Should I shoot myself now...

[Earlsfat]

Ok. I've got the 70 Maro, 454, blah, blah, frikkin blah.

When I start the bastard up, it smokes (white) like it's the end of the world until it warms up, then it only smokes (tiny bit) when you lay into the throttle pretty good. It burned about 2 quarts in 300 miles or so (at least I assume that... it didn't leak out).

I was told, by a mechanic so I don't really trust him, this is an engine seal / gasket problem and that I need to replace the seals (valve guide seals, etc) and that should take care of it.

NOW, someone's said something about the piston rings being bad. He asked if the engine knocks and it doesn't. And still insisted on it being a piston ring problem, WTF?? THIS CAR IS GONNA KILL ME!!!!

I've checked the plugs and they were fouled with a decent coating of black sooty stuff all over the insulators... cleaned them off and reinstalled them and that helped my starting problem a little.

Can anyone tell me if the oil consumption is a seals / gaskets and / or piston rings?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you and Merry Christmas all, hope all is well with all of you and your families.

[DaMoNe6969]

well white smoke is usually an indicator of burning coolant.. not oil.. does the smoke smell like oil? coolant will smell sweet, or sometimes just like steam when its burnt.. If your burning coolant, and loosing oil, ide say you have a blown headgasket.. and oil and/or anti-freeze are making there way into the combustion chambers..

Check the antifreeze for oil, also check the oil for antifreeze.. It will look like a creamy colored foam.. Check under the filler cap, and on the dipstick.. drain the oil if possible..

as for oil consumption, if it smokes a lot on start up, thats usually an indicator of bad valve seals.. If it burning all the oil while driving, its usually the rings or valve guides..

If the piston rings were gone, it would smoke a lot more while driving, and not so much at start up..

You should have a compression test done, and if it all possible, a Leak down test..

[Earlsfat]

Rings / Valve Guides: Do-able or mechanic job? I'm going to attempt to do the seals myself over the next couple months when I get time. If the rings and valve guides are realtively affordable I could just replace them at the same time, right?

(Or do I have just a complete fucking mess on my hands at this point?)

I'd rather do this one time, and be done with it. When I do the seals, I'm planning on installing an new carb, intake manifold and air cleaner at the same time. Is these thingsI should be considering while I'm in surgery or do I hang up it up and call Bob the mechanic?

(I'll check that stuff and let you know)

Thanks

[Xbox2202]

If you've got a headgasket blown, it really sucks. Mine is blown right now, and it really sucks, because it's so much work to get it fixed. It ridiculous how much you have to pay for labor for somehitng like that, it was 600 dollars for one side, 800 for both to replace the head gaskets. They know you won't do just one side, so you're gonna pay high if you pay to have it fixed.

Just be sure that you can handle it yourself if you try that. I'm replacing the head gaskets in my car right now with my dad, but if I had a job, I'd just pay for it myself. At this stage, I'd pay someone that's not even a mechanic, just someone good with cars, to fix it.

[Earlsfat]

Gonna try the seals myself, dropped 2k getting this thing fixed in the last 2-3 months, can't afford another mechanic. IROC helped me out alot, I think I can do it, but am getting help too.

[92rs25th]

Haha , that's why I love old schools cars , they don't have a jungle you have to go through to get stuff fixed. He can probably tear the heads off the 454 in about a half an hour , clean up the gasketed areas real good , through them back on and be going by the next day if not sooner. I rebuilt a 4.3 in just 2 days.from a complete block tear down all the way back up to every last sensor and cover. The thing that would be hard is after the 1990's where all the wires start going everywhere and all this emission Bs and a/c and yadda yadda yadda , I'd say do the head gaskets your self , costs maybe 40 bucks for them , throw them on in a day or two and be good to go. Use a tq wrech though so you are getting accurate torque down on the bolts and dont have that happen again. Another thing you could do , which is a good thing anyways when you replace a head gasket is take your head inside some place dark , stick a tiny flashlight in the exhaust ports and look at the valve ( Pinston end ) and see if you have any eyeable light coming through , if so , valve time , if not - should be good to go. Cheap and easy way! Hope something helps.

[Earlsfat]

I was under the impression that when you take the heads off, you have a lot of problems getting them back on, as far as adjustments, etc??? OR do they just come off and go back on real easy????

I'm all for ripping the entire engine apart and replacing ALL the seals if it'll help, BUT I don't know that putting it all back together is as easy as taking it apart?

[92rs25th]

Lol..heads are easy on and off. With such an engine , it's not like you have to retime the cam to the crank - unlike imports.

[Earlsfat]

Where do I get the torque requirements for the different bolts, etc?

[92rs25th]

You can get them from the Gm dealer or a gm book. Any book would be fine as long as its specs for the 454. headrs are probably around 25 , manifold probably 18. Check out the Chiltons books. See if you can find one for a vehicle , doesn't matter which one , as long as they are stock block and heads , get the tq requirements from there. Bam done deal. Hope that helps.

[Earlsfat]

If after market heads etc, I imagine that changes things? If I just do everything to like 50 ft.lbs is that bad?

[92rs25th]

Yeah , if you over tighten , It would counter effect it's tightness. IE : If you over tighten , after a few miles of running , the bolt got so tight , it started to lose thread structure and "strip" but not noticable by you. However after so much hammering and compression from the engine , it just might blow a thread or two and then..you have a leak. If you have aftermarket heads , You can get the TQ specks from the company. The company that manufactured them should be either inside where the valve springs are or stamped somewhere on the sides. If not aftermarket heads , just do the chilton thing.

[Earlsfat]

Thanks. Looks like I'll be getting greasy for Christmas.

[92rs25th]

If I lived close by i'd help you but im in SLC unfortunately..heh

[bigbadbowtie]

I would listen strongly to the 1st reply...... leakdown and compresson test.

here are the TQ specs.

Cylinder head bolts, long 75 ft.-lbs.
Cylinder head bolts, short 65-68 ft.-lbs
Intake manifold bolts (cast iron head) 25 ft.-lbs.