Oil smoking during oil change

[B_D_Torres]

I've changed a lot of oil but I have never seen what I just saw. Has anyone ever seen oil start to smoke as it drains from the oil pan? I dropped the drain plug and the filter and at the end of the drain thin wisps of smoke started to come out of the drain hole. This was done on a cold engine which has not ran since the previous night and at an outside temp of 60 degrees. Should I be worried about this? :scratch:

 

[Potomac30]

I have never drained oil from a cold engine. Maybe it's condensation.

 

[ranger7ltr]

I wouldn't worry...

IT was vapor that was inside the engine block from the last time the engine ran.. If you had pulled the PCV valve you would see this same vapor coming out of either the oil fill or the vapor tube going from the oil fill tube to the air intake...

Your engine must be in pretty good shape to still have vapor inside of it after sitting overnight..I just replaced some injectors and saw the same "smoke" from the air line when I pulled the PCV valve...

 

[powerwagon]

thats it all need to know... i have seen it on cars and trucks that came in the bay that have bin runing for hours

 

[blkhwkns]

I've changed a lot of oil but I have never seen what I just saw. Has anyone ever seen oil start to smoke as it drains from the oil pan? I dropped the drain plug and the filter and at the end of the drain thin wisps of smoke started to come out of the drain hole. This was done on a cold engine which has not ran since the previous night and at an outside temp of 60 degrees. Should I be worried about this? :scratch:

PCV! the pcv valve is either stuck, or you have a blockage in the recirculation system somewhere. I have seen this many times as well but in an engine that has not been run for 24 hours? idk it would have to be a large blockage to not release the crankcase gases overnight. Have you checked the operation of the PCV?

 

[B_D_Torres]

PCV! the pcv valve is either stuck, or you have a blockage in the recirculation system somewhere. I have seen this many times as well but in an engine that has not been run for 24 hours? idk it would have to be a large blockage to not release the crankcase gases overnight. Have you checked the operation of the PCV?

It didn't sit for 24 hours it was probably 12 at best. The PCV valve seemed fine, it rattled, when I installed it a few days before. When you say blockage in the recirculation system you mean oil not coolant correct? Doesn't really matter though because after I put new oil in and installed new shocks I took it for a test drive. All seemed good. After sitting for about an hour I start the truck and I'm blowing white smoke, BADLY. I'm so tired of this vehicle. It may just find a new home at the bottom of the river.

I have to correct myself. Apparently when it's dark and cold any smoke will look white. Today in the afternoon I start it up and we have a small amount of grayish looking smoke. Letting run a bit to warm up and then see if the smoking worsens or lessens.

 

[B_D_Torres]

Well I'll repeat what i said in my other thread which nobody cares to reply to, I am leaking coolant externally which is probably why I associated the smoke last night to white smoke as I could smell coolant. I am also blowing what smells like burning oil smoke from the exhaust. It does get worse as the vehicle heats up. I replaced the lower intake manifold gasket prior to the oil change and I'm thinking that is where my coolant leak is. As for the burning oil could that be valve or piston related or both? Any suggestions?

 

[blkhwkns]

Well I'll repeat what i said in my other thread which nobody cares to reply to, I am leaking coolant externally which is probably why I associated the smoke last night to white smoke as I could smell coolant. I am also blowing what smells like burning oil smoke from the exhaust. It does get worse as the vehicle heats up. I replaced the lower intake manifold gasket prior to the oil change and I'm thinking that is where my coolant leak is. As for the burning oil could that be valve or piston related or both? Any suggestions?

Ok, first thing you need to find where the leake is. Do you have a cooling system pressure tester?

If you have not had this problem before the intake gasket install then you may have a problem with the gaskets leaking coolant into an intake runner causing the smoke, if the smoke is in fact from coolant not and oil.

As far as the oil smoke idea, if the smoke is from oil and not coolant what is most likely taking place is an intake or exaust valve seal failing and allowing oil to leak down the valve into the combustion chamber and thus smoking. With any leak where fluid is comeing out it can also allow air back in so lets say your valve seal is bad on # 3 and it is burning oilbut is also leaking combustion gases back in to the engine throug the valve seal that is bad and seatteling in the crank case... this would explain the smoke you saw while changing the oil, the smoke may have been combustion gases that leaked back through the oiling system and rested in the oil pan. you should be able to remove the spark plugs and check for oil fowling or oil traces on the plug. This is how you would determin what cylendar (s) are " Burning oil".

Another idea is: When you removed the intake you would have spilt coolant everywhere, and if it went into the head, or pooled in the intake, or anywhere in the induction system it would be pulled through with the incomeing air charge and pulled in to a cylendar to be burned and thus "Smoke"... do you have any idea how much may have went into the head? If a good amount went in various places the smoke may clear up. How long have you allowed in to idle? May just be some coolant in the intake puddled up and burning a little at a time.

 

[B_D_Torres]

blkhwkns, Thanks for your advice. After reading much more on the topic your advice was pretty much the way I was thinking.

So I think first I'm going to do a compression check just to verify that part. While doing the compression check I'll find out the status of the spark plugs and see if I'm burning oil. So far so good?
Then assuming the results are positive I will remove the lower intake again and verify the gaskets are installed correctly. I'm pretty sure they are not as I believe that is where the coolant is leaking from. Do you think I'd be okay reusing the lower intake gaskets, if they are not damaged, as they've only been on the engine for a couple of hours of run time?
I do not have a cooling system pressure tester.

The more I read about it and the more I think about it, the stronger the feeling gets that I just screwed something up with the lower intake gaskets, again. I drove the vehicle for about 15 miles prior to changing the oil without any serious smoking issues as I was trying to verify my "fix" then I parked it and the next time I started it, smoke.

Again thanks for your advice. You may have saved me from doing this to it.

 

[blkhwkns]

Don't re-use the lower gasket's!!! They need to be replaced and torqed to spec. To spec and in the correct order. 35 ft lbs is pretty much standard ( Not saying it's correct you need to find out to be shure) Also they have a Sequence that needs to be followed. Starting from the middle and in a cris cross pattern work your way out. In most cases i will set the intake on and run the bolt's down wit a 1/4 drive ratchet till the bolt heads touch the intake, then torque them to spec. Be shure the mateing surfaces are clean and free of old gasket (this will cause a leak). Another thing "I " do is when the intake is pulled i use a shop vac to remove old material and coolant from everywhere i can so that i dose'nt end up in the oilpan or in a valve port ect. Change the oil again!!! When you pull the intake coolant WILL spill and some will go where it don't belong. changing the oil again is a must it's not worth coolant mixing with oil and causing further problems. Good Luck! hope it works out well for you.

 

[B_D_Torres]

I did a compression test and found the middle cylinder on the driver side, I don't know what number it is, has a valve issue. I have 30 psi on that cylinder and the plug was very fouled. The other cylinders were all 160-170. I'm going to be fixing that first and then I'll be replacing the lower intake gasket again. I am well aware of the torquing sequence and followed that to the letter the first 2 times I intalled the lower intake gasket. The first time I didn't add the RTV in the proper place on the back of the engine block. This time I think I didn't wait long enough for the RTV to cure before running the vehicle. So once I get the valve issue figured out I'll be re doing the lower intake AGAIN.

Once again Thanks for the advice.