Smoke, smoke, smoke... Could it possibly be ANYTHING other then the rings???

[cgomate]

I purchased an engine block that had the lower end rebuilt (DIY style). Put a professionally rebuilt head on top. The car starts & runs very smoothly, but belches whitish smoke from the tail pipe... ist a light haze at idle and a thick cloud with ANY accleration.

Compression numbers are 155-165. The brand new plugs are wet & badly fouled and i can see oil sitting on top of the pistons... so its oil not coolant making the smoke.

There's no bubbling in the radiator when the engine is running and the oil & coolant appear clean.

Soooooo, ibefore i pull the engine out (again), is there any chance that i'm dealing with something other than bad rings on ALL 4 cyls?

Is there supposed to be positive pressure under the valve cover? Cause that's what i've got.

Could there be a PCV related issue that's somehow dumping oil directly into the intake passages?

Any chance that the JE pistons that were put into the block came with rings that just take a long time to seat?

Ideas please.

[Razi]

White smoke is usually an indicator that it's burning coolant, not oil.

It might be the headgasket, not sure though.Good luck on finding the problem.