Burning Oil???

[K-Unit7]

89 caprice classic 350hp....The car is not leaking oil any were, and about every two weeks i have to put in a quart of oil, what can be my possibilties? Thanks

[HLandin]

Does your exhaust ever have a blue color?

[K-Unit7]

no blue smoke, but theres alot of white smoke when I first start the car up.

[acaprice]

does your engine get to hot, is the cooling system working fine

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by K-Unit7

89 caprice classic 350hp....The car is not leaking oil any were, and about every two weeks i have to put in a quart of oil, what can be my possibilties? Thanks

Do you mean 350 cubic inch? (not hp)?

These older 305 and 350 ci engines were notorious for oil leaking past the valve seals. These seals can be changed without removing the cylinder heads, but its a bit tricky.

If this were my car and I wanted to keep it a long time, I would rebuild the cylinder heads. But if its just transportation and is running fine, I wouldn't do anything until the problem got worse. Adding oil every 2 weeks is not what I would call 'severe' oil burning.

[HLandin]

This is the first I've heard of a notorious valve seal leak. Please, do tell more. What would indicate leakage past the valve seals? When you said older, what year range were you referring to?

Also, why do you recommend rebuilding the cylinder heads? Any specific problems to look for that indicate a need to rebuild them?

[ladymech62]

The valve seals are rubber (either a cap or o-ring) and when they get hard and break the oil leaks down past them into the combustion chamber. What was meant by tricky is when you go to change out the seals on the valves, you MUST insert a hose into the spark plug hole and apply air pressure so you don't drop a valve. It is also tricky in collapsing the valve spring and getting the two halves of the lock removed then lifting the spring off. The o-ring (on a Chevy) is replaced, then the spring and the two halves of the lock, taking care that the lock is in the groove or you launch your spring. You do both valves for each cylinder. After that, You need to put the valve lifter stems and the rocker arms back on. The messy part is getting the arms adjusted. Put all back on and snugged down. Start the car and be prepared for an oil sprinkle. Make sure the car is running on all 8 then place the cover back over one side until you are done with the other. On each rocker arm, back off the nut until it starts to tap. Tighten back down one quarter of a turn until all eight on each side are quiet, and the engine runs smooth. Put back together and then you can wash the engine down to clean off the oil.

[Gearhead406350]

Hey for the oil problem check the PCV valve my 91 with a 305 burned oil like that to. So i took out the PCV valve and it was really clogged so i changed it and it doesn't leak oil anymore. Otherwise its probably the valve seals.