Hey everyone.
My 289 recently started smoking more and more. It's a white/bluefish smoke and I still have a ticking noise in there somewhere. I'm assuming they are related.
Here's what I have done... Checked and replaced worn lifters, lubed all lifters with moly grease, adjusted valves, removed cleaned and painted exhaust manifold, replaced donut gasket at rear of ex manifold, removed and checked plugs... Here's where im having issues. Plugs looked good except for a couple issues. A couple of them have oily deposits around the threads.
(see pictures)

 

What should I check next? Valve guides, seals, rings??? I'm trying to be as thorough as possible before I have to take it to someone.
I don't mind tearing it all apart to find it, I look at it as a learning experience. I would really appreciate the help.
Thanks everyone
Mike

 

http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_su...qs/faqread.asp

This Maybe Helpful.

KC

 

do you have an automatic trans ? .. if so check the modulator valve on the trans .. they sometimes will leak and allow the engine to suck trans fluid and smoke a pretty white smoke .. actually smell of the exhaust and if it smells kind of sweet you can suspect coolant getting into a cylinder .. if it smells like trans fluid that will be what it is .. and oil smoke will smell thusly

 

Are you using oil? Usually the white/blueish smoke is oil blowby and indicates worn piston rings or valve guides. How many miles on the engine? Steam type smoke is obviously water which should makes the oil look milky on the dipstick.

Just wondering why would you change out lifters without changing out the camshaft? I'm assuming you don't have a roller camshaft installed. You should always change lifters and camshaft at the same time due to the way the cam lobes wear with the lifters.

 

Ok,
1. Yes I have an automatic and plan on checking the modulator today after work
2. I am using oil, but I have a leak at my oil pan. New gasket and pan on the way. Also, oil on dipstick looks perfect.
3. Yep, I changed some lifters, but not the camshaft. I realize this could cause the camshaft to wear out sooner, but I need a diagnosis. .
4. I will look into the piston rings and valve guides ASAP. This is something I've never done. So I guess I'll learn.
Thanks everyone for your input. I don't know what I'd do without this forum, haha

 

Also,
I'm picking up a rental compression tester, hopefully today. Maybe that'll give me more info.

 

Also consider doing a leak down test, A compression test will tell something is wrong but isn't able to indicate where teh specific problem is located. A leakdown test can measure cylinder pressure w/o the engine moving ( eliminating effecting factors that are more effected by the compression test..IE carbon build up, engine speed, etc). The leakdown test will give a specific percentage reading for each cylinder and you can listen for air escaping. the readings across teh cylinders will give a good indication of engine condition be it good or scored cylinder wall, worn rings, bad head gaskets, etc.

 

Looking at the plugs, from what i can tell the contamination only seems to be on the threads. The electrode and porcelain appear to have a nice "Normal grey" with no oil/fuel contamination.. You say that you are using oil and the oil color and consistency appears to be normal. Take a look at your valve cover gaskets pretty good and if you have a breather or PCV valve take a look there as well... Even the dipstick can pop out from excessive crankcase pressure and make it difficult to diagnose where it's coming from. As far as the bluefish smoke.. You definitely are on the right track with a compression test on all cylinders... Then as mentioned above a cylinder leak down test will tell you where your losing compression. Good Luck!

 

I agree with hoss checking the modulator is pretty simple. Two things #1 how does it shift is it nice and smooth or do you feel it kick into the gears. It should be smooth. Also the hose on the back of the manifold is the vacuum line to it. Pull it off and take a q tip and very carefully swab the inside to look for fluid there shouldn't be any. Good luck

 

When it shifts it's pretty hard. And it seems to shift earlly... I'm in 3rd gear by 25 mph. I'm working today, but I'm gonna investigate this more.
I pulled the vacuum hose off the manifold and swabbed it. Didn't see any ATF, but a lot of what seemed like carbon buildup. Haven't had a chance to jack it up and check at the tranny yet. I'll check in the morning.

 

My oil fill breather seems to be pretty oily... PVC seems fine. Could this be an issue?

 

I am not sure if that would effect it when I rebuilt my top end last month my breather was saturated with oil as well I just swapped it but I couldn't see that causing the problem. The hard shifts sound like either your modulator or your bands are way out of adjustment (I took my 66 in and had the trans shop adjust mine simple job but I let the pros handle that cost me $40. The modulator is simple to swap and should run about $16. Let me know if that fixes the problem. If it turns out to be a bad head gasket our motors are cake to work on fingers crossed its not the rings though.

Les

 

Ok
Compression test results:
1. 150
2. 150
3. 145
4. 150
5. 145
6. 150
7. 145
8. 150

All looks pretty good to me....
Car is still running great. Just a little smoke and that **** noise. I was really hoping this test would tell me something

 

does it smoke all the time ? .. does it smoke only when you first crank it up ? check your valve guide seals .. they can get brittle and break allowing oil the be sucked past the intake valve into the cylinder and cause it to smoke .. but that will happen mostly on startup and decelleration ( big word )

 

It let's out a big puff of smoke when I first start it up. Then it just smokes a little out of one tailpipe. It seems to go away after a while then I notice it again when it's warm and idling. (sitting at a stoplight)
Wouldn't valve guide seals only smoke on start up? And wouldn't it effect the compression test???
D

 

That's what I was speculating.

 

missing intake valve seals would let it smoke a little all the time .. oil would be pulled past the valve stem on every down stroke of the piston .. oil would leak down the valve when the engine is off hence the larger smoking when you first start up .. a little oil in the cylinder would raise compression a bit ,,, sometimes in the old days when trying to start an engine that had been sitting a long time i would pour oil down the carb to boost compression and help get it started .. pull the cover off the engine side that is smoking and look for missing seals ..

 

I'll check the seals first thing in the morning.
Don't I have to remove the springs to get to the seals to check em tho?

 

you dont have to remove the springs to look at the seals .. they will be in several pieces if broken or missing completely ...