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Smokin' Right Valve cover!!!!!!!!!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stryker_78
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Stryker_78

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Can somebody help me out please..............:(
2 days ago I replaced the small filter on the right valve cover. The old one was soaked with oil. Well it blew out of the plastic holder and melted onto the exhaust manifold. :(
There is an enormous amount of smoke billowing out of this hole now. I am off to buy another filter, but does anyone have an idea as to what is causing this smoke? I am going to be replacing the valve cover gaskets tonite because they are leaking. I have spreaders to go on to even out the pressure on the covers. Is it possible that there isn't enough oil getting up into the rockers?

There is oil in the car. That is not the problem. It could be changed though. Kinda black at this point.


Heeeeeeeelllllllllllllppppppppppppppppppppppppp!!!!!!!!!



Scott................:w
 
Scott, make sure you also get a new PCV valve while replacing the breather.

You should have some "smoke" coming out of there as the oil is getting vaporized inside the engine, and some combustion always backs up in the block---thus the benefit of a good PCV valve venting the pressures through the engine.
 
oil foul plug?

Since you have the hood up, pull the spark plugs and look for any oil soaked spark plugs. You are saying that smoke is "billowing out.." Could you smell, or see oil smoke before this all occurred? Huge amounts of blow-by is caused by poor ring seal. Pressure builds inside the block and what smoke you see, vents it way to the valve covers. Install the valve cover gaskets and then keep the "small filter" off. Start the car up and place your finger over the hole. Does the pressure from the hole push your finger off or does it suck it in and out? Sucking in and out is a good sign...good sealing factor. If it pushes off and immediately begins to smoke, you have a ring problem.
I agree with MyWay..."get a new PCV valve...." to eliminate a stuck/sticking venting device.
When you pull the valve covers off, you will know right away if there is no oil getting to the rockers. It will look dry and have a burnt smell. If the rockers look wet, the oil pump is working correctly.
 
When you replace valve cover gaskets go with steel core/rubber. 69Myway recommended these and I installed them last week for general mait. and they work and fit like a charm. No leak, no sealers, I just love when products deliver. I could only find them at Summit for the 82.
Thanks Chris:w
 
Thanx a lot for the response guys. There is oil in the the rockers, but the bad news is the smoke is pouring out of the filter hole. The smoke smells VERY burnt.

The smoke is actually coming into the car now through my right cowl vent. The bloddy vent is stuck in the open postion and won't budge an inch. :(

So, does it sound like a Ring job or what?



Scott
 
i got my covers off right now,,,

Im going to put silicone on it, though,, the blue stuff


that should work just fine right??

im going to check into that rubber stuff u are saying,,

anyways,, what filter are u guys talking about

i don't remember seeing a filter on my PCV valve,,

is it inside the rubber hose from the valve cover,, or on the other side
 
What "small filter" are you talking about on the right valve cover? There aren't any "small filters" on the production system - do you have the stock PCV system in place? Just trying to figure out what you have.
 
wtf

I just went out side

i have no filter,,

u guy's are crazy or soething, i have a 85, , what year are u guy's talking about,,, sigh,,


anyways, i just called up my auto place store, and they never heard of steel core/rubber,,, where do u get that at

im just going to put silcone in it, with no gasket

i will tell u guy's how well it works, i know a guy that runs a shop that uses silcone all the time,,, he says its great,,
 
The PCV valve is on the left valve cover. On the right valve cover is the oil filler cap and a white filter in a plastic holder just above plugs 6 and 8 on the cover. That is where the smoke is coming from. A lot of the guys up here are replacing these "fibre" filters with a chrome K&N filter. Which are about 2.5 to 3" in diameter.



Scott
 
Re: wtf

Shadowing1985v said:
I just went out side

i have no filter,,

u guy's are crazy or soething, i have a 85, , what year are u guy's talking about,,, sigh,,


anyways, i just called up my auto place store, and they never heard of steel core/rubber,,, where do u get that at

im just going to put silcone in it, with no gasket

i will tell u guy's how well it works, i know a guy that runs a shop that uses silcone all the time,,, he says its great,,


Most part's places will not carry that steel core gasket, it's not commonly used so they don't bother. What they do usually have, is the step-up rubber looking gasket from Fel-Pro, it's much better than the cork gasket. Trouble with leaky chevy valve cover gaskets is usually overtightening, it will push the gasket out of it's mating surfaces.
 
Scott,

Not sure what "filter" you are talking about. On my 80, on the Passenger side valve cover is the breather hole, and tube leading to the air cleaner, but inside the air cleaner is a plastic rectangular shaped holder with a fiber type filter in it. Is this what you are talking about? (It is called the "Breather Element")

I think you should follow the troubleshooting advice from "cntrhub", that sounds like the best way to find the root problem. Just because there is oil on the rockers doesn't mean there aren't other problems.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Steve :w
 
There should NOT be large amounts of smoke coming from the valve covers. Even if the PCV were not present, there should not be a bunch of smoke. Some venting yes, but smoke no. That is an indication of a deeper problem most likely, as was already pointed out, bad ring seal. The smoke coming out of the valve covers is known as 'blow by'. On any internal combustion engine, there will be a small amount. However, when this becomes excessive, it's time for a ring job.

On emissions controlled vehicles, there is usually a tube that runs from one valve cover up to a 'breather element' in the air cleaner housing. The opposite valve cover houses the PCV, which on a carbureted engine, goes to the base of the carb. If aftermarket valve covers have been installed, there may be a breather on top of the cover, sans tube to the air cleaner housing.

How many miles are on the engine? If the engine is fresh, the rings may not be well seated, in which case, it will probably take care of itself.

By the way, the above posted thread indicates that he had oil coming out, not smoke.
 
Scott,

What you are seeing seems to be excessive pressure in the block. This can be caused by a non functioning pcv valve. I have a breather cap on the right side of my 81 that is not much more than steel wool inside a chrome cap. This allows what oil that does accumulate drain back into the valve cover. Hopefully you will find a stuck pcv valve to be the problem.
 
check oil level when cold

"2 days ago I changed a small filter......" Why did you change this filter? Was there smoke or leaking oil before you changed this filter? Is that why you changed it? Why did simply changing a filter make it pop off? Did you pull off the lower air cleaner cover housing? Is there a hose underneath the air cleaner that is "kinked" now? Something happened (after) you changed the filter. Back track your work.
You didn't state anything about excessive oil smoke coming from the tail pipe of the exhaust system. I am going to assume the engine ran fine before the filter change. I am also assuming that the engine does not have a rough idle and runs on all 8 cylinders. Because... if you did have bad rings, the compression would be low in one or more cylinders and cause smoke from the tail pipe and/or idle poorly.
Lets check for an over filled crankcase now. Check the oil level when the engine is either dead cold, or when there has been enough time for the oil to travel from the top end, cylinder walls, crankcase walls, etc., back down to the oil pan cavity. This will show on the dip stick, just how much oil is in the engine. Is this the correct dip stick for this engine? Did you, or the previous owner, change to a chrome or different dip stick than stock? Did you "home" the dip stick, and take the correct reading? If not, the stick will show a low level. One would have a tendency to add more oil and cause the symptom you are experiencing now.
 
Thanx for the responses from everyone. :)

I have taken off the stock breather and replaced it with a 360 deg. breather. So there is no tube running up to it from the right valve cover. Just the small rectangular filter on the cover. I changed the filter because it was soaked with oil. The new one fell out because I put the "wrong" one in...DOH.

When I start the car in the morning, I get quite a bit of smoke from the exhaust.Then it goes away within 30 seconds or less. The car is idling a bit rough until warm. Then it settles down but is not as smooth as I would like it to be.

There is no oil coming out of the hole. Just smoke. Blow by as you put.....:(

I will check the PCV and hope it is stuck. But I think not. I will cross my fingers. If not I will replace the rings and all of the gaskets and seals. Hopefully the pistons will be fine to reuse. I just spent a bundle on tonnes of other parts for the car a couple of weeks ago. BTW, the car is stock and all original. There are only 76000 KM's on it.


I will keep you posted.


Thanx again.


Scott :w
 
wow,,

i hope i don't have this problem

i just replaced took off my valve covers and painted them and siliconed them back on

reason for this, is cuase it was leaking oil and the oil would somke when the engine got hot,,

i sure hope it was the oil smoking and not some kind of other smoke, right now my car idles really rough and shakes big time,, but the timing is way off on it, im fixing it once i finish painting my engine,, i wil keep u guy's inform on if my enigne is fixed after i do this,, plus i moved my TPS sensor so now i have to read my book and put it to the correct voltage
 

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