OUCH! Smoke n Lightening

[Gunny65]

Okay, no lightening, just smoke. Lots of smoke. I believe my 454 just had some rings for dinner. I had just finished up wheeling for the day. I was pulling into my driveway and gave it a little extra go and, Bang - Poof, I now have a trick smoke screen behind me. I joke now but was cussin up a storm then.

I have not opened the engine up yet but it is either that or a valve. Smoke poured out until I shut it down up by the house...about 300 yards of driveway.

So, Rings or Valve. What say the brotherhood?

Looks like the 350 goes back in until I get the money to fix it.

 

[y5mgisi]

oy... Did it actually make a noise or start running different? Auto trans? I have heard tale of "bad motors" that in fact just had a bad vacuum modulator in the trans allowing the motor to suck trans fluid up through the vacuum line that goes down there.

EDIT: Just looked at your sig. 700R4? Those dont even have a vac modulator... So never mind...

 

[Gunny65]

It actually made a noise and the truck stuttered a bit then ran rough. Darker smoke and thick.

 

[Fordum]

Darker smoke and thick? What does it smell like?
Burning oil is fairly distinctive. If it smells like that, then probably a ring, or you sucked in a valve guide.
Never seen it happen, but heard of it. Valve guide crumbles or fails somehow letting the upper end oil pour down into the cylinder.

However there is one other remote possibility. I imagine you would have noticed it, but I once saw an engine suck brake fluid out of the master cylinder and burn it.

I never found out how it did it for sure, but it did. I seem to remember being told that the shaft seal for the MC failed letting the fluid into the booster.
And the engine vacuum took it from there.

 

[diesel4me]

I've seen cheap PCV valves fail and suck oil out of the rocker chamber more than once,especially plastic ones......I had a 350 I got free that "burned oil bad and needs rebuilding" ,and found the intake gasket failed between the lifter galley and it was sucking in oil there like crazy....all it took to fix it was a new gasket!......................................................................................I have seen pistons fail at the top ring land too,chunks come off it exposing the upper compression ring--this usually results from pinging or over-advanced timing ,it spark knocks the piston to death eventually...thats what killed the 250 six in my '79 Bonanza C10 I had...