[ZCar]

I've reviewed many archive posts suggesting valve stem seal replacement to correct oil consumption and deceleration smoke assuming compression is good and consistent across all cylinders. I think this may be worth pursuing, but I'd like to hear from some of you that have indeed replaced only valve stem seals with good results or whether there was no improvement.

My car is 83 zxt turbo with under 70k miles with good, consistent compression, but oil consumption of about 1quart per 350-400 miles. NO leaks. Ash deposits on plugs 1 and 5. No oil fouling of plugs.

Thanks,
Zcar

 

[DylanZ]

You can tell if you need stem seals when you start your car cold, and it gives a puff of smoke. This could be caused by other things, but that was what my bad seals did to me, and I burnt a quart to every two tanks, but it was'nt noticable after the first five seconds of running. I'll tell you if it helped any when (if) I get this thing back together.

Dylan

 

[ENNO]

Have had good results with that.
Later on (about 1 year later) I also flushed the valve cover PCV screen as well as cleaning the PCV valve under the intake.
Also, leaky oil seals or dip stick that allow air into the engine where it is not supposed to will cause oil pumping under hard acceleration.
Enno

 

[jerja]

The seals are good for about 30,ooo miles. They get hard and brittle from heat and sometimes split with resulting high oil consumption on individual cylinders.

 

[ZCar]

Thanks all for you input, this has been a great help in diagnosing my oil consumption problem.
Zcar