I have a 2.8 v6. I am having a problem with the engine smoking. Here are my symptoms: white smoke out exhaust, doesn't smell like coolant, smokes REALLY bad literally a half a second after start up, all 6 plugs soaked in oil, EGR tube was filled with oil (probably gravity doing its job though), high idle (1500-2000rpms). Doesn't change no matter engine temp or outside temp. Pcv valve is new and no coolant loss that i've noticed, anyone ever had this problem before or offer some insight? I initially thought it was worn valve seals or one missing, would this cause these symptoms?

I've heard of a clogged cat converter causing enough back pressure to force oil into the intake.

Have you tried removing the PCV valve with it running to check how much pressure is coming from the hole in the valve cover?

Could be overfilled oil pan, worn out valve stems and guides, or worn or broken compression rings on one or more pistons. You can check this last case out with a compression tester. By cranking the engine with the starter and all plugs removed, you should get somewhere in the vicinity of 160-180 psi, but more importantly no one cylinder should be any less than 10% less than any other cylinder.

No, I haven't tried that....ill give it a shot when i get out of work tonight. I'm thinking valve seals or intake gasket. Can the intake gasket being bad suck oil into the combustion chamber?

First item to check is that the PCV valve and crankcase ventillation system is working up to par. Also check dipstick for oil level as suggested. If both checkOK then move on to cylinder leakdown/compresssion tests.

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quote Originally posted by esco105: anyone know if it is possible to do a leak down test with the intake manifold removed? I assume you could because you have both valves closed.....?

Of course you can ... for the reason you mentioned. Both intake and exhaust valves must be closed for the test, so there's no way the manifold (or lack of manifold) can affect it.

Some more background information please? Is the car new to you? Were you doing other work on it? Did the smoking start suddenly or over time? Was the engine running normally before or is this a project engine?

Can you pull the engine troube codes for us? That may give us some insight on your elevated idle. Here is the forum link. https://www.fiero.nl/cgi-bin/main.cgi?ECMCodes

It sure would be nice if we collectively can diagnose this before you start tearing into the engine.

..As per bloozberry the first suspect is adding to much oil.
with clean/fresh oil often the level is not properly seen and oil is added..
this is a bigger problem with synthetic oil..
...synthetic oil ""clings "" to hot metal and if you check oil right after driving,, a lot of oil is still in the upper engine and the dip stick will show low..you should not check synthetic oil untill engine has cooled..
..(1)clean oil...(2)checking oil to quick,,(3) youngerdriver, lead to to much oil
I had this problem because I did not check dip stick closely & oil was clearer than I thought it should be??..
have you added oil??

worn oil seals blow smoke as soon as you start ,the oil seeps past the seals and guides while the engine is stopped,, when engine is started,, poof!! smoke signal message >>

there are a lot of cars out there with to much oil in the engine

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 07-23-2010).]