White smoke?

[coupe5oh]

Yea that usually means coolant passing through, but no coolant in oil, and vice versa that i can see, only when warm on startup it puffs, then goes away for the most part, performance is good, has seen alot of harsh daily conditions, i replaced my dizz recently, plugs/cap/wires, changed out fuel filter twice, switched gas brands, it really smells rich, but plugs are all clean and actually look lean/white though?

well my o-reilleys plug wires are new, but 3 of them left the connector's on the plug when i yanked them off? so im gonna replace those, also i may have found a vacuum leak from a capped vacuum on my explorer plenum.

I have a new kirban afpr set at 38 vac off, with 24 lb fms injctrs.
77mm maf
iron gt-40 heads
e-cam
new waterpump
x-pipe no cats
timing set at 12

I'll report back after i take care of some other stuff, But im getting sick of this car now, wish i could bitch out with a new 347 longblock

[3.9LMustang]

my v6 was doin the samething but it stop by itself

[coupe5oh]

thnx for the quick reply, i just took my little girl to school, and tried to re-create the symptoms(startup), but nothing but a rich smell? maybe it was just condensation?
one guy told me it had a blueish haze to it, but oil consumption is really not a problem, maybe a slight topoff between oilchanges if im really beatin on her, I ran a bg44k gas add. a couple tanks ago so, maybe it is burning out some crap, well im fixing to take a long drive to the dentist so i'll see what happens, i do know im replacing valvestem seals anyway because I have a new set sitting in the garage, I really thought it was burning coolant, still think it might be, I need a compression test to be sure no?
Thanx gurus.

[coupe5oh]

update...Still blowing smoke, only when warm if i goose the throttle, looks whitish/gray maybe a bit blue, compression test showed 150-160 cold/dry test, but cyl# 5 and 6 being lower at 145-148. I replaced all intake gaskets, and discovered no screen in the pcv base, I think that might be my next move is to add a screen and catch can, since this is obviously a common problem with these cars.
my intake valves all had an even layer of gunk on them, should a sea foam treatment help this, or is a rebuild the only option? car does fine driving, has mad power. just cant rebuild right now....thnx

[12second5.0]

Sounds like rings.

[coupe5oh]

hey larry, I found this on the inside of the upper side of valves? the cylinders themselves seem ok, all plug's burn clean
I seafoamed it today, per instruction, it didnt smoke too much, but when i restarted it was pretty bad white smoke, seems like the idle smoothed out and it seemed fine, will just keep an eye on things for now, cant last forever i guess, time to start saving for the inevitable.. thnx.

[12second5.0]

They used low tension rings on the 5.0's. Less friction equals more hp. But the rings had some oil control as well as leakdown issues. This will not show up on a compression check. How many miles is on your short block? Still factory bottom end I am assuming.

[Carlinsa]

They used low tension rings on the 5.0's. Less friction equals more hp. But the rings had some oil control as well as leakdown issues. This will not show up on a compression check. How many miles is on your short block? Still factory bottom end I am assuming.

could it possibly be the valve seals if its just at start up. i dont work on cars much anymore its actually been quite a while but i remember i had a car that did that and we replaces valve seals and fixed it.

[WarHorse]

Sounds like rings.

Yeah...that was my first thought too. Have someone else take a look at the smoke though because white usually means one problem while blue smoke (which still can look white in your rear view mirror) is a sign that you are burning some oil and usually indicates a problem with your rings. How many miles do you have on the engine?

[12second5.0]

could it possibly be the valve seals if its just at start up. i dont work on cars much anymore its actually been quite a while but i remember i had a car that did that and we replaces valve seals and fixed it.

I know he has replaced the heads in the past. I am assuming the heads were built correctly. The rings on the 5.0's were questionable after 30,000 miles of service back then. There are better rings now.

[coupe5oh]

Yea larry is right, the heads are newer than the bottom. I know these forged factory pistons werent supposed to last forever, I can try some new valvestem seals, i have a set of trickflow ones, my car has been down the 1/4 numerous times, not within the last 2 years though, sat for about 2 years, and now im driving it daily again. The bottom end was rebuilt when i got the car in 99, so i have many years of abuse on it, i will post back, If i pull the heads will i be able to tell the condition of the oil rings? gas mileage went to hell too.

[12second5.0]

Yea larry is right, the heads are newer than the bottom. I know these forged factory pistons werent supposed to last forever, I can try some new valvestem seals, i have a set of trickflow ones, my car has been down the 1/4 numerous times, not within the last 2 years though, sat for about 2 years, and now im driving it daily again. The bottom end was rebuilt when i got the car in 99, so i have many years of abuse on it, i will post back, If i pull the heads will i be able to tell the condition of the oil rings? gas mileage went to hell too.

If you pull the heads then look and see if there is a crosshatch still in cylinders. If they are all glazed and the cylinders look almost shiny then the rings will never seal properly.

[Carlinsa]

o well i was just throwing it out there to see if possible

[thatdavidkid]

I think you're on the right track, but typically with oil consumption. Due to ring wear and cylinder wall glaze, wouldn't it show up on the plugs, run it a while and take a look for oil deposits, and typically with cylinder oil consumption the oil pattern will be all over the plug where as with valve stem seals the deposits are typically isolated to the side of the plug facing the intake valve... I may be wrong, just going off of my recent experiences.... Also if the oil consumption is favoring exhaust valve stems, that would explain the lack of oil on the plugs.... Someone correct me if my theory doesn't seem sound. I know you said the heads are fairly recent but were they checked for valve guide wear and such before you installed them? Hate to be a party popper but I've learned my lesson on cylinder heads the hard and expensive way... I will never buy and install used cylinder heads again without at least having them thoroughly checked over.

[12second5.0]

o well i was just throwing it out there to see if possible

Anything's possible Carl.

[coupe5oh]

Thanx guys, at least everything runs ok, could be worse.
thatdavid, I have some (little) machining knowledge, and know you cant look at something with the eye and know things were cut perfect, but larry actually hooked me with this guy years ago(a reliable source) he knew his stuff, told me the heads were milled at a minimum, and freshened up with oem parts, I took them to another machine shop and had porting/3angle ect... I then had 2 sets of springs swapped off throughout the years.

Plugs burn clean, that seafoam wont fix worn parts, lol but it helped it, really, i drove a couple miles test drive, so far no smoke screens....thank you guys I will chug along, and post back.

[HOUSEofl3()()$T]

What up B. Glade to see she is still alive. Ill roll by the house some time and take a look as well. Screen in the intake would help for sure. My supercharged car didnt have it and would drink oil from there.

[coupe5oh]

Old thread, wanted to update. I really dont know what fixed it, since i swapped off so many parts already,(injcts, sensors, gaskets) and disconected the 'tb to valvecover' vent "oil sucker", and no more issues.
I even went back to 10/30 oil with little, to no consumption, for a while i had to run 10/40..
you can still come by though chris I finally alighned my car with some CC plates, looks good. thnx guys, merry belated christmas