So i have a LS hatch w/ gsr tranny. not to long ago, i noticed alot of smoke coming out of the exhaust, blue mostly. i check it out and asked people about it, and almost all of them said i needed new rings. my heart dropped because i don't have the money for that because i just moved out on my own not to long ago. But just today, i went to SRD out here in tempe arizona, and they said it might be something else, something i guessed before I was told it was rings. geez i'm sorry but i forgot what he said, but it was in the valvetrain. any help? i already did a search on it and i found WTB/FS topics. thanks help is much appreciated.

edit: oh its a 2001 american ls

 

if the motor is stock it can only be (99.9%) 2 things

1 piston rings $50 part
2 valve stem seals $20 part

but labor is $$$

to check if its either, do:

1 compression check (tells you if rings are bad)
2 leak down test (tells you where its leaking from)

 

valve stem seals.. that what they said. yea i'm doing a leak down test on it on the moday after next. yea for about a month or so i suspected it was rings, and that is what other people told me, but i always thought in the back in my mind that it was something else. cool thanks

 

Valve stem seals...wishful thinking. Everytime I take apart a b-series that smokes its the rings. Good luck with it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Runnerdown &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Valve stem seals...wishful thinking. Everytime I take apart a b-series that smokes its the rings. Good luck with it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats cause you race your motor probably. my nitrous motor does the same. after every drag event, i take my block apart and its the rings. but hard to tell unless you do diagnostics.

valve stem seals and piston rings are both as much work to change

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gold EF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

thats cause you race your motor probably. </TD></TR></TABLE>

It doesnt matter if it raced or not. My b-series doesnt smoke, but a lot of them with higher mileage ( and hondas in general ) have ring problems. They have very little tension as i'm sure you know and some carbon makes them stick in the lands a bit. that and a little wear on them and the motor is smoking.

 

im gonna say rings, SRD in AZ blows.. ive heard nothing but bad stories about them.