My 96 f250 with 351w has a problem with burning oil. It runs good and has good oil pressure. At higher rpms i will see white smoke coming from the exhaust. does that sound like the heads or a ring job??

 

I usually associate white smoke with burning coolant. You have an oil cooler on the 351-between the oil filter and the engine block-dont you? Possible source of coolant getting into the oil. Is the 351 actually burning oil?? Is there coolant in the oil?

Try pressure testing of the cooling system with one of those cooant pressure testers that fit into the cap opening of the radiator and see if the cooling system maintains pressure.

 

I think there is a cooler there, but i have no clue on how to get that off of there. I had one on a motor in the garage that i was going to put on another motor that was going to pull alot and couldnt seem to see a way to get it off of there...

 

as for it burning oil, i have to put about a quart a week in. If i ride out to my girls house in the ole beast, at 70 for an hour and a half i gotta add another quart...

 

Before doing anything-pressure test the cooling system and see if the pressure bleeds down quickly.

And check for oil in the coolant. After draining the oil-let it sit for a hour-and check for coolant on the bottom of the container.

 

would they sell a pressure tester at the auto parts store?

 

NAPA or a good auto parts store should have a coolant system pressure tester. It is a pump-like a bicycle tire pump with a gauge on it. Pump it up to the maximum pressure that is on your radiator cap.

 

if the oil cooler was leaking there would coolent in the oil and it would be a milkey tan color in both the oil pan & radiator and it would be pushing the milkey goop out on the cooler over flow.
see as your using more oil and getting more smoke at higher RPM's
I would say rings.
Do you get alot of blow by out of the dip stick tube & oil fill cap?
I had a Dodge years ago that did that, the oil rings were so bad it spit oil out the exhaust pipe's

 

No oil comes out of the tube or the oil filler cap. Just smoke out of the tail pipe and black soot on the tail pipe. The oil doesn't look like there is any water in it, but i will let it set over night to be sure

 

what I ment by Blow Bye was combustion pressure & smoke from the motor
threw and type of vent dip stick tube or open fill cap.
if you dont have excessive blow bye I wouldent think its rings or a piston
I would do a compression test and try to find out which cylinder is cousing the problem also take a look at you spark plugs see if any are black and carbon coverd thats a good indicator of burning oil
its posable that this is a head problem (valve guide & seal)

 

I dont see any smoke or anything coming from the dipstick tube or the oil fill cap and nothing forced its way out when i took off the oil fill cap. That would be nice if it wasjust a valve guide. Then i would have a reason to pull it apart and put on some GT40s

 

when you do a compression test, remove the coil wire, pull a plug and put 2 squirts of oil in it. put on your tester and crank it. if is still drops then its the head. if not its the ring. the oil will seal it for a short time.

 

It only blows smoke if you get on it at a cold start and if you first start it and rev it 4-5 times above 2500 rpms each time. ill do th test this weekend to see which it is, rings or head

 

The thing is though---- bad rings will not cause WHITE smoke. Only burning coolant will cause that!

 

Exactly!! White smoke is definitely water. Could be a head gasket or water grommets. Check the pressure in the cooling system as recommended. A bad head gasket, or leaking water grommets, will pressurize it.

You can also put in a chunk of clear radiator hose and watch for bubbles passing by. That's what we do on our semi.