Thread: Smoke from front of engine even after Front Valve Cover Gasket replaced

Hey guys,

Ok so, my saga with my '03 GP 3.8 n/a continues. I bought an 06 GXP about 3 months ago and the '03 has been mostly sitting although I have driven it a few times just around town. Long story shorter, after having my upper intake plenum replaced I noticed a sqeal to the engine which I suspect is negative crankcase ventilation (other post: http://www.grandprixforums.net/bad-n...ml#post1062466). Havent determined whats up with that.

New problem: I started up the engine to work on it Sunday and after it warmed up a bit I noticed that it was smoking oil (pretty sure) from the front of the engine. Looked like a big oily mess and I could see oil bubbling and burning around the front exhaust manifold and under the rocker cover was dirty. So, I pressure washed everything and then replaced the front cover gasket. Ran it after back together and was still burning, from down in the exhaust manifold area. Let it run about an hour..it *finally* got to the point where it didnt look like an issue, smoke was barely visible if at all -great issue fixed.

Test drove it around the block a few times..seems fine..gave it a little shot of gas, up to 60-70km/h (30-40 mph?) and I could smell it burning instantly at that speed with the window open. Hung a right and back into my block, into the driveway, smoke coming out under the hood (I wont say billowing, but..some might, it was definitely burning something fierce). Turned it off, popped the hood, smoke everywhere out of the front exhaust manifold area. I cant see any leaks from the top and it looks like my gasket repair is fine. It doesnt overheat, doesnt appear to be a head gasket issue. I just had the UIP replaced and new gaskets, egr, etc...

W..T..F..

Help please this was supposed to become my winter beater and I've put a good bit of money into tires, brakes, engine maintenance, etc. The trans isnt shifting very well, rough jumping in and slow to gear up sometimes but I might be able to buy a little time with an oil flush and some additives in it. I'd really like to keep the car going - love my GP's

Thanks guys,
Ron

Thats what I replaced ....what else should I be looking at. Thx

Fel Pro, came with front and back. I did not replace grommets but they looked good. It's no longer leaking from the valve cover gasket, if it was previously. What else is below there that might be leaking oil? Its like its coming from under the exhaust manifold or something...

Its coming from down under the exhaust manifold...or out of it for all I know, although that makes no sense..
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Originally Posted by REDCOMPG

Nothing else that I can think of that would cause the leak in that area. By any chance did you clean the top of the head before you installed the new gasket and vc back on? Could just be old oil that has already leaked manifold burning off.

Yes I power washed before I did anything to get rid of as much as I could. Then replaced everything, cleaned up as much as I could. Like I said I ran it an hour so that it basically wasnt burning anymore but then when I gave it a shot of gas up to 4000 rpm it instantly started burning again, almost like that shot of power leaked some oil..gasket area looks clean though and the smoke still emanates from the exhaust manifold area, underneath.

Should I rip the manifold off and try and see whats going on under there? Seems like a PITA though

Originally Posted by Elite6

Make sure you seated the valve cover gasket properly. Also let the car sit overnight until its cold, start car in morning, pop hood & give it some gas right away. If you see smoke, it has nothing likely to do with burning a fluid outside of the motor ie. oil of manifolds. If you see smoke, look for a poorly seated VC gasket, possibly a broken/chipped valve cover, not enough tightening of the VC or something more ****ty like a hole in the exhaust manifold.

Also, did the dipstick pop out of its hole a bit?

Thanks I'll give this a try tonight. I dont think the dipstick came out at all. I checked the oil before I restarted it after the VC gasket change and dont recall it being out of the ordinary. Pretty sure I did the VC gasket right. I torqued to about 7.5ft-lbs (~90in-lbs) according to what I read in another post. I dont see anything seeping out of it and the smoke seems to come from the exhaust manifold. I'll wipe the finger around it tonight to see if anything leaked out while it was sitting. From what I've seen with it, it doesnt smoke until it starts heating up/run harder. Run harder is a bit of a misnomer, its not like im dragging it or anything, just a little shot of gas (3500-4000 rpm) while cruising down city streets for a second.

Thanks sir

Either the dipstick is leaking (check the o-rings), or it's those grommets.

You really should replace the grommets, mine looked fine too but leaked a ton when I reused them. They need to be replaced every time the gasket is replaced.