This looks bad! Tell me the ugly truth. White smoke + oil . . .

[Lugnutz65]

Today started out pretty good.
Doesn’t seem too good right now.
What is causing:
White smoke at startup?
Oil in the intake (enough that it runs out the throttle body)?

Here’s the ugly video. https://youtu.be/IG9aNsR8_YY

2003 LM7 5.3 truck engine. REBUILT
Truck intake and DBC Throttle body
Factory specs on all internals.
Holley Terminator X 550-904 wire kit and ECM
USCAR EV6 injectors
Camaro LS1 exhaust manifolds

[mongocanfly]

it should have way more than 22lb of oil pressure..did you do a compression and leakdown test?...at least it wasn't in the truck when you found it..that acted like the cylinders were full of oil on startup

[Lugnutz65]

All of the plugs were wet with oil except the #2 plug. I drained the oil and there was no coolant in the oil, but the fresh oil was very dark with lots of carbon.
I did a pre-start compression test a couple weeks ago. That checked out fine.
Right now, I can get it to start and idle. However, if I touch the throttle at all it will immediately stall.

[mongocanfly]

did you get a speed density tune?...I see you don't have the maf or O2 sensors on it

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

did you get a speed density tune?...I see you don't have the maf or O2 sensors on it

The Holley Terminator Kit has an O2 sensor which I installed in the driver side manifold. It’s in the stock location for these Camaro LS1 exhaust manifolds.

[mongocanfly]

gotcha..what about the maf?

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

gotcha..what about the maf?

Holley Terminator X kit doesn’t use MAF.
Uses
MAT manifold air temp
TPS throttle position sensor
IAC idle air control
MAP manifold absolute pressure

[Spun Bearing]

I'd check compression on each cylinder again. I would think oil in the throttle body means you've got a lot of blow-by passed the rings.

[AussieinNC]

That looks a lot like the pcv system is feeding oil direct into the intake...

Temporarily pinch off the pcv pipe and let the engine run a while to see of the oil smoke goes away.

Did you oil down the cylinders while in storage?

[mongocanfly]

ok didn't know that,,never fooled with the holley stuff

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

ok didn't know that,,never fooled with the holley stuff

I’m thinking valve seals.

[mongocanfly]

Aussie may be on it....
That is a extreme amount of smoke on startup...
And valve seals wouldn't put oil in the intake...pcv could

[AussieinNC]

This may help you out...

[Lugnutz65]

Day 2 was better. I sopped up a puddle of oil inside the intake and the startup smoke was minimal. Yes, I think it’s the PCV system.
Sorry for the sideways picture. That’s a large oil puddle at the bottom of the intake showing a reflection of the hole at the back of the intake.
I disconnected the PCV and capped the ports.
I also did a compression test.
#1 205
#2 175
#3 205
#4 200
#5 200
#6 200
#7 185
#8 210

Here’s a video of it running after I did all the above things. Still needs work.
https://youtu.be/zj2Bmekmrg0

I’ll update here after I do a leak down test. I have no idea why I’m getting so much blow by.

[AussieinNC]

Those compression readings are indicative of oil contamination inside the cylinders....

Also, that oil pressure is way too low...should be around 55 to 60 pounds...

That stumble points to a bad TPS (throttle position switch)....or a bad wire or connection.

When you mention in your original post..."rebuilt" could you be more specific...

So much blow by could be broken compression rings during install...

There should also be a PCV valve in the system, to prevent oil pull over into the manifold. I usually use a catch can system to ensure separation....

[Lugnutz65]

Yes, the cylinders were wet with oil, so essentially a wet compression test. Cylinder #2 was the only spark plug that wasn’t wet with oil, so the lower reading makes sense because it wasn’t wet (as wet).

Engine diagnostics is not intuitive to me.

Do I have rings that aren’t sealing?
Any reason to do a leak down test?

[mongocanfly]

Know knowing this, I'd be calling him up and asking questions...maybe he'll stand behind his work..

[clay68c10]

Don’t worry too much about those compression numbers. You have some oil in there from the PCV situation combined with (probably) new rings that haven’t seated yet. Really, the low end of those numbers are close to the factory spec. I recall it being around 150-175psi
Get it running with a reliable oil pressure gauge first.

[87chevy.com]

Oil burning is a blueish color ... white could be fuel or coolant

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by 87chevy.com

Oil burning is a blueish color ... white could be fuel or coolant

My first post was BEFORE I realized that oil was accumulating inside my intake. The smoke clears quickly after startup. If I sop up the oil inside the intake, there’s essentially no smoke.

My next step is to figure out where the oil is coming from. Votes favor the PCV system due to blow by and high crankcase pressure from rings that aren’t seated properly. The blow by would also explain why my fresh oil is black with carbon with less than 20 minutes of run time.

Votes are less in favor for oil coming back up through the cathedral ports. That would mean bad valve stem seals and possibly bad rings too.

I’m no expert. I drained the oil right after I saw the smoke and there is zero coolant in the oil and no oil in the coolant.

[Lugnutz65]

Update!
It’s the PCV alright!
Looks like I have a bad OE oil pressure sensor too. I swapped it out for a capillary tube style gauge and now it closely matches my electric style oil sensor that’s installed near the oil filter.

Here’s a video of tonight’s test. After a few minutes at idle RPMs I didn’t get any oil in the catch can. Higher RPMs (3000) for a minute or two caused obvious oil to come through the PCV. VIDEO LINK

[mongocanfly]

Good deal.!!

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Good deal.!!

It’s good that I found a bad oil pressure sensor.
It’s bad that I have oil coming through the PCV!

[mongocanfly]

I didnt watch till the end....I thought you had it...
So I went back and did...
That is alot of oil in your can...did you change the pcv?

[Lugnutz65]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

I didnt watch till the end....I thought you had it...
So I went back and did...
That is alot of oil in your can...did you change the pcv?

My VC is a later design and doesn’t use the replaceable PCV that fits in the rubber grommet. I don’t think it’s a PCV failure. Seems more like blow by. I’ll do a cylinder leak down test this weekend.