1stgear

Okay, my sweet-fun car has started to smoke. Prior to taking her into the shop, I'm shopping for some advice.

> This starts after the car gets warm.
> I come to a complete stop, I take off and she throws some white smoke. Just when I give her the initial gas. To me it smells like oil. (It lingers in the air for a while too.)
> I installed a SW chip 2 weeks ago.
> I checked for fuel in the oil and don't see any.

I'm hoping this isn't my time for valve guides. Any ideas or things to check would be appreciated. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

Ed Hughes

Did you change your oil and/or overfill?

1stgear

Hey, Ed.
I didn't change it. The oil is a quarter inch above the lowest ":" mark on the dipstick. I should have mentioned that.

theiceman

Not to point out the obvious .. but did you try putting your old chip back ? if nothing else but to eliminate the variables.

Hopefully its not a dropped valve or a broken spring. If the old chip does the same thing I would say a compresion check or leakdown is in order..

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Remember, the dipstick is only accurate at operating oil temps, above 180 degrees F.

You didn't mention how many miles are on your car, but if the oil level is perfect, I would do a leakdown.

How much oil does the car consume between 3K oil changes?

rusnak

If the advance is increased dramatically, does this increase vacuum, sucking oil past valve guides?

SARGEPUG

+1!

1stgear

10-4. She was well into the operating temps.

Hmmm, don't know?

Too much. Right around 2.5 quarts.

I'm going to take it to the shop tomorrow and get it checked/diagnosed by my pro. It's done this smoke puff thing in the past (2 times), but it just started picking up lately. I'm worried it's going to be the valve guides.

1stgear

Thanks for all the replies, I'll keep ya's posted.

1stgear

Received a call from the shop this afternoon. I'm burning lots of oil and my engine is starting to smoke on a frequent basis. Especially after pulling away at a dead stop. You can stand behind the car and the raw oil smell is overwhelming.

So, we're doing a full "top end" rebuild...
> Head studs
> Valve guides
> Piston rings
> Check the clutch

Is he missing anything on his "to do" list?

And just an FYI in case anyone is wondering, the shop that's doing the work is Pete's Foriegn Otto in Valdosta, GA. They specialize in older P cars.

dshepp806

What do they suspect? Guides? Or what?

Doyle

theiceman

yeah i was thinking the same thing .did they actually diagnose the issue or are you just handing them a cheque ?

1stgear

They suspect the guides with as much as it is smoking. The tech said you can have good number tests and still have bad guides. He said I may get lucky and it's the crank case vent?? Doubt it. This guy has always been good to me in the past and tried to save me $$, so I trust him. The only thing I hate is that the car was running great - just smoking to the point I was embarrassed every time I pulled away from a stop light.

theiceman

i certainly dont doubt you and your mech have a great relationship. I think i would still have expected some solid diagnostics showing at least some numbers for leak down and compresion. But it's your car . Hopefully you can get a few pics of the process

SARGEPUG

Regardless, I would go to another reputable shop, just to compare. I bought my Targa from a friend. He had a PPI done at a reputable shop 2 yrs before I bought it. However, I brought it to my own guy, for his PPI to compare. Both were on the same page, so I was happy.