What is one diagnostic test to tell if an engine is burning oil because of leaking valve guide seals?
One sure-fire way to tell if you have a faulty valve seal is to perform a cold engine test. When your vehicle has been sitting overnight or for a longer period of time, the top of the head of the valve cover will have some oil left over from the last time you drove.
What happens to the oil in a bad valve seal?
Upon acceleration, the oil gets sucked past the eroding seal and down through the valve guide, where it burns in the exhaust. Huge clouds of blue-white smoke exit the tailpipe after each acceleration from a stop. The burning smoke will disappear during cruising or highway speed.
What causes smoke to come out of exhaust pipe?
Excessive Smoke. If the valve seals have deteriorated enough, the blue-white exhaust smoke will last longer after start-up and acceleration. Yet the smoke will eventually disappear after long engine operation or during periods of hot weather.
Why do I have blue smoke coming from my tailpipe?
We often hear about blueish smoke from the tailpipe as an indicator of burning oil. You might see it on startup or under acceleration—or more frequently depending on the severity of the problem. Burning oil, generally speaking, describes oil that is entering your engine’s combustion chambers and being burned with the fuel-air mixture.
Where are the seals on a valve stem?
Seals, typically made of high-strength rubber, fit over the top of the valve stem inside a small collar. When valve seals begin to wear or fail they produce some obvious and unique symptoms.
What causes oil to leak Past Worn valve seals?
These oils have special additives that cause old/worn seals to swell slightly. And this might be enough to prevent the oil from leaking past the old/worn valve guide seals. Year, make, model would be helpful as different engines have different seal configurations.
Why do I have smoke coming out of my engine?
What you’re describing is typically the result of failed valve seals. They get old and hard, and no longer stop oil from running down the stem of the valves. The smoke stops because there’s not usually much oil that remains on the valve stem once the engine is running. Having said all this, cheap is relative.
Why do I get smoke from my oil cap?
There are two main possible reasons why your engine will emit smoke from the oil cap: When worn valve stem seals and rings have hot fuel bypassing them. Or just fuel at any time bypasses the worn valve stem seals and worn rings.
What to do if your oil filler is blowing smoke?
Slowly and patiently loosen the engine oil filler cap till you are able to completely remove it Now, pay attention to the amount of smoke/fume that is blowing out as you remove the oil cap. At this point, if the amount of fume you can see coming out is less, then it’s probably fine like we mentioned earlier.