Anyone replaced just valve stem seals to cure smoke-at-startup on 300A

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

I have a 34k mile 300A and like almost everyone else, if I start the car after sitting for a day or more I get a puff of blue smoke. I read through the multitude of posts on the subject and most are worthless responses -- it's not the type of oil and it's not babying the car that causes the smoke. It's also not that the car is not "broken in yet" at this mileage (whatever that is supposed to mean).

So, guides and/or seals:

If the guides are shot that is of course a big $$$$$ repair but if it's just valve stem seals, I would actually go to the trouble of replacing them if anyone w/ a low mileage 300A like me has found that just the seals themselves were causing the smoke and replacing them cured it.

Anyone who's actually fixed their smoking? It only puffs on a dead cold start but with a car this nice, that annoys me. I have a chevy small block in a car in my driveway that I built from 3 different engines, on the floor of a garage in one night, with zillion mile parts, the pistons are not even from the same block, honed and re ringed and even that thing does not puff when you start it!!

[Zack]

Problem is, after you get done replacing the seals, it might still smoke cause it was actually a bad valve GUIDE.
I suggest ignoring it.

[MainEngDwarf]

I had about the same mileage on mine and had the same issue. The dealer where I bought the car said it was the pcv valve and the valve cover design had changed blah blah. they ended up replacing the valve cover and did the seals. Still had the problem. I took it to a dealer in VA Beach, they did an oil consumption test, which was inconclusive. So I left it for their senior Mechanic to check out, (this man knew his stuff). He discovered that not only was it blowing blue smoke at startup, it was also puffing blue smoke occasionally while running. He got permission from ford to tear the engine down. He discovered soft piston rings, and the ring gaps on 4 of the pistons were lined up, (:eek:). Since it was torn down, (and he couldn't find the tools to do the heads himself) he had the heads sent to a good shop, where they discovered out of spec seals and guides and rebuilt the heads. When it was all said and done it was an entirely differnt engine, tighter quieter and it seems to me alittle faster.
New rings
new rod bearings
rebuilt heads

[Vortech347]

Unless your ready to completly remove and rebuild the heads you should prolly leave em alone.

[BODYMAN]

I had about the same mileage on mine and had the same issue. The dealer where I bought the car said it was the pcv valve and the valve cover design had changed blah blah. they ended up replacing the valve cover and did the seals. Still had the problem. I took it to a dealer in VA Beach, they did an oil consumption test, which was inconclusive. So I left it for their senior Mechanic to check out, (this man knew his stuff). He discovered that not only was it blowing blue smoke at startup, it was also puffing blue smoke occasionally while running. He got permission from ford to tear the engine down. He discovered soft piston rings, and the ring gaps on 4 of the pistons were lined up, (:eek:). Since it was torn down, (and he couldn't find the tools to do the heads himself) he had the heads sent to a good shop, where they discovered out of spec seals and guides and rebuilt the heads. When it was all said and done it was an entirely differnt engine, tighter quieter and it seems to me alittle faster.
New rings
new rod bearings
rebuilt heads



same problem on my KB_S at 29,xxx miles did the same repair of course my dealer never did get Ford involved they would have denied the claim due to S/C. The service manager I qoute if this was not a sticky situation due to the S/C he would have had Ford repl w/ complete new motor. It helped I worked at the dealer. AS for KB I love on his sales pitch we will help you get any warranty concern resolved with Ford,. OF course they were of no Help blah,blah,blah. So in short if I did not know the people I know I would have been SOL. And mine was not just puffing it was a mosquito blower and completely embarrasing:mad:

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Yeah I know stem seals only would be a bandaid fix if the guides were loose. I am not afraid of taking the heads off myself and bringing them to my shop if I really had to. The MM does not get driven much and I do build my own engines, and I have the room to leave stuff apart. I don't like ignoring problems if they are going to end up getting worse. So it sounds like it is probably not as simple as stem seals.

How was the diagnosis of "soft rings" determined? Did he send them out to someone and have them checked using a hardness tester? Otherwise that sounds kindof a suspicious diagnosis if that was determined just looking at them.

Always having to know the answer or drive myself nuts trying to find it,

Steve

[Blk Mamba]

Always having to know the answer or drive myself nuts trying to find it,

Steve

OCD?

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Not officially diagnosed as OCD but for all intents... I have mechanical OCD, yes.

[Blk Mamba]

Never clinically diagnosed, but those of us who are, can do self evaluation, nature of the beast, (some of us think we can do anything).

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

You mean I can't do everything? That is news to me!!!!

[Marauderjack]

I have 185K+ miles on mine and it has done it from day one....every once in awhile??:confused:

If I start it to move it when it is cold the next start is a smoke bomb!!!:eek:

BTW, mine has never used oil between changes and still runs great.....It'll probably POP tomorrow!!:rolleyes:

Look at it this way.....you're gettin' good upper cylinder lubrication!!!:beer:

Marauderjack:burnout:

[MainEngDwarf]

Soft seals have nothing to do with the metal itself, it has to do with how much pressure they exert on the cylinder walls.

[GetMeMyStogie]

My '94 MGM had the problem of consuming a litre of oil every 1000km or so. The only options were either bad stem seals, or bad rings. I hadn't considered bad valve guides.
I went through the trouble of changing the seals, because it was relatively inexpensive - the right tool cost more than anything else. After that, the oil consumption didn't change at all! If anything, it got a little bit worse. I figure the seals I used (fel-pro) weren't as good as the OEM seals, even though they looked about the same.

Anyway, that's one weekend I wish I could have back - totally not worth it.

[larryo340]

My '94 MGM had the problem of consuming a litre of oil every 1000km or so. The only options were either bad stem seals, or bad rings. I hadn't considered bad valve guides.
I went through the trouble of changing the seals, because it was relatively inexpensive - the right tool cost more than anything else. After that, the oil consumption didn't change at all! If anything, it got a little bit worse. I figure the seals I used (fel-pro) weren't as good as the OEM seals, even though they looked about the same.

Anyway, that's one weekend I wish I could have back - totally not worth it.

You never know, but most of the time it's ok with replacing just the seals.
I changed my valve seals on a '92 GM I had at 120,000 miles. It used a quart every 400-500 miles. After the replacement with oem seals it would go the 3,000 miles between oil changes using NO oil. The old seals were very hard, and felt like solid. I sold the car over 3 years ago to a friend who is still using it 100 miles daily to get to work and back. I think it has around 225,000 miles on it last I heard.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

I just changed the oil with 6,000 on it and I added zero oil over 6,000 miles and the stick still read 100% at the full mark when I changed it. So it is not burning any, just the start up puff. Curious.

[Pat]

Yea, my 04 started the blue puff syndrome at about 20K miles. Just every once in a while. Have 67K on the meter now, no oil consumption and it runs great.

I have removed and or changed plugs about five times over the life of the motor and so far have not detected any visible difference between the six plugs, FWIW.

Recommendation - Take no action at this time. If syndrome worsens then repair is indicated.

However, if it's intolerable to you now, then apply the resources to remedy the problem and be content - time, money and labor.

Regards,

[omarauder]

Are you sure that the puff of smoke is from burning oil? Maybe just excess fuel from the rich condition used to start a cold engine or a faulty sensor somewhere.

[RR|Suki]

Are you sure that the puff of smoke is from burning oil? Maybe just excess fuel from the rich condition used to start a cold engine or a faulty sensor somewhere.

if that were the case the smoke should be more black, not blue

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

It's clearly oil smoke, you can see and smell it. Startup enrichment is not enough to go black through the cats.

[Motorhead350]

Steve I've had that problem for years... years, until I replaced the engine. I have 33,000 miles on the current one and no problem. When I got the blue smoke with the old one I kinda thought it was funny because it would annoy anyone who was near me during a start up, but it was ok, no problems ever... just that smoke and it went on for probably three years or so.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Is your new engine NEW ford or is it reman? It is annoying starting the car in the garage because of that puff and then it stinks like burned oil for probably 30 seconds