Didn't I read somewhere that the valve stem seal problem was only an issue for certain engines?? I remember being told a while back that in a 95 LS 3.0 it is not likely the stem seals will be a problem. Did I hear/Do I remember wrong??

My wife's '95 LS has about 154K on it, and is driven 2k-3k per month. We've had it since 74K, and I've kept the oil changed every 4k.

In the last 5-10k I've begun noticing slight smoke from the tailpipe. It is light enough that it's difficult to say what color it is for sure. The smell is more noticable than the visible smoke, but it's there. I guess more blue than white. Must be oil - doesn't smell at all like anti-freeze.

One thing that may need to be considered...about a year ago the ISC stopped working and it has an open across one pair of terminals. I've manually adjusted the ISC plunger and the idle screw which allows it to idle ok. Probably has nothing to do with the smoking problem, but thought I should mention it.

since its the 3.0 id figure that it would be prone to the same problems as the gen I 3.0. the milage on it is right on the money for the seals to go bad... might want to consider doing a compression check before you tear into it.

won't a compression test require tearing into it 90% of the way anyway?

I thought I had heard the same thing. However, the 3.5 liter engines seem to have a serious problem with worn valve guides/seals, and I would assume that our engines would have the same seal material? No? It seems like some trucks get it worse than others. I wonder what contributes to the problem. I have used synthetic oil for most of the life of my truck, but I change only at 7.5k miles. I have not noticed much smoke from my car but I do have a bit of oil consumption. How much oil does your car consume over one oil change? What kind/weight of oil do you use.

It definitely burns (and leaks) some oil. At least 3 qts per oil change, maybe 4. It's hard to say exactly how much it's burning and how much is leaking. I do know that it seems to use more than my Turbocharged 4 cyl Ford with 100K more miles on it.

I use whatever oil is on sale. Everything from Advance Auto's brand (whatever that is) to Pennzoil, to Mobile. I'm more concerned with getting it changed on schedule than putting the best stuff in it.
I tend to avoild Fram filters - most often Advance Auto's or Motocraft.
Weight is usually 10-30 in the summer and 5-30 in the winter.

I think I just noticed some blue smoke from mine when it's first started. When it recently sat for a week, upon startup it smoked for a half minute or so. When it just sits overnight it will smoke for just a few seconds on startup. Mileage is 105k. Been using Mobile 1, 10w30 for years. Would one of the high mileage oils "buy" some time? Heavier weight? How long can you let it smoke and is it doing any damage to anything? Just did some other repairs so I not to anxious to spend the bucks right now to fix.
Thanks for replies.
Jim
Tulsa
'89 two door v6 auto

I'm curious about that as well.

Maybe all know this, but no harm in repeating.

The easiest way of checking for leaky valve stem seals on a petrol engine.

Find a downhill,
let the engine run against compression (if auto-tranny, force the lowest practical gear)
floor the loud pedal and watch for white/grey smoke.
If smoke, most probably valve stem seals.

(The running against compression creates a vacuum in the cylinders, which sucks air and oil past the valve stems. This oil is burned when throttle is opened)

If it smokes under hard accelleration, it's more probably rings/bores.

As long as you maintain the oil level it won't hurt too much. Possible problems could be; poisoning of catalyst due to the ash in the oil, and the oil additives (zinc, phosphorous), not many problems to the engine, although the blowby will cause your oil to get dirty faster.

The cheapest bandaid fix is to try a heavier weight oil. A great, cheap oil is Chevron Delo 15W40. It is actually an oil formulated fo Diesel engines but it works great for gas engines too. It is a bit thicker which helps with oil consumption, and it has more additives which will help nuetralize the blow-by contaminatants. You can get it at Walmart. I also think Costco has it. Another option is a SUV 10W40 or a high mileage 10W40 oil. They tend to be a bit thicker than regular 10W40 oils.

The most assured way to fix leaky valve stem seals is to replace them. It can be done without removing the head, but it is not an easy job. You need to make sure your valve guides have not worn too much or the seals will go bad again quickly.

The most controversial method to reduce oil consumption is with a produce called Auto RX. It can only be purchased online at www.auto-rx.com You can read about its benefits at another forum called www.bobisthoilguy.com People on that site swear by it. You need to follow the directions exactly and it takes a while to see results. I am in the process of treating my engine with it and have finally finished the clean and rinse phase. Now I have fresh oil in and am monitoring the consumption. I will report the results here when I know what the oil consumption is.

Advance auto and Motorcraft filters are made by Purolator. However, I did not know that you can get a Motorcraft filter that fits Montero's? They are great filters though. IMO

Winston, just wondering if you've noticed any improvments.