2006 5.4 3v White / Blue smoke on startup after lots of repair, but only 100k miles.

[Fidder]

Did you get the psi reading for each cylinder?

I cannot remember but it was not very high overall. The tester i used kept it on the low side to zero out the testing side.

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[stamp11127]

Depending on the compression ratio, for 9 to 1, each cylinder should read around 145psi when cranking.

 

[1955moose]

Your compression should be even on all 8 cylinders. Balance between the 8 is everything. They State that you can have up to 15 percent difference between the highest and lowest cylinder, I've never accepted that. Anything more than10 pounds lower can be felt. Shaving the heads and putting on a stock gasket will raise compression ratio. Too much and their can be interference with piston to valves. With the issues you've had a compression test would be a smart move. Easy to do before you bolt on intake. Look over the lobes on both cams, and micrometer them for wear. You don't want to throw heads on and find a worn lobe.

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[rjdelp7]

Put it together and turn the key. It is not NASCAR or top fuel dragsters.

 

[1955moose]

He's had so many issues and bad luck, were just trying to get him fixed one last time. What do you tell the op, after he goes through all that punishment, and finds out he missed something simple. These motors are just too hard to tear down a second time, that's why Stamp, and the others want him to have a successful top end job. Sorry I only know the right way to build a motor, character flaw in the old Moose!

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[Fidder]

Thanks all, I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I need all the info I can get.

I am planning on doing a compression test as soon as I get it back together enough to do it. I am not a bit of a hold while I wait for new phasers to come in. I just noticed a small wear issue on the current ones that spurred me to make the purchase yesterday. I hope to get the phasers installed, timed and the covers put back on Friday night / Saturday morning.

The machine shop that did the heads did inspect the cams and said they were good to go, they also advised me not to use a thicker gasket due to the minimal amount taken off.

Here is to hoping.

 

[1955moose]

Cool, sounds like every things on course. Take your time on assembly, any questions reach out to us.

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[Fidder]

Well, I have some news to report. Finished putting the truck back together last night, and it run good but the suggestion to do a compression test was a really good suggestion because it does appear that after all is said and done that there is an issue for sure regarding the piston / rings of cylinder #7. It still is markedly lower than the rest. I also saw when I had it apart that there is a chip out of the very top of it which tells me that that there was damage in there before.

As far as the smoke issue, it looks like there might have been two issues working together. one of them was that upon startup after it has been sitting for a while it would billow large amounts of white/off-white smoke for the first mile or two of driving. the other issue is that is would blow small amounts of blue/white smoke out after it was sitting at idle for a while, but it would not last long.

Now I know I need to drive it a bit more to see how the next few days work to know for sure, but after driving it home from the garage I did the work at and a test drive this morning it seems as though the start up smoke is doing much better, but the blue/white smoke after idle is still happening, but even that is a little bit better. This I think with my limited knowledge goes back to that bad cylinder #7

I do have a power train warranty on this which would not have covered the valve guide seals but it does cover the rings and pistons so now my plan is to drive for a couple of days to get an idea of how much oil it is consuming and then getting in touch with the folks at Auto Nation (where we just bought it 3 months ago) and see if they will honor the warranty.

Thanks for all the help, if there is anything else you can think of I would love to hear it.

 

[1955moose]

Well there you go. Like I said earlier, doing only the heads and gaskets are a gamble. The fact that a hunk of #7 is missing tells me that either a valve hit the piston, or a spark plug grenaded in that hole! Problem is you can't buy a single set of piston rings, or piston for that matter. No you need to change out all eight ring sets, not to mention if the connecting rod bearings, or cylinder bores are clean, and unscarred. You may have a decision to make within a week or so.

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