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MG TD TF 1500 - Smoking car

Since I got my mg td back from the long stay in the workshop, I have been very happy about how well it has been driving.
But then something else is happening. Smoke from the exhaust, or too much exhaust. When I started this morning (and very easily it started!) no smoke. But when it had become warm and I stopped it for twenty minutes and started it again (starts immediately) a lot of exhaust around the car. Not white, not black, more normal blueish. And a friend, a mechanic, said it smelled of oil.
You may remember I had all the pistons changed. I tried to call the workshop today, but they have taken three weeks holidays (they are only two).
I hope it is not another very expensive thing. Any ideas?
Raymond Wardenaer

Raymond,
Any color smoke (other than black over choked) is not normal,, How many miles since the pistons were installed?? If it is only a few hundred, it might be the rings still "seating",, Leaking valve guide seal would be just the opposite,,smoke at startup and then it goes away as it gets warm,,,,,,,, does the smoke go away after a few miles or does it always smoke when at running temperature?

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

raymond, i am with steve on this one. watch your oil consumption..but as steve says, it may take a few miles for the rings to seat. regards, tom
tom peterson

Thanks Steve and Tom,
I did not have this smoke in the beginning, after the repair.
As I said above, it did not smoke when it was "cold" this morning. It was later, when the engine was warm, that you could see it. But the strange thing is, the amount varies. When I wanted to show my friend how it was, there was very little smoke at first. So I shut the engine and started agian some time later, a lot of smoke.
I have not taken the car for a long ride yet, so I don't know if will smoke all the way.
Raymond Wardenaer

Ray,

You say it starts out fine but then smokes like a steam locomotive after a while? Have you tried it again and is it the same?

Start looking at the valve area, see if it is filling up with oil. It is hard to image why that could happen, since the pushrod holes should drain it adequately. I can't see how the wrong head gasket would create a backup, but not impossible.

Reminds me of my '69 Chevy that appeared low on oil, but when I started adding some, I noticed it was filling the rocker cover, ...plugged drains!

The only way it could fill the head at an outrageous rate would be the restrictive banjo fitting has been opened up or eliminated, or you're running 300 psi oil pressure! I doubt that an error with the rocker shaft installation could produce a flood.

Are you using an oil bath air cleaner that is overfilled?

Do you have a custom vent line off the valve cover that might accumulate oil then run into the carbs?

If all else fails, drive it and just don't look back.

Jim Northrup

Raymond,
How many miles are on the car since the engine rebuild???

SPW
STEVE WINCZE

How much oil has it consumed? I would check the breather system, on the valve cover and the breather pipe on the tapper cover. Are they obstructed?

-David
D. Sander

with the additional info raymond has provided i am reconsidering my first response...the only place i can see oil getting into the cylinder after a run..while shut down, and creating oil smoke immediately on start up..is the head. between the guide and the valve stem or the guide and the head or a crack in the head.
i think a breather problem would be an issue continuously, not just after a run and sit. regards, tom
tom peterson

a link that has some more info. i like that the guy starts the discussion going backwards by asking, "what keeps the oil out of the combustion chamber?" regards, tom


http://www.badasscars.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=114/prd114.htm
tom peterson

what if the rings were installed upside down? regards, tom
tom peterson

Thank you all,
well, I think I shall have to wait till the workshop is open again, since they did the repair job on the engine. It was not too much smoke today. When I came back after a trip this afternoon, I checked the car in my garage and could not see any "smoke" until I hit the accelerator. Even then it was not too bad.
Raymond Wardenaer

Not supercharged, is it? That can be a source for oil.
Jim Northrup

....there is always a bit of smoke when seating in new rings...assume they are using a break in oil and you haven't changed it yet?
Follow regular break in rules regarding no high revving and keeping the rpm varied.... have the head re torqued after 500 miles.... change oil, etc.....

Beware of synthetic oils on newly rebuilt engines?

Sounds a bit more like valve guides then rings?

gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

This thread was discussed between 09/09/2011 and 11/09/2011

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