white smoke / Need stock compression ratio

Never heard of a warped cast iron head. Our heads should probably crack before warping, imo. Are you sure the smoke is white and not blue/grey? I'd think a damaged head or head gasket would emit a constant white cloud once warmed up.

Cast Iron heads do warp. It's just not that common on the 3800 V6, unless prior to your rebuild it had overheated badly.
V8's and straight 6 cast iron heads are routinely ground during rebuild to correct for warpage.

so does anyone have the compression for each cylinder? or any idea of somewhere i could possibly find it?

oh and yes it is just pure white- no blue - no grey

Usually when a car has a blown head gasket/cracked head that is causing the "white smoke" you will smell a annoying smell that I find difficult to gather the words to convey an accurate description other than to say it will smell sweet. Once you have popped a head gasket and driven a vehicle very long you will never forget this dreadful smell.


Bert

The compression ration is 8.5:1. The PSI you see from a compression tester does not always match the exact mathematical conversion. What you are looking for in a compression test is consistency across all 6 cylinders. A leakdown test will help tell you the condition of the sealing rings and valve seats, or help find a head gasket leak etc.

I would do a leakdown test and I would want to know if any cylinder was holding less than say 100 psi. I would also want to know if a spritz or 2 of motor oil makes it hold compression.

Albertj

so i got compression test done and compression is fine - mechanic said he thinks it could be related to the supercharger? can the s/c make smoke come out the tailpipe? also, a little background info, i have service records since car was bought in 96 and prev. owners had s/c replaced twice.... are these s/c's known to be faulty?

riv_problems96 wrote:

are these s/c's known to be faulty?

No, if anything they are known to be extremely reliable and robust.

They always blame the supercharger because they don't know much about it. Open the fill hole on the blower and check the oil. It should come up to the bottom thread. Even if it's low, should be okay, as long as there is some oil in there.

thanks - um a dumb question - where is the fill hole and how do i open?

Comin in a bit late to the thread here. Have you already changed the LIM gaskets to the GM aluminum ones and confirmed that the LIM's aren't leaking?

Smoke can be a few things in our cars. PCV stuck open could cause some smoke. Coolant from the lim getting into the cylinders could cause it. You ruled out the cracked/hole in piston with the compression test. Plugs not firing could also do it.

riv_problems96 wrote:

thanks - um a dumb question - where is the fill hole and how do i open?

Should be able to open it with an allen wrench.

check s/c oil, it was pretty low. im going to put some in there tomorrow until i can change it this weekend. found a helpful link with the best tip i've heard for getting the oil out ........ using a spray bottle head and spraying the oil into the bottle (on stream of course, not spray) after i change it, ill see if it still smokes ..

http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/GTP-Supercharger-Oil-Change/index.html

...it's likely to still smoke. White smoke really shouldbe from antifreeze/water vapor, not from teh PAG oil in the supercharger.

So - have you checked the LIM (lower intake manifold) gasket yet, and have you looked in your coolant (radiator) for oil residue?

...and while you are at it, the PCV valve is ridiculously easy to check, it's on top of the SC under a diamond shaped plate. I'd go ahead and pull it. If it does not rattle it is clogged. GM used the same PCV on a bunch of different cars so they are easy to get at say walmart, autozone, etc. If you tear the gasket just get a small sheet of gasket material from just about any auto parts store and cut a new one by tracing the PCV cover plate and cutting out the shape with an x-acto or (new) boxcutter knife.

hope this helps

Albertj

so i did s/c oil change and will check pcv valve this weekend. after the s/c oil change, it only smokes a little in the mornings, most likely from condensation in my pipes. i dont know of an easy way to check the LIM gasket - but while i was changing s/c oil, i did notice my master cylinder leaks and when i pump brake, it moves back and forth - so that will prob. be next to replace

thanks guys!

Does it steam in the morning, or smoke? Smoke does not come from condensation in the pipes. Every car I know steams on a cold start in cool weather. But there shouldn't be any blue, or lingering smoke.