My friend just put together an LS bottom end, JE pistons & rings, Eagle rods, etc.. has good compression, but the oil rings never did seat and the car smokes really bad. Is there anything we can do before we have to pull it apart? I've heard of people pulling the plugs, disconnecting the injectors, and putting in kerosene and cranking it as a latch ditch effort. any suggestions?
thanks,
Jared

 

Are you sure the oil rings didn't seat? I mean, it could be other things causing the car to smoke badly ...how are the valve stem seals? Is any one cylinder worse than the other; pull the exhaust manifold and check that out ...could even spray WD-40 onto the valve from up-top and see if you can see it running down the valves. Check out your exhaust ports as well ...just a few alternative ideas. If you're sure it's the oil rings, you're S.O.L. You're going to have to invest in some new rings; good luck.

 

Sounds like your friend didn't break in the engine properly. Sux to be him.

If the rings didn't seat, you might as well pull the engine and do it again.

 

not sure how he broke it in, but there's no way this car would smoke this much if it didnt even have valve seals, has to be rings, no other option.

 

Make sure your friend is NOT using synthetic oil.

 

he isn't, i'm not an idiot, i know at least to check that.

 

Wrong, smoking can be related to faulty valve stem seals as well. Did your friend have new valve guides installed w/ the fresh cylinder head? If so, make sure the guides aren't loose ...sometimes they can be damaged when being pressed in. If the valve stem seals are bad, the car will smoke. You could also pull the cylinder head and see if the oil is being burnt in the combustion chambers (which would signify bad valve seating/valve stem seals/valve guides). You need to establish if the oil is being burnt in the cylinder head or the shortblock itself. Make sure the cylinder walls aren't scored either when you check everything out. Was the cylinder head torqued properly (correct ft-lb and sequence). Another thing to take into consideration is that you are supposed to re-tighten the head bolts/head studs after the car is at operating temperature ...you'll get another half-turn out of them. Just trying to give you some suggestions, because rings will not be a cheap replacement in comparison.

 

I have been having the same type of problems with my LS.
When I pulled the head off #2 and #4 valves were covered with shiny deposits, while #1 and #3 were dry and sooty looking. I am sure it is valve guides this time. The head shop the first time used generic valve seals(all the same size). The second time I gave them the seals from the dealership. And it still smoked.
Only smoked bad at start up and when I sat at a light for a long period of time.
So I say valve guides that will be replaced along with the seals again.

I am now really sick of this smoking problem. I just hope this is the last time I will have to open it up.

 

actually, from the factory, both exhaust and intake valve seals are the same size since the valve stem is the same diameter. the only difference is the way they handle head(exhaust valves obviously get hotter) the exhaust valve seals have a black spring around them and intakes have a silver spring

 

Drain a quart of oil from engine and add a quart of Rislone. Run engine for a week or so until smoke goes away. Get Rislone at Autozone. It should work if all else is OK!

 

Rislone will work wonders. You will be surprised how well you rings will seat when you use it.

art