Please watch video and give me ideas on why this thing is smoking.

Attached is a video of my 6th pass with the new 523. Every pass it has smoked a little like this. I have a small leak in my oil pan that drips on my rear header pipes which criss cross under it. I originally thought it was just the oil burning off the headers but it seems to do this all the way down track. Any ideas on what could cause this? If the rings didn't seat properly would it smoke like this? I have evac tubes on my valve covers and the right side is in the back. I thought that might cause it but I've had that same set up on my two previous motors and didn't have the smoke. I'm still shifting at only 6000 RPM which is why its still in the 10s. It ran a 10.10, 10.10, 10.11 and a 10.07 this weekend. This was the 10.11 pass. I ran it out past the finish line up to 6600 and it starts to pull harder up there so I can't wait to get this thing certified so I can let it eat. The smoke concerns me though. Any ideas?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/8742471733/in/photostream

JMO. From watching it. It seems it is more on the right than the left. Even though #8 is on that side. I wouldn't think that was it though.

no sure where it coming from but it don't look like it smokes any harder from what I can see on top end it don't take a lot of oil on a header to make it smoke could be the leak is all it is. Does any of your plugs look like they might be burning oil or are they any oil around the treads on the plugs. Check the intake gasket and make sure it is not sucking oil from the bottom side.

Here is a better video. This was pass #2 on the motor. It was a couple of weeks ago. It was only 1/8 mile but I think you can see the smoke easier.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/8743704812/in/photostream

I would do a leakdown test and go from there. Maybe wrap the header at the leak for the next pass to eliminate the leak anyway.

The second video displays the smoke starts after the launch and out a ways. I'm not so sure the smoke is coming from a cylinder unless the valve oil seal is not adequate to control the oil at the back of the head during acceleration. The first video displayed the smoke to favor the passenger side, the second video I didn't see that. I don't think it's a ring seal problem, I don't notice it smoking when your against the two-step. Look into the header collectors, it should indicate if oil is entering a specific cylinder or into the evac system.

If you have a leak as you have mentioned, that's more than likely your source of smoke. The longer it runs, the more the crankcase pressure and the greater the leak (in a pressurized crankcase world).

Dave.

Do you have baffles under your valve covers to keep oil from getting sucked up into the evac lines? I had a similar problem and discovered that oil was splashing up on top of the baffles and getting sucked into the lines. As has been mentioned, do a leak down 1st to make sure the motor is fine, then pull the headers and see if you have oil in the primaries. If not there, then look at the evac system.

Yeah, I was going to ask if you have header evacuation as well. Looks like you're putting a large quantity of oil in the valve cover at high RPMs.

i had a problem with the trans blowing fluid out and getting on the header, check for that.

Fix the leak first then go from there , that's not a lot of smoke and yes like 69 said it doesn't take much oil on a hot header to make some smoke.

kjett wrote:Do you have baffles under your valve covers to keep oil from getting sucked up into the evac lines? I had a similar problem and discovered that oil was splashing up on top of the baffles and getting sucked into the lines. As has been mentioned, do a leak down 1st to make sure the motor is fine, then pull the headers and see if you have oil in the primaries. If not there, then look at the evac system.

this^^......look at the plugs first and see if its burning oil.

LivermoreDave wrote:

If you have a leak as you have mentioned, that's more than likely your source of smoke. The longer it runs, the more the crankcase pressure and the greater the leak (in a pressurized crankcase world).

Dave.

.

The plugs look ok and my evac hoses were bone dry. I looked underneath and found that my tiny leak looked much worse. I think it must be spraying when the crankcase pressure increases. We tig welded the hole caused from parts of last years crank exit. We had a small crack that didn't get sealed. Tried two different coats of jb weld but that still didn't work. Guess I'll have to remove it and weld on a patch plate.

Glad you found the problem hate to hear the pan has to come off but at least it not internal.

weld it on the car

Well I posted this at the beginning of the season and at the end it looks like I still have the issue. I fixed my oil pan leak and made about 55 runs this season. Here is one of my last passes. Notice that it smokes right on launch but seems to clean out down track. I did a leakdown test and every thing seems fine except one intake valve is leaking slightly. Any other ideas?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/512fairlane/11041872235/

intake gasket

Mike,if your evac tubes are on the back of the covers,the oil may be collecting in the back and being sucked up on launch.

Funny how it won't smoke while staged & on the converter. But instanly starts smoking the second the car starts to turn a tire at the launch. Could possibly be a tire rubbing a very small amount somewhere.

If it is oil it could be the trans vent puking some fluid, do you have a puke tank installed for the trans vent? Also is the underside of the car coated with an oily film, or dry?

I don't have a puke tank on the transmission but I haven't noticed any leaks around the vent. There is coating of the dry blackish/grey powder on the bottom of the floor boards but it is dry and not oily. I do still have the oil breather in the back on the right side but I replaced the breathers with the Moroso steel screw on type. They have a perforated baffle up inside the tube. The hoses from the breathers to the headers are dry. I kind of thought I had the issue fixed until I watched those videos last night. Does it definitely look like oil smoke? Could it be real rich on launch? I'm still footbraking so it gets a pretty large shot of fuel when I punch it on the line. I've played with the carb a lot but I still wouldn't say it was spot on.

Judging by the color of the smoke, it's either oil or a tire, as Dave suggested. But when you watch the video a frame at a time, you can see that the car has barely moved, nor have the tires spun before the smoke starts pouring out...It would take a good bit of wheelspin or rubbing to make a tire put out that much smoke. I think it's oil or trans fluid.

That pass sounded like you're running a 3-speed trans...is that right? If so, is there a modulator tube from trans to intake?
If not, I'd also look at the intake gasket as mentioned earlier.

Hell try the low-tech approach next time out. Have someone stand behind/off to the side of the back of the car during the launch and see if they can smell what the smoke cloud might be made of.

If it's oil hitting the header,it will stain the header where it hits/burns. Mike,if you have the 10 piece headers,take the collector off and see if any of your primaries are oily.This way maybe you can pinpoint a bad cylinder.