repairs and new problems

[wrenchboss26]

I bought a 95 mx3 1.6 that had previously broke a timing belt, and the old owner just put a new belt on. It ran and drove, but was underpowered. I drove it about 6 monthes like that, then did a leakdown test which revealed a destroyed exhaust valve on #2 cylinder. I took the head to a machine shop and had the valve replaced, and the seat cleaned up. The shop did a valve job and installed new valve seals. I reinstalled the head using mazda gaskets, as well as a mazda timing belt, and water pump. The car ran and drove MUCH better, but started blowing blue smoke for a few seconds at startup. This progressively got worse, and now even after warm up if the rpms are over 1800 you get a major smoke screen. I did another leakdown test and found no problems, so I did a compression test and got 172 176 176 180 and wet got 174 176 178 182. I thought I had a ring problem, but testing didn't support that. So I bought a tool and replaced the valve seals with the head still on. This was way more time consuming that It should have been, but would have been worth it, except it didn't fix the smoke. The smoke is blue, very bad at startup, then goes away at idle, comes back at 1800 rpm and up. Burns about a quart of oil every 10-14 days. No smoke before head job. What am I missing???

[young_11_blood]

well when installing the valve seals it is possible if they pinched on install. and ur pressure tests wet whould be alot higher than the dry ones

[rlryder21]

The valve seals are tricky to put in without crushing-- which might give blow by. Do you have HLA lifters or solid buckets? They put both types in thru those years. If they're solid, you may want to check the shims- valve seats could be slightly off.