White smoke at idle, out of ideas!!!!

You can run a zero pressure cap by using a recovery tank (over flow) too.

Tried the cap off trick and the smoke stayed the same. I'm officially at my wits end with this. I may just do the KW block sealer and see what happens.

well, I'm sure it's a rotten, dangerous idea, but if you pull one plug at a time and run the car, a bum cylinder will stop it from puffing with no compression.

If it's coolant in combustion eventually you'll get the tell-tale sign of chocolate milk or milkshake look to the oil...you'll know it when you see it...I'm pretty sure one or another coolant would contaminate the oil either directly or through blow by (if it's present in combustion).

Only other way I can think coolant could enter exhaust is a crack between exhaust port and coolant passage within the head, but then I'd think you'd have some unmistakable super heating issues.

I'm leaning towards oil burning. Who did the bottom half? Is there a chance the rings were installed incorrectly? That's all I got at the moment. Good luck tracking it down...sure hope it's something more minor.

Update:

Well, I was sitting in my driveway at just the right time the other evening with the car idling, and as the usual wave of exhaust smoke wafted by my head I noticed that this time...it looked blue. Sun must have hit it just right or something. Anyway, I check my coolant level and it hasn't dropped, but my oil has. <insert dirtiest stream of curse words you can think of here>. I built the bottom end, so there is definitely a chance something was done wrong, but I was meticulous in doing so since it was my first build. I did it with the help of a guy who has build several engines just to make sure. Ok, so now we're on a totally different track. What do I do first?

O.K. , now we see it's oil . If I read correctly it only shows smoke at idle ? If so there may be a valve stem seal problem . Those can be checked and replaced without removing the head .

First pull the head & have the valve guide to valve stem clearance checked. What type of valve seals are you running??
Next you might as well pull the engine & start from scratch on the bottom end.
If you are running plasa moly rings the cylinder walls need to be very slick, like a 500 hone & then finish that off with a plasma hone brush.
Replace the rings & make sure they are properly end gapped & install them correctly not upside down.
Have someone else do the work cause somewhere along the line the bottom end its possible the previous assembly or machine work was not correct.
Was the engine bored to begin with so you don't have excessive cylinder wall taper.
Let us know where the problem is. Bill

Engine was bored .060 over by a reputable shop, the same one that built the head. I'm reluctant to pull the whole motor again to start, maybe exhaust all other options before I get that drastic. It seems to only smoke at idle, as people following me say they cant see anything coming out of the tailpipe at speed. I'm more inclined to think it's something with the head as well, as all the piston tops had uniform build-up on them. What would the chances be that all the rings didn't break in properly and at in the same exact way? I'm waiting to be told that those chances are actually pretty good...

Not to be sarcastic, you need a second opinion from another shop, cause the original shop or the assembler
did not do something right.
The ball is in your court, somewhere along this build there is a problem??????
Is it the machine shop or the assembler?? I hope you find the problem.
This situation is very sad cause of the time & all the work you have put into your project.
Just bite the bullet & fix the problem. I wish you the best. Bill

Has the head had any valve guides replaced yet?

When you say smoke is billowing out. are we talking massive amounts so that everyone is seeing it out just small amounts so that somebody would have to be really looking at it. The reason I ask is in your first post you say the motor only has a 1000 miles on it. It is entirely possible that the rings are not fully seated in. You may want to get another 1000 miles or so on it first if there is only a small amount of smoke. If it truely is a alot of smoke you may want to do a cylinder leak down test to help determine where the oil is leaking from.

I have not replaced the valve guides, no. Head is also brand new and rebuilt. Will check them this weekend.

The amount of smoke is enough that when I stop at a light, it comes over the hood in a cloud and is easily visible, forcing cars next to me to roll their windows up. I'm planning on doing a leak down test, but the tester I got only had hook ups for 12 and 14mm plugs. Had to buy an adapter to make it work, which of course they don't sell locally, so now I'm waiting for it to come from Amazon. The website, not the jungle.

Whoa, is the smoke coming from under the hood or out the tailpipe????
If its from under the hood, you have a massive oil leak going onto the exhaust system.
Need a better description. Bill

From tailpipe over hood.

As suggested by Bill and others previously, you might pull the valve cover and visually inspect the valve stem seals...again as suggested, first making sure they are there...

EDIT: Here's a pic drag200-stang posted on another thread up here (you can see the upside down rubber 'umbrellas' behind the springs...

If they're there, what kind of shape are they in (i.e. cracked,broken,fragged)?...did you shave the head, deck the block or otherwise alter the rocker/pushrod setup that could have damaged the seals?

A quick dirty test might be to drizzle some oil over a suspect cylinder(s)' valve(s)' stem(s) right where the rocker tip contacts the tip of the vavle stem (while running, with the valve cover off...it will be messy) and see if it generates some good puffs out the tail pipe.

And as powerband mentioned earlier, what type of pvc system are you running, and is it routed correctly? Didn't notice where you commented on that earlier.

After that I'd have to start asking the 'hard' questions Bill posed...what was the condition of the hone, smooth?...did you mic it, or check for eveness/roundness? Where did you source your .060 over pistons? What type of rings did you go with? Could the rings have been installed out of order, upside down, or gapped incorrectly? Good luck

I pulled the valve cover and the seals look good. The block was zero decked and the head shaved for compression. Gonna try the drizzling oil technique, see if that yields any results. PCV system isn't the issue, as I pulled it and plugged the vacuum with no change in smoke.

All the short block machining was done by a reputable machine shop that has been used by numerous friends with top notch results and is owned by a builder/racer, so I'm thinking the weak spot in the build is yours truly. I'm still gonna exhaust all other options before I get drastic tho...

EDIT: Tried the drizzle down test, no visible change in smoke. There is an awful lot comin from the rocker assembly area though, kind of filled the engine bay a little. That a clue to anything?

With valve cover off that sounds like its blow by (rings). It's bored oversize did you check the ring end gaps during assembly? I have a (351W) engine that had problems kind of like that too, engine had been built at another shop. When it was tore down found that the wrong over size rings were sent in the master kit when they assembled it. On tear down the bores were machined right at .040 over and the pistons were the right .040 but the rings were .030 over. Other possible problems can be when the ring gaps are not staggered correctly, compression rings installed upside down, bore hone prep (least likely since done at a good shop). Good luck

OK, so whats the consensus on how many quarts of oil these motors take.... 5 or 4?

60 over seems quite a bit for a thin wall casting the first Ford ever attempted if I remember correctly was on the small 6.
If it was bored too quickly the cylinders could be out of round. Had to be careful honing or boreing SBFs because of this. Could punch out a 350 chevy almost. Suggest a leak down test.

TucsonHooligan":21cxgswz said:

OK, so whats the consensus on how many quarts of oil these motors take.... 5 or 4?

Click to expand...

4 quarts in the pan 1 in the filter. Just changed my oil yesterday