smoke in 3rd....alot

[Shimy87]

Thanks alot Steve. I'll try those things and hope for the best. I really appreciate all the help you have offered!!

[Steve Wood]

I won't be surprised if it is the intake gasket

[Shimy87]

I can hear a little air coming out so I also did that test on cyl #1 ( front drivers side) and I also hear a little air coming out there. Sounds almost identical. I can put finger over a drain hole on and off and the air comming out is very slight but very simular in both cylinders. Intake bolts all seem very tight.

Should I have any air coming out at all? Should the difference between 1 & 5 be obvious?

[Steve Wood]

A little will leak by....bad cylinders will leak a lot more than the good ones.  Older the engine, the more that will leak.

If you rig a pressure tester for the plenum and remove both rocker shafts so air cannot go into the cylinders when you pressurize the plenum and intake, you can tell if you have a bad intake gasket seal.  I think used a piece of tubing the size of the tb inlet and capped off one end.  then install a valve stem in the tubing so you can pump air into it.  Clamp the open end in the tb hose.  Open the throttle wide open and pump about 30 psi into it.  Air will leak past the throttle shaft seals, and any other leaks including a burnt intake valve....if it leaks out immediately, you can figure the intake is not sealed and air is going into the engine valley or into the atmosphere on the outside of the intake

[Shimy87]

I'll give that a try. Its just a little air coming thru and almost exactly the same in both I checked so im thinking its not the rings in #5 causing my trouble.

Thanks!!

[Shimy87]

Well did the intake test. Air kept leaking past vacuum block. Took it off and replaced gasket with a piece of thick duct tape and put block back on. That sealed it up. Put 20 lbs in and within 5-10 seconds it was down below 10 lbs. Repeated test 4 times. Same result each time. Was very hard to hear any leak so im assuming that confirms its leaking into the engine and not Into atmosphere, causing my oil to be pushed out breather. Have a victor gasket coming tommorrow. Once again I have high hopes this will be the fix!!!

[Steve Wood]

Look at the current gasket carefully for signs of leakage

[Steve Wood]

If you have vacuum brakes,  be sure the check valve in the Booster is good

[Steve Wood]

Did you hear any air coming out of the heads?

[Shimy87]

Could hear air leaking but couldnt tell where exactly, was muffled not a hiss so I was assuming I was hearing it out the oil drain holes. I had the vacuum block sealed off at the tb so no air could get to any lines. Ill check the booster valve though for when I drive it again. Ill post a pic of the gasket when I get in there.

[Steve Wood]

I don't know what gasket Victor supplies, but if it does not include the valley pan like the original that keeps the pcv separate from the oil in the valley, cut the pan out of your old one and  set it in place under the new gaskets....

[Shimy87]

from the picture I saw it has the valley pan. Got it all apart tonight, hope I can remember how to get it all together  I think I can see where it was leaking into the engine. I am pointing to the area where it looks to me like it was leaking, what do ya think? Anything else I should address while its this far apart? Is there a specific sequence to torque the bolts back down or just work from center out to edges. I bought the turbo buick service manual disk a few years ago, but of course I cant find where I put the dang thing.

[Steve Wood]

I am not sure what I am looking at

The top of the valley pan should be pretty clean.  I am not sure what I am looking at.  What is all that black stuff on top of the pan below the ports?

Most of the leakage would be below the pan, I think..that is the "oily side".

If the intake is not sealed, it will pull oil from under the pan into the intake ports when the engine is pulling a vacuum and that would provide a smoke screen behind the car.  It would not smoke much under boost other than from whatever oil is in the exhaust from the vacuum stage.

I cannot see into the intake ports on the passenger side...if it has been sucking oil out of the valley, I would expect the port bottoms to be oily or black.  Also Look down the ports with a flashlight and see if you see a lot of build up on the backside of the intake valves which is a sure sign of leakage.  Whether it came from the  intake port or past bad intake valve guide seals is another question.

When you install the new gasket, do NOT use any silicone around the ports as silicone turns to jelly when gas gets on it and you will end up with leaks that can suck oil and fumes into the combustion chambers.

Normally, you can take the intake off by disconnecting the fuel line on the passenger side from the rail, return line on the drivers side of the rail, moving the coil pack/bracket, and disconnecting the sensors, injector harness, etc.  Then remove the intake bolts and lift everything off as one unit...should not be hard to replace because you essentially took 95% of the stuff all together.

No matter what you read elsewhere, do not tighten the intake bolts past 35 ft'lbs.  Below is the page from the manual.  Find the CD and load it on your computer, or, download it free if he still has up for download.

[good2win22]

Steve,
Is it possible that either the intake or the heads have been "decked" for straightness and now don't seal properly.  Looking at his pics, both sides of the intake gasket appear to have a linear oil line descending from front to rear. Makes me think that the intake is sealing better at the front of the heads and less at the rear.  Just my thoughts...

[Steve Wood]

It crossed my mine..but, normally, if the bolts line up well enough to go thru the intake and into the heads, then it should be fine....

But, there is a case, sometimes, where the intake fits the heads okay, but the front and rear rails of the engine valley are too close to the bottom surfaces of the intake and when you use the seals that come with the intake gasket, they prevent the intake from settling down far enuf when you are tightening the bolts.   Using a bead of silicone and not using the supplied seals will normally fix that problem.  This happens when the heads and intake has been milled as you suggest.

Placing the intake on the engine without the intake gasket or the end rail gaskets will usually show you if the intake is going to fit okay...the intake bolt holes should be a bit below the holes in the head and the gaps between the intake and the heads will be smaller than the gasket thickness