My X's engine was rebuilt back in 1996 evrything was done. Because the car's paint was not finished I did not want to drive it in public until the car was totally finished. So the car sat with a fresh rebuild on the engine until summer of 2003. The engine is a 455 stage 1 bored out to 462 with sealed power Forged pistons and balanced. the heads were all done over too. The car runs 12.90's and just runs great all the time. But one thing that drives me crazy is that summer of 2003 has been my first summer driving the X,and after I have gone out driving for a while 20 minutes or more, when I shut the car off for maybe 10 minutes or so, and then start her up again, she blows out the exhaust some oily smoke for about 5 seconds and then no more smoke as long as she's running. When I stomp it on the freeway there is no smoke whatsoever as well as decelerating there is no smoke. I think it could be valve stem seals. But could it possibly be rings,I can see that it is rings based on the only times she smokes is on initial start up for just a few seconds. Is there a way to tell what the problem is without tearing into the engine? Any answers are appricated! Thanks , Eric Nelson/ Ore. gsx.man@verizon.net
the color I would maybe say blue?! But I will check more the color in march when I put the battery back in and uncover it.
If you see blue smoke perhaps you have a stuck or broken ring? Have you looked at your plugs to see if one looks different than the others?
SMOKE Iwould think that if ts a ring it would smoke all the time it was unning,sounds like somthing leakin fom the valve area,when you stop the engine oil is draining into the cumbustion chamber ad then burning off,which indicates a RELATIVLEY small amount of oil,if the piston was pumping oil into the cylinder during runnig it is alot more oil and would continue to smoke,just a thought,but it sure sounds like a bad vale seal or guide,AJ
Valve seals dry up? Have seen that in the past, when I worked at a machine shop. A guy came in madder than heck, cause the engine smoked when he started it. Long story short, it was built 5 or 6 years before and sat, causing the valve seals to dry and crack. Hope that helps.
I agree with AJ and Trey if blue smoke appears only at start up. If it is black all of our cars belch black smoke fron excess raw fuel on start up. After it runs for a bit it clears.
If you don't have too big a cam in the motor try putting valve stem seals on the exhaust side. Buick 455 motors don't use them and realistically you should have the guides cut down to the same level as the intake. I've used them in the past without cutting down the guides, but elected not to when I swapped cams last and i get some smoke just like youa re describing now. Good luck Bob
How much oil is consumed? I remember reading somewhere (Buick technical bulletin?) that a 'little' smoke is expected at start-up. If it's not consuming oil, don't worry about it. PS - Is your GSX a factory Stage1? If so, please consider registering it. Details are contained on www.stage1registry.com Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
smoke Eric - have someone hold some white paper at the exhaust pipe. It will "capture" some of the smoke particles. That will help you identify oil or fuel by the look smell, and feel. (taste too....p ) Also, you can do a compression test, after you get a baseline (and everything is OK), squirt some oil down the spark plug holes. If you get a jump in compression (+20% or more), the rings are stuck/broken/bad). - Bill
My guess is valve seals. I have had that on some of my vehicles that did sit for years. Most cleared up after driving them for a while. Seals on the exhaust side is a good ideal. I do it now evertime I get heads worked. I have had several 350 Chevys that do this, but they did it over time, not after sitting. You may have not driven it enough to seat the rings, but that smoke in start up is probably from the valves. Good luck!!!
