Doing a valve stem steal replacement involves removing the rockers and springs, which is how I got to the valve guides to determine they were not loose. Now I don't know if they would pass a go-nogo because I'm doing the valve stem seal replacement in-situo with the heads still on the block thus valves still in.

When I first noticed the oil burning my oil level light came on (700 miles into a 1800 mile trip) From that point, I added oil to keep it topped off and would continue to add until just before it got to the top of the dipstick mark, I would check the level at rest areas between fill-ups, usually requiring another quart.

Blue cloud was visible at startup but after a minute or so would go away. Just before I parked the car for repairs, the car's exhause was nasty for about a mile or so, but again, would dissipate and look normal after that, although still consuming oil. I was driving the car as little as possible once I got home becuase of the oil consumption, but... With this ammount of oil consumption I too would expect a blue cloud that would have every environMENTAList after me, but thats not what I had.

When I injected compressed air into the cylinder initially and when I have a good seal at the spark plug hole, the hissing sound from the cylinder sounds the same as the other cylinders. To determine this, I hand-cranked the engine to ignition-TDC, locked down the driveshaft, then injected 70psi raising it to 100psi. The only time I heard anything really wrong was when I wiggled the spark plug fitting and would get the hissing sound and feel air at my fingertips near where the sparkplug would sit. I plan to use some soapy water or blow smoke that way to find the origin of the leak since my fingers aren't as calibreated as my eyes (with indicator) to find leaks. I know the problem isn NOT my fitting/hose since I took it to other cylinders and did NOT get any hissing from them using the same jiggle etc.

I highly doubt there is a hole in the piston becuase on a compression test, before I started tearing everything apart, this cylinder had 135psi, consistant with the reading on other chambers.

I've also suspected piston rings, however, wouldn't the ambiant "hiss" from this cylinder sound different from the others if 1 of the 3 rings were FUBAR'ed?

Is it possible I have a blown head gasket causing that much oil consumtion?





The evidence I have for troubleshooting this problem is really inconsitant with my initial diagnosis as well as interim diagnosis, and I'm about to be clueless and just to be thurough I'm thinking about pulling the head. If I do this, I'm going to pull both and do the whole top end while I'm there. I want to fix this and have this car running as quickly as possible, but I also want to fix it right. I'm not a mechanic, but I am a mechanical engineer whose tinkered on other motors in the past, so while not an expert, I do pay attention to things that are abnormal. If anyone has any other ideas, or responces that contradict my rational for troubleshooting (I'm not perfect, its just how things appear to me) please let me know. Also, I'm sure there's details I've noticed that haven't waived a red flag that they should have, so if you have an idea, and I haven't mentioned a corresponding symptom, please ask. I will remember and probably mis-filed it as something unimportant.


I greatly appreciate the help so far! Thanks all for responding!



Scott