Hi All,
I'm sitting somewhere between freaking out and 'cool'.
Last time I had the car out on the road (other than today), I noticed it smoking a lovely shade of blue-grey when coming to a set of lights.
Trip before that was out to the drag strip, and there were no signs of smoke at all (that I noticed).
The short drive when I first noticed the smoke was around the same time as I replaced the PCV.
I lashed the valves the other day and noticed the lovely blue-grey smoke at idle, slowly filling the driveway.
Today, I replaced a cracked spark plug and put a fuel filter in the PCV line, then took the car for a short (10min) run. It was like a crop duster to begin with, leaving a long trail of smoke down the street. Didn;t really seem to notice a huge difference in smoke output under different conditions (cruise, idle, accel etc), but on one occasion noticed a puff on deceleration.
Anyway, long story short, by the time I parked it back in the driveway, it didn't really seem to be smoking at all?
Engine is a low mileage 505" RB (<1000 miles), but sits for long periods.
Fuel, although I put a few fresh gallons in the other day, would be over 12 months old.

Due to the smoking at idle, I'm leaning towards either oil through the PCV or sucking oil through an intake gasket leak?
Anyway, I plan on having another drive and a better look tomorrow, but assuming it's still smoking, what should I look to try for for a better diagnosis?

Cheers!

When I had an oil burning/engine smoking issue with the 493 in my Charger, I looked at every possible angle, then discovered that the rings were worn out and the cylinders were glazed. The fix was to hone the cylinders and put in new rings. This is probably NOT what you want to hear. Before giving up and pulling the motor, consider the following:
The PCV hose should run to the base of the carb. The valve cover NEEDS to have a baffle under the PCV valve as well. The non PCV valve cover needs to have some sort of vent to it be it a breather or a can with a hose to the air cleaner.
The Intake mounting bolts need some sort of sealant, as they are openly threaded into the lifter valley. The valley pan may not be sealing, allowing oil to be sucked into the cylinders and burned. You can determine this by pulling the spark plugs and looking at the porceline tips. Discoloration on ONE side indicates a "spray" of sorts is occurring.
Have a friend follow you to determine if the smoke is coming from the tailpipes OR swirling from under the car. At one time, all my oil pan bolts were finger tight, allowing oil to seep through and sling against the headers causing some smoke. Another time, the speedometer pinion housing had a bad O ring and ATF seeped against the exhaust, causing smoke.
Hopefully your is a case of external smoke, saving you the time of a rebuild. I referred to my Charger as the "James Bond smokescreen" until I fixed it. Now the only smoke is from the fat 850 carb and the Nitto tires!

Blown head gasket.

Thanks guys.
Due to the international date line, I've just finished breakfast, and will start screwing with the car in a few hours.
I'm sadly aware that it could be rings. However, due to the fact that the smoking situation seemed to 'just appear' and not gradually get worse (as I would assume it would with glazing cylinders???), Ive got my fingers crossed for something to do with the PCV or intake gasket.

Cheers!

Update:
Started the car, and it puffed a nice cloud of smoke, then that was it. Drove it to my daughters halloween party in a local park. Tried to fire it up to drive home. Turns out it was flooded, and when it finally kicked over, gave another puff of smoke.
At least it wasn't crop dusting today as I drove.

just a thought,, car is running rich on gas, so it 'gasses' the rings,
basically washes them out , so they get no lube, then the heat up, take the tension out, and here come the smoke and oil consumption.


oooo could hope it's the valve stem seals on the heads??

have you looked at your plugs? if its only on or two its prob not your pcv.

If you're having more 'blow by than normal', then a filter in the pvc line will help for a while , but goes to show still, that the rings may be an issue , either by to much ring end gap or loss of tension on the rings ? causing to much crankcase pressure?
still hopping the issue is at the valve springs seals ,?

The filter in the PCV line captures oil, blowby isn't oil, it's combustion gases.. The reason you get oil in the PCV system is having the PCV valve positioned where there is oil spray, usually oil intended to lube the valve gear... Well designed baffles in the valve cover are typically the long term fix...

sorry I'm confused?
normal crankcase venting is what pressure that is develop from the piston rotating up and down ,
'blow by' is what escapes past the rings after compression,
that is the gasses you so called.
nothing says you have to have a pcv valve ! as long as you have a way for the pressures to escape out of the motor,
A pcv valve system is 'dirty'by it nature, and the motor re-burns oil and gasses that has been previously burned , hense allot of guy use evac tubes, helps keep motor burning clean air!
An engine that is set up right doesn't have allot of blow by causing more than normal oil consumption to occur passed the pcv and the baffles,, any engine that has higher miles , run hot, will have the issues of oil consumption and excessive oil past the pcv valve
other than that we are talking the same stuff

My point is the engine may be 100% healthy, fact is with less than 1000 miles on the engine it should be 100% healthy though with to much fuel washing the oil out of the rings there is no guaranty that it is... But most aftermarket valve covers have no baffling so oil consumption becomes a serious issue... Yes PCV systems by nature are sending crankcase vapors through the intake to be burned, but if the vapors are properly baffled & allow the oil to fall out of suspension then oil burning can be virtually eliminated.. Evac systems are fine in a race application but you need more RPM's for them to be effective so it's better suited to a race application... plus if the exhaust system has any backpressure the crankcase will be pressurized.. There are guys who insist the old road draft tube is better for the engine but for that system to be effective you need to have the vehicle moving 25 mph or more, the road & the bottom of the car are gonna be covered with oil.... Sorry for a normal street driven car a well designed & executed closed PCV system is the best option..

Certainly not going to rule out a rich condition washing out the rings...

Something else to mention. This condition seemed to coincide with me replacing the PCV. Now, I just went to the parts store and got something with similar dimensions. I think it was off a newer Toyota or Lexus.
Now, do different PCVs have different 'characteristics'? ie open and close at different vac levels?
The valve cover is the standard cast MP version, with standard baffle, but there is oil getting past the PCV (could see a trace in the fuel filter inlet).

Cheers!