[danpaul]

I am a little concerned over what I think is too much white smoke - from both banks. I had what I thought was a reputable machine shop do the machine work and assemble the bottom end with the stroker kit from Butler. I will not be able to drive the car for some time yet, but when I get home on the weekends, I like to start it and listen to it. It fires immediately and idles around 900. When I rev it, it responds instantly, no hicups anywhere. When I start it, there is a little bit of continuous smoke. Today I do this and I get a lot of smoke. The way it starts and runs, I don't believe there is any issue with the carb - thanks Cliff. The motor might have 20 min. on it total. Will the rings eventually seat after I am finally able to put some miles on it? Am I hurting it by just letting it run for 3 or 4 minuets at a time? Is it too early for my concern? It is a full hyd roller set up and finding info on break in has been a struggle. Most of the info seems to be - start it and go drive it like you stole it.
Any suggestions?

[b-man]

I say condensation.

Every time you fire it up and run it a little, then shut it down condensation builds up in your exhaust system and crankcase.

If you never get the engine and exhaust system hot (driving the car for a decent amount of time and distance) the condensation will never burn off.

What you're seeing is water vapor or steam, not smoke is my guess.

To really break it in right and seal the rings it needs to see a load, in other words you need to be driving it.

Running it for a few minutes at a time isn't doing it any good.

[67cruiser]

First thing, pull the plugs, what do they look like??? fouled, ok,20 min. on a fresh rebuild is not enough time at all. Usually 30 to 40 min. at 1800 rpms sounds better.Yes rings may not be seated yet.Id do a compression test while plugs are out just to see what it says. Remember carb. wide open, plugs removed, coil disconnected. Where,s your timing set at??? Tell usa little more engine wise what you have.

[David Jones]

Where is the PCV?

[steve25]

White smoke is coolant not oil, what does it smell like, hot oil, or hot coolant like when you crack the rad cap open with the motor up to temp?
Latly there has been reports of some manufactures ring set coming with the second ring marked for install the wrong way and they there for scrap oil into the chamber and not down to the oil ring!

[78w72]

stop starting it untill you can drive it. no need to run at 1800 for 30-40 mins as mentioned above... thats for flat tappet cams to break in. rollers dont require that break in process.

to seat the rings it needs to be under load & a series of 5-10 medium to hard accelerations under load. in high gear with kickdown unhooked if an auto trans, give it 1/2 to 3/4 throttle from about 25mph up to 45 or 50mph, then let off & allow engine to decelerate back to 25mph or lower. then repeat after a minute or so. that will get the rings seated for the most part, then do some regular cruising for a couple hundred miles varying the rpm's, inother words dont drive for 50 miles on the highway at the same speed, change it up every 5-10 minutes.

as for what is ccausing the smoke, its hard to say, usually condenmsation in the exhaust pipes will just looke like a normal car when started on a cold moring, more of a vapor that disipates right away, if its actuallly white smoke, it could be a mixture of oil & coolant or more of a raw coolant getting burned as opposed to just condensation later down the line in the pipes. as stated white smoke is usually coolant, oil will have a blueish color. your nose should tell you what it is.

also after a couple heat cycles most bolts want to be retorqued, especially head bolts, i have had a slight weeping of coolant from the head before & retorqueing sealed it right up. that could be the source of coolant getting into the combustion chamber. if it was built right & no defective parts, the smoke should clear up after the rings are broken in.

good luck

[geeteeohguy]

What b-man and 78w72 said. Stop starting it. You're just adding condensation to the crankcase and diluting the engine oil. You'll need to drive it as 78w72 said to properly seat the rings and break it in. Until you're ready to drive it, leave it alone.

[danpaul]

I had to start it one more time just to convince myself that it is condensation. I agree. It does not smell like coolant or oil and condensation drips from tail pipes. I also pulled one plug from each bank. They look fine. I'll quit starting it and maybe that will help motivate me to hurry up and get it street worthy. Thanks for all the responses guys.