it looks like the blue smoke problem may be going away, at least when not under a load. Thanks for your help Ken - Joe 46306

[Harmon C.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

New valve stem seals will probably fix most of the smoking problem. It's worked on several 73's of mine.

[Greg F.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

I just had valve seals done on my 71 small block. The mechanic used Viton umbrella type seals. The smoke is much less but it still smokes some. I was a bit disappointed as I thought it would clear it up completely. What is the next issue? Are the rings the culprit? My car has 64/K original miles and never rebuilt. It runs excellent and the smoke goes away after warm-up. Any future hard to continue as is?

Thanks.

[Kenneth T.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

I just had valve seals done on my 71 small block. The mechanic used Viton umbrella type seals. The smoke is much less but it still smokes some. I was a bit disappointed as I thought it would clear it up completely. What is the next issue? Are the rings the culprit? My car has 64/K original miles and never rebuilt. It runs excellent and the smoke goes away after warm-up. Any future hard to continue as is?

Thanks.

Greg, as I mentioned earlier, the seals shoulda, woulda, coulda, helped the most. If you still have excessive blue smoke and oil usage, it may be the valve guides. At the milage you state, I would put the rings last. Have you done a compression test?

Ken

[Edward J.]

Re: blowing blue smoke

Joe , Ive Been Working On Car For About 35 Yrs. Most Of The Time Its The Valve Seals.this Is A Chevrolets Problem For Start-up Smoke, 14 Yrs Is Quite A While For Those Seals, They Do Tend To Get Hard Over Time And Oil Sneaks By The Seal And Into The Combustion Chamber, Another Common Problem Is The Intake Gasket Compresses Over Time And Oil Sneaks Up The Middle Two Bolts on each side Of The Intake And Then Into The Combustion Chambers, You'll See Oil Coming Up These Bolts And It Puddles On The Top Of Intake.
Ps. Greg This Could Be A Problem You May Have With Smoke After Start.