Burning Oil ? what seals ? stop it ?

[ColAdo82K5]

Hey,
I have a tired 350 in my truck and i believe it's starting to burn some oil. It doesn't leak it. trust me, i've done the seals. The question is, what causes an engine to burn oil and how can i stop it besides a new crate ram jet 502 ? is it the rings on the pistons or is it somewhere in the heads ?
thanks guys
blake

 

[Can Can]

Here's two things to consider(There's probably more but I'm not that much of an engine guy):

1. Worn rings/worn cylinder walls

2. Worn or missing valve guides

Does the truck ALWAYS smoke? I've used a product called Restore with pretty good results on a straght-6 in and old Chev pickup. Other than that, it looks like you'll have to tear into the motor to find out.

 

[Grim-Reaper]

Do a compression check. If it comes up good it's valve guide seals. Looking $40 in parts. $50 for a special tool to do the job while the engine is together.

 

[Stomp]

hehe, and a REAL PAIN IN THE A$$ if its the rings /forums/images/icons/smile.gif
Do what I'm doing and go buy a block and an engine stand and paycheck to paycheck it together

 

[ColAdo82K5]

the engine doesn't smoke at all, but the oil level will slowly go down between changes. i will do a compression check soon.

 

[ColAdo82K5]

What are some of the details with the valve guide seals ? what does it take to put new ones in ? the new engine will have to wait, i'm in the middle of body work and some suspension suff.
blake

 

[Can Can]

When you say "goes down slowly" between oil changes, how much are you talking about. You can expect a SBC to go through 1 or 1 1/2 litres of oil between changes. "Using" oil is normal, but burning oil is not.

 

[dnboc]

Details would be great on replacing the valve guide seals, my 350 blows a large puff of white smoke when it seats awhile. Got a quote from local shop to redo the valve seals for $565 bucks, doing it for $100 would be great. Thanks