I've had my 1994 Camaro Z28, for about a month now.
Since I've had it, it has smoked out of the exhaust every now and then.
But here lately it's a little bit thicker smoke, its not a pure white color like it would be when burning coolant, and the coolant level has been near the same spot since I topped it off.
I have been noticing that the oil level is going down about every week and a half, and I'm using mobil super synthetic 5w-30.
The car has about 135,000 miles on it.
When I first got it, I noticed that the driver side valve cover was leaking down into the header, so I replaced the gasket on that side, and the valve cover was bent, and i straightened it out and tightened the header.
No leaks out of the valve cover anymore, and the heads are not gunked up, they actually look pretty good.

I Plan on doing a compression test on it shortly, But I dont know if i should start by replacing valve seals and go from there or what? This is the first LT1 I have owned, and I'm just learning about this engine.
Does anyone have a clue what it could be ?

 

A leakdown test will tell you more about cylinder sealing issues (and where they are) than anything else.

 

How do you do this test and what tools would I need?

 

A leakdown tester is screwed into a spark plug hole and pressurized. Then you wait to see what happens to the pressure.

It's similar to a compression test.....

 

You can Google and find out all the info you want to know.

 

ok, thanks.. I put some head gasket sealer in today, and followed the instructions, just to see if it might ease up on the smoking a little bit, and I've also tried the smoke stop oil treatment, and its still the same amount of smoke.. But I will try the leak test and see what it tells me. Hopefully I can figure it out, If not I'll probably just go throught the whole engine and replace all the gaskets and check everything out that way, and replace what needs to be replaced.

 

By the way, it doesnt seem to lose power, It seems like it runs how it is supposed to, My uncle had a 1997 camaro z28 anniversary edition, and it had absolutely no problems, and mine runs just as good as his did. But like i said, I dont know, this is my first LT1.. Thanks for your help, If I have anymore questions, I will post.. Thanks.

 

be careful when putting additives in your engine... they can do more harm than good.


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Yeah, I know thats true. Thats why I only did it once on this motor, just to see if i could tell if its oil or coolant that is being burnt. But neither additive affected the smoke..Its a bluish tinged white smoke, and smells kinda like oil, but I had a truck that was burning coolant, and the smoke coming out of my camaro looks and smells sorta similar, but I really cant tell where its coming from. Ive had the valve covers off, and the top of the heads look very clean, and doesnt seem like anything is clogged to where it would be forcing oil by anything. But I'm thinking by the research i have done, that it's either the piston rings or valve seals, and hopefully for my sake its not piston rings.

 

Chris,

Diagnose the thing before committing to anything. A leak down test will tell you a lot as will a cooling system tester. A cooling system tester will find combustion gasses in the coolant..indicating a bad head gasket or a crack somewhere. a compression test will help you understand if it's rings....
Exhaust valve guides or seals puff smoke when the throttle is closed rapidly, like when shifting

Stick a rag, or your hand, behind the exhaust when the car is running and smell it. A sweet smell indicates coolant and oil smells sort of like oil.

I don't think additives do much if anything but if they do anything it'll interfere with your diagnosis. You should try to stay away from those things if you can...

 

Ok, thanks. I am going to try to post a picture of the smoke, and see if anyone can tell by the color of it. when at idle, it smokes almost constant but not a huge amount that you can see clearly unless you really look close, but if i rev it up a little bit, and let off, it comes out in a thicker cloud and goes away for a little while. Today I listened to the engine closely and think i hear an exhaust leak on the passenger side, but I cannot tell where it is coming from, It sounds like from the intake side of the head, and I cant feel any exhaust puffing out or anything, but there is a faint smell of it. I will be doing the tests first before I start taking anything apart, That way i'm not replacing things that aren't broken. I'm also in the process of replacing the a/c compressor, but I dont need any advice on that, I just gotta get the parts, and my buddy went to school for it, and said he would help me out with that.. Anyways, Thanks for all the advice. I will try to get some pictures up to show the smoke.
Thanks,
Chris

 

1994 Camaro Z28 exhaust smoking.. - YouTube

here is the video of my car smoking.

 

Today, i checked all my fluids again, and the levels are still where i filled them to. Oil has been at the same level for a few weeks. I put my hand over the exhaust earlier, and smelled it, and it doesnt smell sweet like coolant, or like oil. It smells like exhaust. I read up on some other things that could make it smoke and i came up with dirty fuel injectors or something of that nature. In which when i first got the car i did put lucas fuel injector cleaner in it, and it did seem to smoke a little more than it did. So i am wondering if it woulf have anything to do with that.


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Also like i had said, there seems to be No loss of power whatsoever. So i dont know. I will surely do all the tests that you guys have said to do and go from there though.


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One last question for the day. I am about to go pull the spark plugs and check for oil or anything on them. If there Is oil on any of them, what would cause this? Im gonna pull them to see if i can tell which area might be leaking if it is oil.

Thanks again,
Chris



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