leaky valve seals
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg, PA 86 Vert w/ 89 wheels
leaky valve seals
please relate to me the perils of operating my car while it has leaky valve seals. Any personal experience and/or anecdotes would certainly be useful and entertaining. 
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Oil consumption, embarrassing smoke, and as it gets worse shortened plug life due to fouling. Nothing too catastrophic. When the seals get really bad it is often because the guides themselves are shot.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg, PA 86 Vert w/ 89 wheels
thanks for the tips. Seems like the big burst of smoke i was getting when i started my car was part fuel and part oil. fuel pump check valve wasnt holding pressure so it would be hard to start, lots of fuel smell when we started it, and lighter colored smoke than i expected from oil.
At least thats the theory we are working with now....
At least thats the theory we are working with now....
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 16,475
Likes: 270
From: Kingman AZ
Cruise-In VII Veteran
Cruise-In VIII
St. Jude Donor '06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
OK, you open the door to your cool lookin Vette and everyone is checkin you out. You fire that thang up and WHOA nellie! A cloud of stinky oil smoke comes spewin out of your exhaust tips!
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
When you replace those old valve seals it also gives you the chance to clean up the valve covers, add roller rockers and put on a new set of valve cover gaskets and pretty ignition wires.
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
When you replace those old valve seals it also gives you the chance to clean up the valve covers, add roller rockers and put on a new set of valve cover gaskets and pretty ignition wires.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 632
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg, PA 86 Vert w/ 89 wheels
Originally Posted by corvetteronw
OK, you open the door to your cool lookin Vette and everyone is checkin you out. You fire that thang up and WHOA nellie! A cloud of stinky oil smoke comes spewin out of your exhaust tips!
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
When you replace those old valve seals it also gives you the chance to clean up the valve covers, add roller rockers and put on a new set of valve cover gaskets and pretty ignition wires.
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
When you replace those old valve seals it also gives you the chance to clean up the valve covers, add roller rockers and put on a new set of valve cover gaskets and pretty ignition wires.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by illinest
thanks for the tips. Seems like the big burst of smoke i was getting when i started my car was part fuel and part oil. fuel pump check valve wasnt holding pressure so it would be hard to start, lots of fuel smell when we started it, and lighter colored smoke than i expected from oil.
At least thats the theory we are working with now....
At least thats the theory we are working with now....
RACE ON!!!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 6,228
Likes: 698
From: Clifton Park, NY ............Clearwater, FL ... 85 Original Owner
Don't automatically think that it's guides or seals. Do you have any plugs that are in not such good shape. My car did the same thing. hard to start and smoke. Turned out all it needed was new injectors.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 20,179
Likes: 673
From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
Originally Posted by corvetteronw
You fire that thang up and WHOA nellie! A cloud of stinky oil smoke comes spewin out of your exhaust tips!
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
Your "cool quotient" just hit rock bottom.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 17,298
Likes: 33
From: The Top of Utah
There are two good tests for leaking valve stem seals in your engine. First, if it puffs blue smoke when it is first fired up or has been sitting a bit. Second, on the highway, remove your foot from the throttle and let the engine "back down" and slow the car. Then step back on the gas. A puff of blue smoke when you get back on the gas is a sign of leaking valve stem seals. Having the transmission in a lower gear, to pull the speed of the car down more quickly, will make for more dramatic results.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
