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

[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.

[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]

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?

[AussieinNC]

I dont see new rings listed on that build.....thats a concern....

I would be doing a leak down test, but first, run the engine for about 30 minutes to burn off as much cylinder oil as possible...keep the pcv system shut off...

Make sure you check the oil level...

That low oil pressure could be a bad O ring on the pickup tube....

[Lugnutz65]

I have an oil pressure reading from two places that don’t match.
The factory oil pressure sensor at the back of the block reads lower than the electric old school sensor on the DS of the block near the DS exhaust manifold down pipe.

[AussieinNC]

The oil pressure switch at back of block...how many wires are on it?

Seems it may be a faulty factory sender unit....

I am wondering whether the cam bearings were actually changed or not...this could also be some bad lifters....wondering why the build lists new lifters....

Exactly where the old school switch is screwed into the block...

I am attaching an oil flow pic of the LS systems...fail points in the system are the pickup O ring into the pump feed, bad pump, bad lifter clearances and bad cam bearing clearances...and finally, bad main bearing clearances.

There is also a "dumbell" plug in the rear oil gallery drivers side that forms part of the oil flow system....I have seen engines without these in place...effectively bypassing any filter function.....here is a youtube video showing the valve https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hi9XMQ1S_4

[Lugnutz65]

Much of this is over my head.
It is not uncommon to tap into a plate on the DS of the block just above the oil filter where there is an oil passage. Folks often tap this plate to supply oil for a turbo setup or use it for a traditional 1/4” NPT capillary oil pressure line. I bought an Auto Meter LS adapter fittings kit which has directions on how to tap into that plate. Sorry for the sideways pic. I chose to access this place because the one at the back of the block is hard to reach once the engine is in the truck.

[AussieinNC]

Thats where I expected it to be....so the OS gauge is measuring oil pressure direct from the pump before filtering...

When you can, try replacing the factory gauge sender with a manual read unit...

If it still reads low at the factory location...you have a large pressure loss inside the system after the filter...

Hope this helps...

[Lugnutz65]

I very much appreciate your time and interest. The Auto Meter Kit included an adapter fitting for the oil pressure sender port. I’ll hook that up with a capillary style oil pressure gauge and see what I get.
I’ll get back in a few days. I’m not able to get back into the shop for a little while.

[AussieinNC]

Thats fine....

If you have little oil pressure at factory location, it could be the O ring is missing from the end of the "barbell"...this would allow the filtered oil under pressure to exit the system by the end of the barbell into the rear crank case cover then into the sump....this would overload the PCV system forcing oil into the intake as you have....

I have also seen the barbell installed backwards, giving similar issues you are experiencing...the O ring goes to the rear as in the pic....

I would also change that oil filter, then cut open the old filter to look for metal content on the element...

Hope the missing O ring is your issue, as its a relatively simple repair seeing the engine is on a stand...

[sweetk30]

and watch your butt on holley readings .

when i had my sniper unit ( PILE OF SH!T ) the coolant temp sensor was off 15-20 degree from them . i wound up doing my own sensor since they wouldnt send a new good correct one even tho almost everyone complains about it .

so that low oil pressure reading on there display could be WRONG and making you chase your tail .

get a metric adapter and put a mech gauge in that upper port and read it . or swap your current separate gauge sender up there with the metric adapter and verify the readings .

and there is a screen in the ls engines oil port at that location that can get clogged up with dirty oil grime . maybe they didnt swap it or clean t and its restricting your sensor oil pressure readings .

[Lugnutz65]

Where does the dumbbell live? **EDIT** Pardon me, I looked back and see you posted a link showing where the dumbbell lives. Yeah, that’s not gonna be much fun or easy for me.

I just installed the Auto Meter oil pressure port adapter and hooked up a capillary style gauge for oil pressure. I’ll test it on Wednesday.

If the dumbbell is the problem, will the capillary pressure be low too?