460 used in drag truck. Solid roller. HV oil pump. 8qt oil pan. Puff of blue smoke on start-up then intermittent while running. Sometimes no smoke on start up. Oil film in intake runners near head. Does not smoke when racing down the 1/4 mile. Weird part is it seems the oily plug(s) move around but mostly on the drivers side cyls 5-8. Pulled the plugs to do a compression test and found all the plugs oily. Compression on all cyls 185-205 psi cold. New posi seals (have not checked valve guide-stem clearance). Using 10W30 mobil1 syn. Could the hv oil pump be flooding the head? Drain backs not keeping up with flow? Steady 60 psi hot oil pressure at idle. There has been oil supply enlarging in block. Pump to filter, Filter to crank/lifter junction. Drain backs from lifter valley. Suggestions?

 

No thoughts? Guess I'll just babble on with my own.
Using heavier oil 15W40 to replace 10W30 should theoretically send less oil to the valve train. If in fact oil is draining back slower than what is pumped up through the pushrods, and the valve stem to guide clearances are good, this should alleviate the problem???

 

Could be the valve guides are worn,the valve keepers are hitting the seals @ full lift, or the rings aren`t sealing due to wash out, or PVC system not up to task. If it is running strong, and not using a lot of oil just freshen it up when you can. I`m building a 523.

 

The puzzling part is that occasionally there is no smoke. That's what leads me to believe it's getting through the valve seals depending on which valve is left open on shut down. Gonna try good ol rotella 15w40 and see what happens. The only thing worse than rebuilding an engine at the start of the season is starting up in the staging lanes and smoking out the guy down wind.

What manufacturer are you going with for the rotating assembly on your 523 build? Pistons? HEads? Pump gas or race fuel?

 

Sounds like a intake gasket that is leaking. I had a big block that couldn't even have the pcv hooked up. Took the intake off and the back of the valves were all gummed up, oil everywhere in there, plugs fowled, smelled oil while it was running but the cylinders tested ok. Took the heads off cleaned everything up and put a new high quality intake gasket on it retorqued it a few times and then it was fine. The gasket looked ok, had good impressions on it but still it was leaking into the intake runners.

 

That's exactly what I thought first three times intake gaskets were replaced. Aviation glue used on both sides of port gaskets and right stu** used around water passages and end surfaces. Think there are four intake bolts that got sealer as well. Lost track of how many times bolts were checked for proper torque. All that being said, could the intake manifold have a hairline fracture? Vacuum signal is strong (relatively) and steady though. I bought the intake used and it does not look like it was milled. I imagine even a couple degrees short on the bottom of the port surface would allow a gap. Maybe that's why it was for sale in the first place!

 

Did you try a dry fit on it ? Just put some spacers on the top of the blocks surface to get the manifold up where it belongs and see if the heads and intake surfaces are matching up ok. What kind of intake is it ?

 

Good idea. Because the problem is intermittent, that keeps me coming back to the intake pulling oil up from the lifter valley. Offy Port-o-sonic. Tallest intake I can fit under the hood.