Nope, not senior, just right.

 

Well technically (i might get a few things askew but i have learned a lot from my week of hell with my tranny rebuild) With a t-case you can use ATF motor oil or dif fluid but it depends. If you have the splash type it is best to use motor oil of a lighter vis. so that the splasher doesn't get damaged. I was told using ATF is bad because i is easier to burn than motor oil or gear. Mine is a full time 3 selection (lo N hi) t-case so it doesn't have the splasher. I was also going back and forth on the whole deal and after a ton of research and talking to my tranny guy i decided on gear fluid. it's like 70-90w or something. Thats about all i know, now i could be wrong on some stuff but i feel like i am right about it.

 

I can almost guarantee lifter tap on my OLD motor with anything heavier than 5w on cold starts.. it's not enough to make a difference though, I'd rather have stickier oil on my mains when starting (could be nuts about this, i dunno), lifter noise doesn't mean the end of an engine. Either way, when it hits 140f it runs fine...
Been running 10w30 for a while just because 5w30 is harder to find in some brands.

Mine has 230k on it right now and it doesn't spill oil everywhere if I go light? I guess if you don't feel like tightening up a few bolts I can understand going super thick, .
otherwise, if you have worn rings and want to make it by without burning a quart a day, my old 400 by the end poured out blue smoke with anything lighter than 15w40

 

Nah my rings seem to be ok, there might be a bit of smoke on start up but it depends on how TGM is feeling that day... I do need to get in there and try tightening bolts but i wanted to stay out from under the truck for a little bit... It isn't really bad just a drip now, i just have to keep an eye on it and make sure it don't go too low.

 

usually when there is a lot of smoke on startup you're looking at stuff like valve stem seals. If you punch it hard and get more smoke, then you're looking at rings (either oil bypassing and going through rings and oil being burned by your plugs in your heads, or oil going through your PCV system, which is an easy fix with an oil catch can).

It might help but my 400 use to smoke like crazy on a start, blue oil smoke and really obvious. It was valve stem seals, they're really easy to change on this motor, but if you make a mistake you can drop a valve and have to take the head off! If you wanna know how to do it I know how. It's very common for those seals to go, and when you change them the 400 can be a 1 quart a month kinda engine! they're common enough that most AutoPart stores carry them in stock all the time, like, 20k miles you gotta replace them kinda common.

it's easy to know if that's the problem by pulling a plug after it has sat. If the plug fouls with oil after a cold sit, then it's probably leaking down through your valve stem seals, the oil tends to drip straight down the plug (either exhaust or intake) and coat it in oil!

Also, keep in mind even the healthiest vehicle smokes after a warmup/cooldown period, that water and oil and stuff has to burn off through your PCV system.. if it's white, just ignore it.

 

Then again, it usually isn't actually smoke but steam from the condensation and a little smoke from other contaminants left in the system.

 

Thanks for letting me know, i didn't even know that stuff. With mine i haven't noticed any in a long while but once in a blue moon there is a small bit of smoke and it wouldn't be noticeable unless you were looking directly at it. The PO said he put refurbed heads on it to get rid of a really "valve knocking" I'm not sure what that entales but the only knocking sound is from my exhaust manifold leaking. When we first got to the guys house and started it up there was a little blue smoke and that seemed to be the worst of it. The new 2011-12 cars at my dealership smoke worse though so i am not worried too much. Not till i have to do this valve ring thing... What is dropping a valve?

 

when you change the valve stem seals, or springs or clips or anything where you have to detach one end of the valve from the valve spring, it's relatively easy but the valve will drop into your combustion chamber and there is really no way to get it back out without removing the head.
Some people use a magnet to hold it up, or some bundle rope into the combustion chamber with the motor at top center for that piston to hold the valve in place, or you can even stick a long pipe or something into the spark plug hole and press up to make sure the valve doesn't drop.

Just saying, it's an easy job in the amount of labor or work and time required, especially on these motors, but that's the main thing you have to look for, drop one of the valves and you have to remove the head (which means old rusty exhaust manifolds, intake, new head gasket, etc).
Also your booster might get in the way for the valve spring compressor on your driver's side, other than that it's probably easier to do than a lot of other jobs if you're careful.

But from what I'm hearing you don't need to worry about it yet!


and encho, you're right.. though I guess if it's cold enough that steam still makes some smoke. Even on a healthy motor you'll get a good amount of sludgy oil being pulled through the pc valve on a cold start.
But you're definitely right, burning oil and burning normal crankcase vapors look completely different to the trained eye..

 

Wow, the last time i did a valve lashing was on a 1 cylinder 2.5 hp lawnmower engine in Small Gas Engine class in high school. It was fairly easy but that was cause it was on a big metal table and easy to access.