Blue Smoke From Muffler

When I start my car or when i come to a stop i get smoke, a kind of blueish color to it. I can't tell if I'm getting it while driving because its a thick smoke. I did notice the car had no coolant, just water in its place and a whole lot of rust. 98RS

Rings or valve seals most likely are shot. Have someone behind you to see if you get the smoke when taking off from a stop light.

valve stem seals are your best bet!

these will screw you way before the rings will.unless your racing a lot but even then.

Yeah the guy i bought the car from said he hadn't moved it since January of 06!! The sticker confirmed what he said, the next oil change was going to be due in march of 06, he only had like 30mi on that oil. Sitting oil will seep thru the valve seals if the engine is never turned on right? But yeah i get smoke regardless of what i do. Is there a quick fix?

The seal might have dried out with the motor not running in so long.

Holy shit, sounds like I'm gonna do some major surery to this car....how do i go about replacing them. Where do they go in the engine, I mean i hadn't even heard of them.

If you haven't heard of them, don't try replacing them. You have to pull off the head and tear it down to get at them, they're not fun, trust me. Have you done an oil change on the car? Try running some cleaner through the engine and then do an oil change I like to use Sea-Foam. Run it directly through the intake manifold (through a vacuum line) and also dump some into the oil. Read the directions on the can first though. And then after you've cleaned out the engine good, change the oil and filter with some fresh stuff and see if it helps the situation.

So I did my research and it turns out to change them i'm gonna have to tear the head apart. I will also need a spring compressor to handle the springs while i loosen the retainers. But i guess i'll run Sea Foam to see what happens. How difficult is it to tear the heads apart though?

So I did my research and it turns out to change them i'm gonna have to tear the head apart. I will also need a spring compressor to handle the springs while i loosen the retainers. But i guess i'll run Sea Foam to see what happens. How difficult is it to tear the heads apart though?


Just don't bother with it if you are not experienced with head work. I'd advise getting a rebuilt head and having a pro' install it or someone mechanically inclined. On the other hand you could also just ride the POS 420A to death and in the mean time save up for a 420A bore and turbo kit.

I didnt kill my motor as it only has 76K but the 420 is a boat anchor weak but reliable in the long run it seems. I would suggest a motor rebuild with .020 over and some lower compression pistons and well you get the idea =D

Good luck.

How difficult is it to tear the heaD apart though?

For you, extremely tough, and not to be a dick, but you'll probably fuck up alot of stuff and have to end up just buying a working one. Car parts, especially engine internals are not for the beginner and I always advise against doing it yourself unless you're experienced or have had some kind of training or schooling for it.

MY manager at work rebuilt engines for a living when he was younger. He said he would help me do it in his garage. He's got all kinds of tools except for the valve spring compressor. I guess this is the first time I'm gonnna mess with the internals of a head but i gotta get some experience.

Alright well good luck. A universal valve-spring compressor will not work for something like this, you either have to buy the special one from Mitsu. which costs an assload, or make one yourself. What I did was welded a deep-well socket onto a big C-clamp and that worked pretty well. Make sure you cut a hole in the side of the socket though so you can remove/install the spring retainers with ease.

I didnt kill my motor as it only has 76K but the 420 is a boat anchor weak but reliable in the long run it seems.

The 420a really isin't that weak of a motor. Stock form it sucks, but its a 2.0 4cylinder NA. So most people slap a turbo in it and it makes it pretty quick. Heres the misconception about it though. Most people do stupied shit and end up blowing it up, then blame it on a weak motor. The motor isin't made for boost so you have to be more careful with it. It has a fairly high compression ratio (9.6.1) so your tuning has less room for error.

I have given my 420a HELL, I was dumb when I first boosted it and did cause premature wear on the rings but the thing is still running strong. Spiking 10psi and maxing fuel at 8psi = bad. It has been boosted almost a year and is just as reliable as before.

The car has 140 stock, about 100hp increase over stock is pretty good in my book for stock bottom end.

The 420a really isin't that weak of a motor. Stock form it sucks, but its a 2.0 4cylinder NA. So most people slap a turbo in it and it makes it pretty quick. Heres the misconception about it though. Most people do stupied shit and end up blowing it up, then blame it on a weak motor. The motor isin't made for boost so you have to be more careful with it. It has a fairly high compression ratio (9.6.1) so your tuning has less room for error.

I have given my 420a HELL, I was dumb when I first boosted it and did cause premature wear on the rings but the thing is still running strong. Spiking 10psi and maxing fuel at 8psi = bad. It has been boosted almost a year and is just as reliable as before.

The car has 140 stock, about 100hp increase over stock is pretty good in my book for stock bottom end.

The motor has potential just like any other but the 420A might as well be the same as a 305 chevy motor..worthless until you build. Which is why mine will no longer have stock internals...or stock anything for that matter lol. I've got about 4g in parts sitting around waiting on me to have time to do my rebuild and machine my block. but...maybe over winter lol..

Stock form isin't that bad unless you trying to get alot of power. With forged internals it can be a beast. What are you using for engine management?

Sorry for thread hijack - If your boss has the ability to rebuild the head then I would go with all perf. parts like stainless valves and fun stuff like that just to ensure reliability down the road.

Silver - It's a top secret =) wait until spring when I unveil the beast lol..but what I can tell you from the numbers and ideal tuning , there will be about 350 + whp.

Well now that you guys mention it, I'll probably try to port match it (intake and exhaust with a grinding die.) As far as all perf, i'm not sure if i can afford all new components but i am making a price list for: Valves, Springs, Retainers, Seals, T Belt, Cam Gears, and maybe Upgraded Cams. Anything else while the head is off? New gaskets everywhere off course.

Well now that you guys mention it, I'll probably try to port match it (intake and exhaust with a grinding die.) As far as all perf, i'm not sure if i can afford all new components but i am making a price list for: Valves, Springs, Retainers, Seals, T Belt, Cam Gears, and maybe Upgraded Cams. Anything else while the head is off? New gaskets everywhere off course.


Don't forget new head bolts or you'll be f*cked.

You're going to need to tune depending on how big you go with the camshafts, so be sure to put that into your budget too. Also be very careful port matching as you can easily take too much out and then you'll be fucked, I'd suggest practicing on a shitty head that's just laying around or something, otherwise I would just skip it.