Mysterious intermittent smoking Issue Solved-

[02 WS6 TA]

Long story short, said '01 GTP with 80K developed a random issue with oil smoke. No rhyme or reason, sometimes cold, others hot, bank drive thrus, cold starts at home, heat soaked in town, no difference. Some times it would huff smoke, others, not. Defies logic and explanation, as most times worn/shrunken valvestem seals cause smoke at initial startup, and a LIM oil leak should in theory cause oil consumption at all times. None of which was the case, on again, off agin, random episodes. I finally got off my ass and did the LIM, S/C to LIM and Valvestem seals- Problem solved. I saw no evidence of a leaking LIM to intake port, so I can only assume the stem seals were leaking past. Sad to report, none of the intellectuals here or on ClubGP had ever heard of such, so I, being the LSx D/A, was forced to fend for myself. Here are my fancy pics- I hope some of you care, because I truly do not.

 

[darkhorizon]

Sad to report, none of the intellectuals here or on ClubGP had ever heard of such

Pretty common failure, although they rarely create smoke output when failed.

What cam/valvetrain mods did you have? Retainers? Stock cut valve seal seats?

 

[matt5112]

Its bone stock.

 

[BillBoost37]

It's interesting you think it may have been a LIM gasket consuming a decent amount of oil.

 

[darkhorizon]

Its bone stock.

Doesnt look like a stock pulley to me.

 

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

To me it does.

 

[02 WS6 TA]

It is a stock diameter pully, although it does appear different than the '02 GTP. Bill, I was grasping at straws with the LIM issue, thinking some oil may be getting past and into the combustion chamber. Interestingly enough, it wasn't consuming a measurable amount of oil, just smoked like a bastard from time to time. Logic would say if it were stem seals, each morning at cold start it should have had the issue. Regardless, it doesn't look like a weedeater on a 4:1 ratio at random times during the day, so I guess I'm happy. If this didn't fix it, it was going to be an LS4. My wife is elated with the success, I am not so much.

 

[BillBoost37]

I'd have opted for an LS4 as well.

When bad, our seals don't typically exhibit the smoke on cold start behavior. Not sure what it is about them, they don't seem to. I've seen quite a few folks do the seals during an install and find that they use much less oil between changes. It's common enough.

On the LIM gasket, take a closer look at it. There is no oil going through it. The only place that oil can possibly travel is up a bolt that goes into the cooling jacket or the oil return of the head. For oil to get into the combustion chamber it would need to wick up a bolt (no pressure) then come off the threads where the LIM meets the head, get through the gasket at that point and through the seal of the gasket at the intake runner. While remotely possible, it's a tough sell.

 

[02 WS6 TA]

I'd have been delighted to entertain your opinion almost a year ago; I couldn't gett anyone who had seen such before to comment. *yeah right* Reagrdless, that sounds like what was happening, so as of 300 miles and last night, no issues. God, I hate working on dailys.