Help! Blue smoke from my 68 Newport!

[TubOfGlue]

Hey all, thanks for helping get my 68 Newport running for the first time in 2 years a couple days ago!

It runs and drives fine now but I’m having a fairly large issue of blue smoke billowing from the exhaust. Sometimes it doesn’t start until after it warms up, sometimes it’s immediate, but it can’t really be driven due to the active smokescreen it produces (lol).

There’s also some light smoke coming from the engine bay, someone suggested valve cover gaskets which I believe to be true.

If anyone has tips on diagnostic or possible causes I’d love to hear it. I’m hoping/dreading it’s just old gas…

Linked a video of the issue:

 

[CBODY67]

Blue smoke is not "old gas", unfortunately.

Check each of the spark plugs for evidence of oil on them. Look for obvious oil "exits" from the rear of each valve cover.

Put a large piece of cardboard under the car as it parks overnight. Then look for evidence of drips the next time you drive the car. Otherwise, park it on a solid surface and before driving the car, back it up to reveal any spots which might have appeared, noting their relationship to the engine and such.

These things can start your discovery process.

Please advise of what your discover,
CBODY67

 

[66 Monaco 500 365]

If it is smoking under acceleration it's possibly rings, if it smokes worse when decelerating/ideling, it could be intake valve guide seals or the intake gasket sucking oil from the valley.
My $.02

 

[TubOfGlue]

Blue smoke is not "old gas", unfortunately.

Check each of the spark plugs for evidence of oil on them. Look for obvious oil "exits" from the rear of each valve cover.

Put a large piece of cardboard under the car as it parks overnight. Then look for evidence of drips the next time you drive the car. Otherwise, park it on a solid surface and before driving the car, back it up to reveal any spots which might have appeared, noting their relationship to the engine and such.

These things can start your discovery process.

Please advise of what your discover,
CBODY67

Thanks for the quick reply! Glad I threw cardboard under the car just in case, seems there’s dripping from around the back of the right valve cover. Definitely looks like a leak coming from there.

Also found what might be a rats nest behind the carb. Could have attributed to some of the smoke from the engine bay.

Spark plugs can’t come out rn, don’t have my tools on me for a few weeks. At a glance they’re pretty crusty and there’s some wet spots around them.

not sure what all this points towards (other than it needs maintenance), hoping it’s not the piston rings or anything either.

 

[TubOfGlue]

If it is smoking under acceleration it's possibly rings, if it smokes worse when decelerating/ideling, it could be intake valve guide seals or the intake gasket sucking oil from the valley.
My $.02

Haven’t noticed any smoke when accelerating, will have to triple check. It’s embarrassingly bad when idling. Hoping the issue is the latter then. Thanks for the input!

 

[TubOfGlue]

Hey all, thanks for helping get my 68 Newport running for the first time in 2 years a couple days ago!

It runs and drives fine now but I’m having a fairly large issue of blue smoke billowing from the exhaust. Sometimes it doesn’t start until after it warms up, sometimes it’s immediate, but it can’t really be driven due to the active smokescreen it produces (lol).

There’s also some light smoke coming from the engine bay, someone suggested valve cover gaskets which I believe to be true.

If anyone has tips on diagnostic or possible causes I’d love to hear it. I’m hoping/dreading it’s just old gas…

Linked a video of the issue:

Update: it was just the old gas. Drained it, refilled, did a quick shake-down. No smoke, no soot out the back, engine runs so much smoother.

Wanted to thank everyone here for all the help! I’ll probably still go ahead and do a few gaskets to prevent future issues, all fluids have already been replaced.

Cheers!

 

[493mike]

If the valve stem seals are OEM-they are hard as rocks. Not a bad job to replace on the car.
Mike