Hey, just bought a 1980 b310 sunny with an A12 and it is blowing blue-ish smoke. Only when revved quite a bit.

Car had been sitting for about 8 years prior to me buying it.

Im assuming burning oil, since it smells quite nasty.

Is a compression test the first step i should take? and if that is okay where do i go from there?

Also, are there any preventative things i should do to the car since it has been sitting such a long time?

ANY help is very much appreciated. Thanks

do a compression test, then dribble a couple of CC's of oil down each pot and comp test again.

If it gets better - its the rings on the pistons
If it stays the same, its a stuffed valve, or valve stem seal.

Although my money would just be on hardened valve stem seals. Put some oil for "older" engines in it, and give it 500km. If it doesnt get better, you will need to pop the head off and replace them.

I will do the compression test then, does the amount of oil poured into the cylinder have to be accurate?

Are hardened stem seals due to drying out?

Thanks heaps

Amount of oil poured into the cylinder have to be accurate does not have to be accurate. A couple pumps of an oil can, or a capful of oil -- but make sure all four spark plugs are out. See Engine compression test

The valve stem seals go bad due to:
* Heat causes them to get brittle and break
* Heat causes them to get hard and so stop sealing well
* Tearing or other physical damage sometimes occurs
The don't dry out as they are surrounded by oil.

You can replace the valve stem seals without removing the cylinder head. It's far more work to remove the head.

Thanks dd, i havent had a chance to do a compressiob test but i will

Also, i just started the car again, and it was hard to start, and when it started(after 3 or 4 trys) it blew ALOT of blue smoke... Im guessing and hoping this is just because the stem seals are flogged out and the oil has had two days to seep through them.

What are your thoughts?

Define alot. What exactly did you see?

It doesn't take 2 days to seep through. In a good engine, oil covers the valve stem. The seal keeps it out of the guide. With old seals, there is no seeping, but oil runs down the valve through tiny gaps in the seal. Within a few minutes of shutting the engine off, the oil runs down.

My thoughts are:
* you can change the seals and *hope* that makes a difference
* you can do a 15 minute compresion test and know if the rings are bad and if so, changing seals won't fix it


Quote:Mainly -- change the oil before starting the engine. 8-year old oil won't seal or lubricate properly.

On start up i saw a cloud of smoke form about 10 metres in diameter, had a blue grey tinge, after the initial smoke subsided, there was a continous pour of smoke that was still an abnormal amount. The smoke mostly cleared after warming up, but a little amount was still consistenely there. I drove it around the block and smoke was not visible behind me. Thanks for the info, i will definately be doing a compression test before i go and change seals.

Thanks heaps

Now that's a good description. Most likely rings -- or broken or missing seals. If the compression is good, remove the rocker cover and examine the seals carefully with a flashlight torch. Usually you can see if one is missing or torn.

Cant thank you enough, cheers

Cyl 1 is 170
Cyl 2 is 120
Cyl 3 is 170
Cyl 4 is 170

So i wet tested cyl 2, and sure enough came up to 170.

Is that enough proof to say that the engine needs rings, or should i also investigate the stem seals?

Plugs are fouled, i am going to drain fuel, change fuel and oil filter, change oil, plugs and leads and go again

Is this a smart idea?