I recently noticed my 95 LT-1 puffing smoke at WOT, and at start up.. and I was getting bummed thinking that my rings had gone. However, I remembered today that I was running .5 to 1qt extra oil because of an autox event. (yes I know this is overkill for autox). I won't get time to drain out some oil until later this week.... I was just wondering if any of you guys had experienced this? It may be a long shot.

If I were running a cat.. I might not see it except for start up.

 

you must have other problems.. i run 1q over in all my f-bodys, no smoke. I see you say rebuilt lt1.. did you put new valve seals in??

 

yes I replaced the valve seals.. I have about 90k on the rebuild now. I had to put some funky bends in my dip stick tube when I installed my headers.. so its probably already not all that accurate. However.. if you think about it.... a bent dipstick tube would still be accurate I guess.. because it remains the same length.

 

yes the dip stick should still b the same. with 90k on a rebuild it could be rings or seals..
thats alot of miles on a rebuild. they say even a good rebuild dosent last as long as a factory new motor. (not saying it couldnt happen)! another thing to look at is a change in the tune or the way its running. are you sure its oil or could it be fuel?? Blue or Black?

 

O I see you said blue.. I would stick with rings or seals.

 

yea I'm 100% sure its oil burning... Here is a video of a start up after it sat a week:



http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z...t=MVI_1575.flv

Don't hate on my single exit exhaust.. I threw it together to pass inspection..

 

That's a lot of smoke man......I'd start trying to figure out WTF is going on, cause it ain't good......

 

X2, not good.

 

I'm hoping for.. maybe a stuck ring that I can free with sea foam? I'm restoring a jeep right now so my car is kinda on the back burner.. I'll start with a compression test as soon as I get time.

 

I need to mention that if I daily drive the car I might see a tiny puff of smoke when I crank it. Other than that I only get some smoke at WOT and its really not a lot. The fact that it smokes the worst after sitting for extended periods definately points to valve stem seals.. but I don't think the stem seals could cause smoke at WOT.

 

they can still cause smoke at WOT......infact they smoke all the time, it's usually just not enough to see.......I'm guessing either the rings are done or the seals have gone bad, either of which could be an easy fix....I'd slap new seals in it and see what happens (after the compression check of course), then if it comes down to it, pull the motor give it a hone and slap a new set of rings and bearings in it.......

 

I'll probably have to bore it and replace the pistons this time. Last time I only replaced the rings. I'd like to upgrade the pistons anyways to some that can withstand some boost.

 

i never had that issue are you sure it was just 1 quart?

 

There you go.....good reason to do .030 over and go to town.....

 

maybe u just have alot of oil coming from the pcv system from the extra quart of oil.
check the compression on all cylinders then after u done all of them add about an ounce of oil in each cyl with the plugs out turn it over for a few seconds then check the compression again and see if its higher now if it is after the oil then it bad rings , if it doesnot rise then more than likely valve stem seals. or something is up with the pcv system and ur getting excesive oil in the intake,

heres a tip if you end up rebuilding it again, plasma moly rings seat faster but dont last as long , chrome rings take longer to seat but last alot longer . and race ring really dont last as long as plasma moly rings ,

now also the lt4 from the factory used tapered top ring that at high rpm they lay flat aganst the cylinder walls and seals better ,you can get them from the chevy dealer