Engine now smoking after new valve seals

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standup303

standup303

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Hey all. I have a brand new 440, has 15 minute break in and 5 miles drive time. I popped the valve covers and saw some valve seals were getting shredded. Otherwise, car was running and driving phenomenal.

So popped the heads off, to the machine shop, they cut the valve stem seats down and installed new seals.

Get the car back together, and it’s smoking like crazy out of the exhaust. I rechecked valve lash, looked at the valve seals best I could through the springs….all looked ok.

I’m assuming poor valve seal job? What else could not be when the engine was running great before?

440 Howard’s roller cam, lifters, springs and 440 source roller rockers adjustable. Iron 452 heads with stock valves.
 
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Lefty71 said:
Rings not in their happy place?? (Yet)

Whats the PCV setup??
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I had ZERO smoke before I popped the heads and took them to get the seals cut and redone.

I have a K and N filter on the drivers valve cover and a 3/8 hose from the passenger cover to the carb PCV inlet.
 
standup303 said:
I had ZERO smoke before I popped the heads and took them to get the seals cut and redone.

I have a K and N filter on the drivers valve cover and a 3/8 hose from the passenger cover to the carb PCV inlet.
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You got a actual pcv valve in there?
 
replicaracer43 said:
You got an actual pcv valve in there?
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Yes sir e Bob.

Oil pressure was at 42 but idle was also super low. I was having a tough time adjusting it. Seemed like the idle adjust screw wasn’t even working. My mixtures screws are both out 1 3/4 turns. I would try to crank idle up it kept wanting to be low like 500 rpm.

IMG_9823.jpeg
 
standup303 said:
I had ZERO smoke before I popped the heads and took them to get the seals cut and redone
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So, what has changed between then and now?
You had the heads off, and put the heads back on.
standup303 said:
Get the car back together, and it’s smoking like crazy out of the exhaust.
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Blue smoke or white/gray steam?
My guess? Head gasket(s).
Run a compression test, and pressurize the cooling system to see if you can confirm the leak before you tear it all down again.
 
Professor Fate said:
So, what has changed between then and now?
You had the heads off, and put the heads back on.

Blue smoke or white/gray steam?
My guess? Head gasket(s).
Run a compression test, and pressurize the cooling system to see if you can confirm the leak before you tear it all down again.
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Nothing has changed other than the valve seal bosses were cut lower and narrower then new seals installed by a machine shop and built back up by them.

White/grey smoke out the tailpipes, pretty thick smoke too. Definitely doesn’t seem like steam.
 
standup303 said:
Nothing has changed other than the valve seal bosses were cut lower and narrower then new seals installed by a machine shop and built back up by them.

White/grey smoke out the tailpipes, pretty thick smoke too. Definitely doesn’t seem like steam.
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What kind of seals did they use?
 
standup303 said:
Nothing has changed other than the valve seal bosses were cut lower and narrower then new seals installed by a machine shop and built back up by them.

White/grey smoke out the tailpipes, pretty thick smoke too. Definitely doesn’t seem like steam.
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Exactly my point. The only thing that is different is the new head (and intake) gaskets.
Oil is blue smoke, coolant is gray/white.
Sounds like you may not have gotten the deck surfaces as clean as you hoped and the head gaskets didn't seal. Run the compression and cooling system tests.
Just my guess with the information at hand.
 
Professor Fate said:
Exactly my point. The only thing that is different is the new head (and intake) gaskets.
Oil is blue smoke, coolant is gray/white.
Sounds like you may not have gotten the deck surfaces as clean as you hoped and the head gaskets didn't seal. Run the compression and cooling system tests.
Just my guess with the information at hand.
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Thank you for the info. I’ll run a compression test and have to look up how to run the cooling test. I have no concerns regarding the head gasket install but was definitely easier with the block on the stand versus in the vehicle.
 
standup303 said:
Nothing has changed other than the valve seal bosses were cut lower and narrower then new seals installed by a machine shop and built back up by them.

White/grey smoke out the tailpipes, pretty thick smoke too. Definitely doesn’t seem like steam.
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White is water/steam. Light blue is oil.
 
It's not uncommon for a vehicle that was a heavy smoker out the exhaust, to smoke for a long while after re-ring, or bad guides, as the exhaust pipes and mufflers were full of tar/oil.
Not sure how much it could a sucked with your messed up seals.
Check for eternal oil leaks, drips on floor etc.
Let it run for a while the smoke should diminish to none.
If, after a good number of miles, it's still smoking, pull the plugs and scrutinize, keeping plugs in order.
You should be okay.
Only other issue might be PCV sucking oil if there's no baffle in the PCV valve cover, to prevent it sucking "splash".
Good luck
 
Just cranked it up again, idle was sticking to about 900 but then after I revved it up a few times idle jumped to 2,000. Looked like white smoke but hard to tell in the garage light while it’s dark out.
 
White smoke can be condensation after starting a cold engine.....which is normal; make sure the engine is thoroughly warmed up before assessing the colour of the smoke.
 
Bewy said:
White smoke can be condensation after starting a cold engine.....which is normal; make sure the engine is thoroughly warmed up before assessing the colour of the smoke.
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I’ll get it up to temp today. I know I got some coolant in the cylinders when I pulled the heads. I cleaned them out as best I could. Figured it would have burned out quickly though.
 
Dis you take it for a ride and burn out anything that could have ran into the exhaust. I had one that smoked for quite a while until the mufflers were cleared of antifreeze and oil that ran in the exhaust, Mufflers can hold pretty much fluid that doesn't blow out immediately.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Dis you take it for a ride and burn out anything that could have ran into the exhaust. I had one that smoked for quite a while until the mufflers were cleared of antifreeze and oil that ran in the exhaust, Mufflers can hold pretty much fluid that doesn't blow out immediately.
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I’ll take it out today and cross my fingers. I really hope it’s that easy
 
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