Ok I am having alternating oil levels for some reason. I checked the car earlier today and it appeared to be just at a quart low. I added a quart and brought up to perfect level. This afternoon I checked it again to see if I was burning any and now its almost a quart high! What the hell. Both times that I checked the car was completley at running temperature and had been turned off for no longer than 1 minute so the conditions for each oil check was the same. It's been doing this lately and I'm lost as hell. This has all been done on level ground to by the way. I have been playing with pcv system on it lately so maybe thats why?

 

I am also having way to much smoke coming from my tips. Its more whitish bluish than it is grayish darkish. What is up with this? I'm doing a compression test this weekend to hopefully verify I don't have a ring problem but I'm getting doubtful. I'm not leaking coolant anywhere either so I don't think its coolant related...

 

im looking in to replacing valve seals out of curiousity...how hard is this and does anyone have a part number for a 98 ls1?

 

First get the results back from the compression test. If that checks out fine, take your heads off and bring them down to Eaker Performance in Bryan. Jonathan can recommend a machine shop to freshen your heads. I think I paid $200 and got a '3-angle valve job', which is basically cleaning out all the carbon, getting new seats, new guides, and new valve seals, and they will reassemble everything for you. I know they aren't a sponsor, but he's like right down the road...

 

You may want to upgrade to some better valve springs while you are at it, that will cost no extra money labor wise. Also, if you can get some used ls6 valves, that'd be nice to use as well.

 

Check it with the car flat and motor cold. Like in the morning. That way you have a more controlled environment.

 

Ok I did the compression test today on my driver side head and here are the results:

Cylinder #1 - 171psi
Cylinder #3 - 176psi
Cylinder #5 - 175psi
Cylinder #7 - 178psi

I am very please with the results so far. But keep in mind that I have 4 cylinders left and it could only take one to cause my issues. If the other 4 check out in the 170's then what the hell would cause this? I set my oil to the exact operating range and am gonna watch it like a hawk for the next 500 miles. What else could allow oil to burn like this? I say oil but technically I don't know yet. I will find out in about 500 miles when I see if it's decreasing. My coolant level is also fine and its not black or gray so I don't think its fuel related. If I had to describe the color it would be light light white or blue. Its very thin and doesn't linger for to long either.

BTW this doesn't happen until the engine has completley warmed up and will not happen on a cold start at all. Whats going on!!!?

 

Thats a good idea but is there anything head related that would cause it to just do this while it idles? I thought if it were seals or guides that it would only do it on a cold start. This didn't happen until I did my exhaust and broke my ECTS (engine temp coolant sensor) this caused the car to run super super rich for 3 days until I got my new one. It basically thought the car was cold the whole time.

 

ttt...

 

Ok the passenger side head results are in:

Cylinder #2 - 173psi
Cylinder #4 - 175psi
Cylinder #6 - 172psi
Cylinder #8 - 178psi

I am very impressed with the results. I swapped out my plugs during this project. So as of know, I will be leaning towards doing valve seals. I believe the source of my problem is the driver side head and the seals that relate to the #1 and #3 seals. The plugs in these cylinders had just a little bit of oil on the threads whereas the remaining 6 looked great. I'll be pulling the valve cover this weekend and pulling my pushrods to check if any are bent and I may take a shot at removing the springs and doing the seals. Are the seals dealer only? Are the parts houses open at the dealers on Saturday?