Hey everyone,



I’ve got a 1993 Camaro that’s been sitting for a while. Right now it’s blowing blue smoke, and I noticed tonight that the back driver’s side exhaust manifold is wet with oil. It’s also been leaking exhaust for years.



Given what I’m seeing, what do you all think is the likely cause of the blue smoke? Valve seals, piston rings, or something else? Any advice on how to narrow it down would be appreciated.



Thanks in advance!

 

I notice you haven’t posted here for a while (2012). Unfortunately this site is just about deceased…. no more than a 1/2-dozen active members. Fortunately mostly LT1 fans. And some newbies searching for help.

Do you have the blue smoke coming from the exhaust, and also burning on the driver side exhaust manifold? After sitting for a while, piston rings could be gummed up, valve stem seals dried up, PCV system not functional. Some people associate blue smoke with a bad head gasket, but to me that’s more likely to produce white smoke.

 

So unfortunate on the site, the car basically sat since 2015. Yes I can’t tell if it’s coming out of the exhaust from in the motor or dripping from the intake or valve cover.

I heard rings are unlikely on these cars to be bad.

 

In a regularly run LT1 engine, rings aren’t normally a problem. It's sitting unused that can cause problem. My 94 sat unused for a long time. Sold it in 94 to a real “hands on” drag racer. He cleaned it up a bit, fortunately no issues with rings, ran it a few times at the track (9.90 @ 134 mph). Found oil in the intake runners from a couple of failed 22 year old (from engine build in 2000) valve seals. Might be a good place to start looking. Also, check the PCV valve, could also be gummed up.

 

awesome! That sounds great. I already did the PCV. So it’s brand new. Suspecting valve seals since it does it normally after idling the worst