Smokin' Bad

HogeySpooner

HogeySpooner

Active Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Location
Greensboro, NC
My 4.2 is blowing alot of grayish? smoke out the exhaust. Does it all the time. Idling and driving. Getting oil on the spark plugs. When I remove the oil filler cap smoke comes out of the valve cover. Not losing any coolant. Other than the smoke she runs fine. Valve job? Bad rings? Other?
 
Sorry to say, it does sound like worn rings. If you can't get new rings at this time, you could use those non-fouling spark plugs to keep it running until you can get to the real fix.

An old friend of mine, ran his "Slant Six" like that for a year or so. We used to call him
"mosquito patrol"!
 
Someone told me it could be the valve seals. Is that possible? Are there any tests I can do?
 
Valve seals only cause a puff of blue smoke when you start it. Do a leakdown test and you'll probably find it's a ring issue.
 
Blue/purple or grey/white? If the latter, probaly head gasket.
 
6BangBronk said:
Valve seals only cause a puff of blue smoke when you start it. Do a leakdown test and you'll probably find it's a ring issue.
Click to expand...
All 6 plugs get soaked with oil. What are the chances of the rings going bad in all 6 cylinders at the same time? This happened "all of a sudden". If the rings were wearing, wouldn't I have a little smoke and it gradually get worse over time? It runs like a champ and doesn't seem like it's lost any power. Would a blown head gasket let oil into all 6 cylinders?
 
Dude, I'm no pro but I've had alot of experience keeping my own cars on the road and I have driven a POS all my life. So here's my take. Anyone feel free to correct me if they've witnessed any differently!

HogeySpooner said:
All 6 plugs get soaked with oil. What are the chances of the rings going bad in all 6 cylinders at the same time?
Click to expand...

Probably pretty darned good chances since they were installed at same time, have same amount of hours, same material, ect. I tore a 4.9 down once and 5 out of 6 was bad. Smoked like a teen aged bully gathering but it still ran.

HogeySpooner said:
This happened "all of a sudden". If the rings were wearing, wouldn't I have a little smoke and it gradually get worse over time?
Click to expand...

I'd imagine small amounts of oil will burn off until it gets too much for the motor to handle. And you probably wouldn't notice until it was obvious. How many miles have you driven this particular motor?

HogeySpooner said:
It runs like a champ and doesn't seem like it's lost any power. Would a blown head gasket let oil into all 6 cylinders?
Click to expand...

Never! Head gaskets blow usually only in one place. Head gaskets are usually pre determined by loss of compression in 2 adjoining cylinders where the leak is occuring. And only water will enter cylinders, not oil. You can see, smell and even probably taste the water on a spark plug.

It may run fine. Oil is actually good for a motor to a certain extent. A motor will probably run with no rings at all! But your cylinder walls are taking a pure beating!

Uhhh what was those compression and leak down percentages again???

:beer:
 
I take your input with much gratitude. I'm not trying to say anyone is wrong or right. I'm no pro either. I'm just fishing for different peoples experiences and running different scenerios through my head. Obviously I'm hoping its not the rings. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I haven't had time to do any tests yet. I'll let ya know what I find.
 
If it is the HG those plugs will be clean as a whistle. At least 2 of mine were.

Since you have the plugs out do a compression test
 
I did a compression test and the results are 1=142, 2=120, 3=125, 4=125, 5=142, 6=142. I also found the following info on the net:
"Low compression in one cylinder usually indicates a bad exhaust valve. Low compression in two adjacent cylinders typically means you have a bad head gasket. Low compression in all cylinders would tell you the rings and cylinders are worn and the engine needs to be overhauled."
Watta ya think?
 
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