I have noticed some blueish smoke after I start my 55 F350.

What is it a sign of?

 

Oil, probably weak valve stem seals.

 

Does it stop shortly after, like after it warms up? Could be that the oil/compression rings are gummed/carboned up and holding oil after shutdown. It takes a few moments to burn that off. Bad valve stem seals would exacerbate that.

 

Yes, it only smokes at startup. Not after it is running.

What needs to be done to fix this?

 

As stated above, weak valve seals. Pull your valve covers and remove the rocker arms, keepers and valve springs. Pull off the old seals and put on new ones. Replace the springs and keepers, rocker arms and adjust the rockers. Voila! Done. But before you start, you will need to hold the valve in place. I have done this in the past by screwing an air chuck into the spark plug hole and pressurizing the cylinder to hold the valve up in place. I did this last on my Hurst SC/Rambler when replacing a broken valve spring way back, last century.

Later!
Mr. Ed

 

yes , use the air . I wielded a air chuck to a hollowed out spark plug . you will also need a tool to compress the spring to take off the keepers , they are easy to make if you have metal working skills , Be careful with the keepers as they sometimes fly . stuff rags around so nothing ends up in a oil passage . also a good magnet helps getting keepers off and not losing them . Find a friend that has done this and have him show you how its done . Not hard when you know how . Do not release air until keepers are back on as valve could drop into cylinder , air will turn motor over so have truck out of gear .

 

I don't know that I'd rush to do anything. If it isn't like a mosquito fogger, just some puffs of smoke on start-up, and isn't fouling plugs, just keep an eye on it. New seals would be a good winter project. Once you start digging around in there, you may find it needs guides, rocker arms...

 

Look at it as a good thing. Years ago you could buy an aftermarket "upper cylinder lubrication attachment" to install on your engine. "No more dry starts when most wear occurs."
Go here http://www.ampcolubes.com/

 

All good stuff above. Trick to remove valve springs in situ (after compressed air is applied) is to hold a 3/4" deep socket against the spring retainer and rap it with a hammer. The larger opening end of the socket will contain the keepers.


"You don't fully understand a tool until you learn to abuse it seven different ways".

 

I'm with Ross...definitely not a "long pole in the tent" problem. There are many oil additives that profess to soften valve stem seals, you might want to give one of those a try...a lot less work than replacing valve seals.

 

Thanks for the help and advice. Like Ross and Charlie said, I'll just let it be for now. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't a precursor to something major. Yes, it just smokes upon start up, not after it is running nor is it like a mosquito fogger.

What kind of additive or snake oil might fix this?

 

m.Engine Oil Flush

https://seafoamsales.com/how-to-add-...crankcase-oil/